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

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

“We will 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 type of vehicle, you will see less screens.”

He explained this will be different depending on the type of the vehicle.

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“Mainstream vehicles will utilise screens mainly for a couple of generations. Basic cars will have the bring-your-own-device parameter, and the luxury cars will certainly have screens but they will be seconded by voice control.

“You will see less dependence on these screens.”

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

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

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

Some recently revealed vehicles such as Amazon’s Slate electric ute feature a smartphone mount located where you might expect a touchscreen to be. Citroen’s C3 comes standard with a smartphone dock, which the company says uses an app and the car’s NFC wireless capabilities to quickly connect the phone to the car.

“Simply, people have their phone and normally they have everything that they need in terms of applications and utilities in their phone,” said Mr Donckerwolke.

Genesis’ design chief isn’t just seeing the future of in-car displays through the prism of a designer, and he raised safety concerns about a trend that has become increasingly prolific among, in particular, Chinese brands.

“We have to make sure that screens are not forcing you to go into sub-menus for operations that we required only one touch of a button for before,” he said.

“If you rely only on screens, you are tending to go away from the fact to have the hands on the steering wheel and the eyes on the road which is for me the most important 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 using 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) as well as 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 only one continuous pillar-to-pillar screen in some of their luxury vehicles but also a separate touchscreen underneath for controlling key functions 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 risk here is what looks fabulous on the showroom floor could look out-of-date just a few years later. That’s arguably more so with luxury cars, where all the wood and leather and craftsmanship can be undermined by outdated user interfaces – something premium brands didn’t have to worry about in decades past.

“I think that the main issue with big screens as well is you have to always update the contents, and other industries do that much better than the automotive industry,” said Mr Donckerwolke.

“There is a danger to have big screens and not the right quality of contents.”