Mercedes, a while back, had confirmed the return of the physical buttons for the necessary function in its cars. However, the brand has said that the large screens will stay, which show digital craftsmanship. Mathias Geisen, Mercedes sales and customer experience, has said to Autocar UK that, according to car research clinics, customers do like the big screens, but they want buttons for certain functions.
Geisen has said that commitment to the big screens is to keep with the premium placement. Furthermore, he noted that the idea is to deliver a high-quality look and feel, while seamlessly blending into the digital ecosystem. An important highlight for this is the large, ultra-high-resolution display stretching close to a metre across the dashboard, which lets users personalise the cabin in newer ways.
Mercedes rival Audi has started reducing screen sizes in its cars and is bringing back more buttons due to customer resistance to touch-based controls. However, new Mercedes products like the GLC EV and C-Class EV get a vast 39.1-inch Hyperscreen (which includes a digital driver’s display, a central touchscreen and a passenger touchscreen) across the dashboard.
Both GLC and C-Class EVs come with physical, roller-type controls on the steering wheel in place of the haptic pads. Mercedes has noted that this was in response to the customer feedback who felt that, whilst it might be a nice touch, it just didn’t work in the real world.
Giesen concludes that this approach will continue in future models, with Mercedes targeting to strike a balance between screens and physical buttons. Giesen has said that he was himself a believer in screens and for connection, the screens have to work. However, the future products will come with more hard keys for certain functions that customers want to get direct access to with hard keys.