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BMW believes younger drivers increasingly expect touchscreens and voice controls.
Hyundai and Volkswagen are restoring buttons in response to customer feedback.
China’s regulators will soon require physical controls for important vehicle functions.
BMW is betting drivers are ready to stop poking old-fashioned buttons and start talking to their cars. The new 2027 iX3 dumps conventional climate switches from its dashboard, putting most of them into the touchscreen and upgraded voice assistant as Munich embraces a cleaner digital cabin.
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And according to BMW, this isn’t simply about designers deciding buttons are ugly. It’s a response to a broader change in how we interact with technology, particularly among younger customers.
Related: Mercedes Admits It Went Too Far Killing Buttons, But Don’t Expect Fewer Screens
“A car is not a standalone piece, it’s part of what’s happening around you in society,” BMW Group Australia CEO Vikram Pawah told CarExpert.com.au . “We can see that voice and touch are becoming more and more common.”
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Pawah suggested the trend is particularly apparent among people aged 45 and younger, who are quicker to adopt touch and voice tech.
“They want things done quickly and they’re multitasking,” Pawah said. “And we have to keep that in mind. That’s how customers are evolving. They are multitasking.”
The new iX3 ‘s voice assistant can already understand commands that would have stumped a similar system a decade ago, and besides, BMW’s not worried about a backlash. It’s already weathered one storm over a radical interface reinvention.
Not The First Big BMW Change
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“People always feel uncomfortable with radical change,” BMW Group Australia communications boss Leanne Blanckenberg told CarExpert. She pointed to the original iDrive’s (above) controversial 2001 debut, noting that the concept is now commonplace across the industry.
But some rivals have already travelled further down touchscreen boulevard and are now heading back. Hyundai previously admitted its American focus groups became “ stressed, annoyed and steamed ” when drivers couldn’t quickly operate touchscreen functions. It’s since returned more physical controls to its cabins. Mercedes also admits it went too far in banishing buttons from its interiors.
VW Brings Buttons Back
Volkswagen has made an even more obvious U-turn. After criticism of the touch-heavy Golf and ID.4, newer models such as the ID. Polo feature more physical controls on the console, while VW has also ditched controversial touch-sensitive steering-wheel pads for proper clickable switches.
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None of those other brands is abandoning voice control. Like BMW, Hyundai, Mercedes and VW are pursuing smarter AI-powered assistants. The difference is increasingly about whether voice and screens should complement physical controls rather than replace them. And China might have something to say about that.
New regulations expected to take effect next year will require more than a dozen functions, including indicators, headlights, wipers, hazards and transmission controls, to be operable through fixed physical controls outside the display, complete with tactile or audible feedback.
The iX3 retains traditional stalks and enough conventional controls that it should meet those standards, but that might still not be enough to keep older drivers who prefer traditional buttons happy.
BMW, VW
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