Volkswagen brings back physical buttons as touchscreens fall out of favor

Volkswagen is bringing buttons back.

Car designers have increasingly moved to deploy touchscreen dashboards, but the German giant says the trend had gone too far.

It is one of a number of carmakers shifting back to physical buttons, which are widely seen as safer and more popular with drivers: Korean firm Hyundai and China’s MG have both vowed to do the same.

The reversal does not mean a dumbing-down, however: A review of the electric Genesis called it “packed full of technology” such as a fingerprint reader and facial recognition, “yet it also has lots of physical controls.”

Speaking to Autocar, Volkswagen’s design chief put it simply, “It’s not a phone: it’s a car.”