In a user interface about-turn that has some resemblance to that of Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz will start to integrate more physical controls into its vehicle cabins as “the data shows us [that] physical buttons are better,” Mercedes-Benz chief software officer Magnus Östberg has told Autocar.
This revised direction will begin with the latest GLC and the CLA Shooting Brake EVs, both being models which feature a steering wheel of a new design incorporating rocker switches, rollers and buttons.
This steering wheel design will be the standard for the German brand from this point forward, and the plan is to introduce it to all Mercedes-Benz models currently on sale, starting later this year with the C178 CLA, according to the publication.
Doing so will be the easiest, most cost-efficient way of adding physical controls to cars already on sale while retaining its digital-first cabin design, Östberg said.
“You can see a difference if you move from the CLA [saloon], which has a touchscreen and fewer hard buttons, to the [new] GLC, where we put back the rollers and buttons, because we see in the data that the rollers and these physical buttons are very important for certain age groups and certain populations,” said the chief software officer.
“So, having that balance between physical buttons and the touch is extremely important for us. We’re completely data-driven, seeing that what is actually something that is used high-frequency, the data shows us the physical buttons are better, and that’s why we put them back in,” he said.
According to the report, that data has come from the brand’s software-defined vehicles (SDVs), the CLA and the GLC. In addition to begin easier to fine-tune as software updates can be pushed over-the-air rather than requiring the vehicle to be brought to a physical service location, SDVs also give carmakers full access to drivers’ data and usage.
This data “is so important,” as decisions such as for the re-introduction of physical buttons can be data-driven, said Östberg, who also suggested that different wheel designs could be used for different markets, citing examples such as Europeans preferring more buttons, while Asian drivers prefer more touchscreen and voice controls.
Mercedes-Benz could also add more physical controls in other parts of the cabin for future models, though this will most likely be confined to SUV models, as there is “more freedom to package” in larger vehicles, and “buyers of these models care more about buttons.”
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