Audi says its future vehicles will continue to feature some physical buttons, switches, and dials, despite many other car manufacturers going all-in on touchscreens.
While speaking during the recent virtual unveiling of the Grandsphere concept, Audi interior designer Maksymilian Nawka confirmed that the automaker will look to its past when designing the interiors of forthcoming models, Drive reports.
“A clear yes to this, because when you look into the future, you always have to look back, to double-check or just find what was really good in the past,” Nawka said. “Audi was – and still is, but was maybe more so in the past – known for this joy of use, the haptic sensation when you push and toggle buttons. This is exactly what we wanted to bring back in the car, but combining it with the touch-less [gesture control] interaction with the car. We believe… this is like an expensive watch, which you can really use often, and even show off to your friends. For sure we will have [physical controls in the future], yeah.”
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Audi Grandsphere Concept
The innovative Audi Grandsphere Concept, introduced as a potential A8 successor, has an interior offering a lounge-life experience and complete with a combination of physical buttons and complex screens. For example, the dashboard hides a screen behind a wooden panel while there are physical temperature control dials on the front door panels.
The automaker’s philosophy on combining physical controls with touchscreens is particularly evident with the interior of the e-tron GT. It has a cabin very similar to other Audi models, meaning it has a large infotainment screen and a digital gauge cluster but many buttons for things like climate control. This is in stark contrast to models like the Mercedes-Benz EQS that (optionally) has a dashboard dominated by a huge single screen and very few buttons.
Audi e-tron GT interior