It's been months since South Korean carmaker Hyundai promised that buttons would make a comeback in the brand's new cars. But now they say buttons are better.
Hyundai is going against the grain. The car brand will retain physical buttons to increase safety and reduce distraction from large screens in future cars.
Hyundai's future car interiors are designed with one goal in mind. The driver's eyes must be kept on the road. That's why Hyundai will keep physical buttons in their cars. Large screens can be a distraction and negatively affect traffic safety.
It may seem contradictory that drivers are constantly being told to leave their phones behind while driving, while car brands are installing ever larger screens in their cars. Physical buttons are becoming rare.
Hyundai acknowledges the problem, however. The brand has noted that too much screen use can make drivers stressed and irritated. That's why they will retain buttons for frequently used functions.
Senior Vice President of Design, Simon Loasby, understands the issue. He sees large touchscreens as a potential distraction from the road. Avoiding that is central to Hyundai's design philosophy.
Loasby elaborates on this in an interview with Autocar .
Going forward, the car brand's interior will be built around the idea of keeping the driver's eyes on the road.
– You really don't want people looking at the screen: you want them looking at eye level – at the road, he says.
Hyundai designs with safety in mind
This is where so-called muscle memory comes in. With physical buttons, settings can be adjusted without taking your eyes off the traffic. This significantly increases safety during intersections.
At the same time, Hyundai's design director, Luc Donckerwolke, points to another factor. Large screens are also a tool to save money for car manufacturers. He indirectly admits this.
Modern infotainment systems based on large screens are an advantage in terms of production. Donckerwolke explains that screens:
– are ideal because you save a lot of development costs by only having screens.
It requires fewer specific tooling to produce a cabin with one large screen. It is cheaper than producing many individual buttons and switches.
However, Hyundai believes that people generally like analog interaction. The key is to find the right balance. There needs to be a balance between buttons and large displays.
This is what the Hyundai of the future looks like in the cabin.
While Donckerwolke is optimistic about the return of buttons, Hyundai's own initiatives paint a more nuanced picture. The car brand recently unveiled its Pleos software platform.
The teaser images for Pleos showed a very large, centrally placed screen. It is reminiscent of the style seen at Tesla. This points towards a continued focus on large screens.
However, below the large screen there was a row of blank buttons, suggesting that some degree of physical interaction is still planned. So the physical buttons haven't completely disappeared.
The old-fashioned buttons are expected to gain functionality later. This will happen when the first models with the new Android Automotive-based operating system are launched. This is expected to happen in the second quarter of 2026.
Hyundai expects the new system to be in over 20 million cars by 2030. It's a large rollout of the new technology.
However, a large screen doesn't necessarily mean the end of physical buttons. There's still hope that Hyundai will find the right balance. A balance between a smartphone on wheels and the familiar buttons.
Hyundai strives to combine modern technology with ease of use and safety, and it will be exciting to see the final design in future models.
Hyundai is known for cars like the Ioniq 5 and the sporty Ioniq 5 N. Unfortunately, the South Koreans also believe that electric cars should have artificial engine sounds. Read more about it here .
