Even though I’ve long thought the sudden shift to electrification was probably foolhardy, the gradual rollout of mea culpas from automakers has hardly been satisfying. Not only has the ‘EV headfake’ cost billions of dollars, but the positive environmental benefits of turning a lot of commuter cars into EVs are real. Overoptimistic as they might have been, a large part of me wishes they’d been right.
At the same time, automakers admitting that swapping screens for buttons was a mistake feels pretty good. Everyone with sense knew this was a bad idea, and now the head of Mercedes is meekly admitting that some buttons are necessary. Of course, he’s doing so without also seemingly admitting to one of the big reasons why they’re doing this.
While EV sales have been disrupted, hybrids continue to sell extremely well, catapulting Hyundai and Kia into another record month. Nissan has seen its market share erode in the United States and is ready to launch a hybrid to meet that demand. BYD makes hybrids and EVs, but it’s not selling enough of them to meet its big annual sales target.
‘I Don’t Know If We’re At Peak Screen, But We’re At Low Button’
Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen/Audi spent a generation competing over who could build the most annoying, least tactile interfaces in their cars. Who won? On volume, it might be Volkswagen who build the largest number of confounding cars. On volume controls, I think Mercedes handily wins. The last Mercedes product I reviewed was a real screenfest and, other than some fun knobs, irked me to no end.
Automakers have spent the last year or so walking back these decisions, and Mercedes has begun to make steps in the right direction, with at least some buttons on the steering wheel. That’s not nothing.
CEO Ola Källenius talked to Autocar and said a bunch of fun things, including:
“We spend countless hours on UI [user interface]. I spend hours every year discussing this with our engineers and we joke it needs to be so easy that either a five-year-old kid or a Mercedes board member can use it. That is the hurdle, and once you familiarise yourself with it, it becomes second nature.”
Credit to Ola, that’s a good joke.
He also said that the industry “might have gone a little bit too far” in its quest for purely digital controls. While this is an industry-wide thing–initially led by Tesla and then taken to the extreme by Chinese automakers–Mercedes is one of the worst offenders for a Western automaker. He did acknowledge that Mercedes might have done some tech just for the sake of doing tech and that the company “will reintroduce the most sensible buttons.”
At the end of the article, he said something interesting in response to a good question from Autocar:
Asked if that meant the car industry had reached ‘peak screen’, Källenius said: “I don’t know if we’re at peak screen, but we’re at low button.”
I didn’t see this interview and wasn’t party to it, so it’s possible this was mentioned, but there is something that seems to be missing, as Andrew Clewes pointed out on BlueSky, which is that regulators are increasingly requiring certain physical controls in order to get those important five-star ratings. As the European Transport Safety Council announced in 2024:
“New Euro NCAP tests due in 2026 will encourage manufacturers to use separate, physical controls for basic functions in an intuitive manner, limiting eyes-off-road time and therefore promoting safer driving.”
Under the new rating scheme, which is due to come into force from January 2026, manufacturers won’t be able to achieve the highest safety ratings if they don’t provide proper, physical switches for certain functions including indicators, hazard lights, sounding the horn, operating windscreen wipers and activating the eCall SOS function.
Chinese authorities are also making similar changes to regulations.
I do think that, even in a regulatory vacuum, consumers are just overall cranky about the lack of buttons and that most automakers would probably end up at the same place eventually.
Hyundai And Kia Hit New Records On The Backs Of Hybrids
Another month, another monthly sales record for both Kia and Hyundai. The reason? In addition to making stylish, reasonably affordable cars, the brands also offer a wide range of ICE, hybrid, and even EV-powered vehicles.
Kia sold 75,857 units in July, which is the best July ever and up 7% year-over-year. Hyundai did a little better this month, only up 4%, but for a total of 82,480 units. Underpinning all of this is hybrids, with Hyundai hybrid sales up 35% and Kia sales up 108%.
“Kia’s momentum continues to increase as we see widespread interest in a variety of models across our entire lineup, from sedans to SUVs, to hybrids and all-electric powertrains,” said Eric Watson, vice president, sales operations, Kia America. “Our ability to continue setting records despite a tepid industry reflects the strength of our product lineup and sustained consumer demand. With the all-new Seltos now in showrooms, continued high consumer interest in the redesigned Telluride, and the launch of the all-new, all-electric and affordable EV3 later this year, Kia is poised to continue setting records throughout the second half.”
Decade of the hybrid, et cetera.
Nissan’s New Hybrid Is Its Biggest Launch Of The Year
Most Japanese automakers are on a non-calendar fiscal year, which means Nissan just filed its Q1 report (For April to June), and the company posted a $480 million profit, which is a big improvement over the nearly half-a-billion-dollar loss in Q1 of FY2025.
Still, things aren’t all peachy pao over there as the company has had to walk back its sales forecast a bit due to the same factors causing almost everyone else to walk back their own sales goals (China, war, earthquakes, the cancellation of Stumble by NBC).
The key will be North America and, according to CEO Ivan Espinosa, the most important debut will be the new Rogue hybrid:
“It’s the most important launch of this year for a few reasons,” Espinosa said Aug. 3. “It will give us access to a market that we didn’t have access to before.”
Nissan is banking on the e-Power variant of the Rogue to tap surging U.S. demand for gasoline-electric hybrids at a time when high pump prices are driving interest in fuel-efficient vehicles. Nissan has suffered from a lack of hybrids, while Japanese rivals including Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co. rack up big sales gains on lineups rich in hybrid offerings.
Having the e-Power will also help Nissan temper incentives, Espinosa said.
“We have many customers coming back from a lease, and they want a hybrid. We don’t have a hybrid, and in order for us to keep them with us, we need to sweeten the deal a little bit,” Espinosa said. “So, we expect this to change once we have the Rogue e-Power in the market.”
I am very excited about the Rogue. Presumably, we’ll get invited to the launch and can bring you more info. If we’re not invited, I’ll just assume it’s because it’s not there yet and they were too afraid to invite us.
BYD’s Global Expansion Might Hit A Snag In Hungary
The saga of Chinese automaker BYD in Europe is an interesting one. The company has invested heavily in Hungarian production, which gave it access to the European car market via an EU country that was, under PM Viktor Orbán, quite friendly with Russia and China. The EU has been increasingly concerned about Chinese automakers and downright hostile to Russia given its invasion of Ukraine.
There’s a new government in Hungary, and it’s already started to find problems with the way BYD has expanded in the country. This oversight is now starting to put a dent in BYD’s ambitions, per Bloomberg:
BYD’s global expansion is facing risks in Hungary, which serves as the anchor for its European manufacturing strategy. The company’s flagship factory site under construction in Szeged has come under scrutiny over alleged labor abuses by subcontractors, while a change of government in Budapest has triggered a probe into the massive state subsidies, tax breaks and environmental exemptions previously granted to BYD.
These escalating disputes have directly impacted BYD’s rollout schedule. The automaker recently confirmed that vehicle assembly at the Szeged plant has been delayed to the fourth quarter of 2026, roughly a year behind its original target.
Politics impacting cars is a global phenomenon.
What I’m Listening To While Writing TMD
Tony Bennett lived to be 96, which is pretty good, but today marks what would have been his 100th birthday. There are so many possible great Tony Bennett songs to choose from, from his iconic early stuff to his later charming duets. I’m going to go with “Anything Goes” from the album he did with Count Basie and his orchestra as something you maybe haven’t heard.
The Big Question
Which controls absolutely have to be buttons? What’s ok to be on a screen?
Top Photo: Mercedes-Benz
There are two things that should live on a digital interface:
Everything else should be on a button or knob.
For me, I’ll stick with cars whose entertainment system is divorced from the CANBUS and sits in a DIN slot, and maybe I’ll grab a CP-71WAK for nav when it’s convenient.
Instead of conventionally shaped buttons, can they be RGB backlit three-pointed stars?
My God, it’s full of stars.
TBQ: HVAC including seat and wheel heating, windows and doors, lighting (including emergency) and anything that controls the motion of the vehicle, or impacts safety, that’s all offscreen. Audio can be on a screen, with a volume knob. Navigation can be all screen.
Basically, if you adjust it all the time, buttons and knobs. If you set and forget, screen.
I’m more screen-friendly than most here, simply because I enjoy the wealth of information and customization that would not be practical or possible with analog controls. But I still do have a list of must haves for physical controls:
-Transmission (ideally with physical movement and no buttons)
-Turn signals
-Wipers
-Temp and fan speed dials
-Audio volume and next track (on wheel)
-Glove compartment, hood, and trunk releases (these must be accessible without the car on)
Everything else, put on a screen for all I care.
vent directional controls
I love how in the 2000’s there was a huge push to get people to stop looking at their cell phones and focus on the road.
Then tablets became integrated into the vehicles with seemingly no regulation and the buttons quickly disappeared.
Now the pushback is happening, for both safety and accessibility reasons that were predicted a long time ago.
Snake eating tail stuff here.
The answer to all things EV and button delete.
Beat me with that earnings stick,
Show me where the numbers click,
Chasing dreams and making plans,
Counting cash with steady hands.
Raise it high, let it swing,
In this game, I’m the king,
Hustle hard, I won’t quit,
Beat me with that earnings stick.
Every penny, every dime,
Building up, I’m on my climb,
Rolling waves of fortune’s tide,
In this ride, I take in stride.
Raise it high, let it swing,
In this game, I’m the king,
Hustle hard, I won’t quit,
Beat me with that earnings stick.
So let’s dance in this delight,
Counting blessings, futures bright,
With a smile, I’ll take my pick,
Beat me with that earnings stick.
At this point I’d kill for a big fat red Reset Button like the TRS-80s used to have to reboot the infotainment screen for every damn time it has an aneurysm.
Fixed it for you.
What lead to this? Did he accidentally set foot in a GLA?
TBQ: anything that isn’t set-and-forget should just be a damn button. Climate controls, media playback, drive modes – you know, the things you tweak while on the road. I should be able to manipulate these controls without looking at them, period.