Why this major carmaker thinks in-car screens have reached their peak

On this era of wall-to-wall screens, you’d be forgiven for considering in-car displays are taking on automotive interiors, and that buttons and switches are going the best way of the dodo. Hyundai reckons that’s not the case.

“We’ll see a return of the analogue, and the reduction of screens. It’s going to take one or two generations,” Hyundai Motor Group chief creative officer Luc Donckerwolke recently told media including CarExpert.

“Depending on the variety of vehicle, you will notice less screens.”

He explained this can be different depending on the variety of the vehicle.

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“Mainstream vehicles will utilise screens mainly for a few generations. Basic cars can have the bring-your-own-device parameter, and the posh cars will definitely have screens but they can be seconded by voice control.

“You will note less dependence on these screens.”

Genesis last month revealed its X Gran Equator concept, a luxury off-roader that has 4 small screens looking more like gauges, but no traditional touchscreen.

In an age when even the most affordable Kia Picanto has a touchscreen, vehicles without one are rare – at the least in Australia.

You’ll be able to buy a Suzuki Jimny Lite here featureing a more 2000s-style bank of buttons and knobs, while within the Japanese market various entry-level vehicles just like the Toyota GR86 RC simply have a blank where a touchscreen can be.

Some recently revealed vehicles comparable to Amazon’s Slate electric ute feature a smartphone mount situated where you may expect a touchscreen to be. Citroen’s C3 comes standard with a smartphone dock, which the corporate says uses an app and the automotive’s NFC wireless capabilities to quickly connect the phone to the automotive.

“Simply, people have their phone and normally they’ve every little thing that they need when it comes to applications and utilities of their phone,” said Mr Donckerwolke.

Genesis’ design chief isn’t just seeing the long run of in-car displays through the prism of a designer, and he raised safety concerns a couple of trend that has develop into increasingly prolific amongst, particularly, Chinese brands.

“We’ve got to be sure that screens usually are not forcing you to enter sub-menus for operations that we required just one touch of a button for before,” he said.

“In case you rely only on screens, you might be tending to go away from the actual fact to have the hands on the steering wheel and the eyes on the road which is for me crucial factor of safety.”

Many brands like Tesla, Xpeng and Leapmotor utilise virtually no physical switchgear, with almost every function accessible via the touchscreen or by utilizing the voice assistant.

Digital instrument clusters and infotainment touchscreens have also been joined by separate climate control screens (see: Audi, Land Rover) and passenger displays (see: Jeep, Ram, Porsche).

You’ll find rear climate displays in some brands’ vehicles (eg: Tesla) in addition to rear displays for viewing media (see Genesis, GMC, Lexus).

As screens have permeated through interiors, some brands have introduced enormous screen assemblies. Mercedes-Benz’s MBUX Superscreen incorporates a digital instrument cluster, infotainment touchscreen and passenger display under one piece of glass.

Cadillac and Lincoln have gone even further, having not just one continuous pillar-to-pillar screen in a few of their luxury vehicles but additionally a separate touchscreen underneath for controlling key functions just like the climate control.

Even Hyundai’s own Genesis brand has an expansive – if not quite pillar-to-pillar – 27-inch display incorporating the instruments and infotainment.

The danger here’s what looks fabulous on the showroom floor could look out-of-date just a couple of years later. That’s arguably more so with luxury cars, where all of the wood and leather and craftsmanship may be undermined by outdated user interfaces – something premium brands didn’t need to worry about in many years past.

“I believe that the major issue with big screens as well is you might have to at all times update the contents, and other industries try this significantly better than the automotive industry,” said Mr Donckerwolke.

“There may be a danger to have big screens and never the fitting quality of contents.”