KATHMANDU: Toyota’s luxury brand Lexus is bringing physical controls back to the dashboard with its new ES sedan, as automakers rethink the heavy use of touchscreens, writes NIKKEI Asia.
The new ES, launched in Japan in June with a starting price of $51,400, features what Lexus calls “responsive hidden switches.” The controls are placed under the central touchscreen and are designed to blend into the dashboard.
The smooth surface looks like part of the interior trim. However, when a hand moves close to it, icons for functions such as climate control and parking assistance light up. The icons can then be pressed like regular physical buttons.
The move comes as automakers face growing concerns about the safety and ease of use of touchscreen controls. A January survey by AlixPartners found that only 20% of consumers across 11 major markets preferred touchscreen-based controls. In China, the figure was just 13%.
Mazda recently moved in the opposite direction by removing many physical controls from the new CX-5, with most functions operated through its touchscreen and Google voice assistant.
Safety organizations are also pushing for physical controls. Euro NCAP plans to consider the availability of physical buttons for commonly used functions in its safety assessments. China is also preparing rules that would require physical controls for certain safety-related functions from July next year.
