Ferrari’s crowd-pleasing refit is pushing all the right buttons

For some wealthy Ferrari customers the biggest thrill of 2025 wasn’t the launch of some flashy new technology or supercar model, but rather the prancing horse’s reversion to using simple mechanical buttons to control aspects of the vehicle. When buyers were told the Italian carmaker is moving away from finicky touch-sensitive controls on the steering wheel and going back to buttons there was “big, big applause,” Chief Executive Officer Benedetto Vigna told Bloomberg TV last week, emphasizing that the company will henceforth use “digital where it’s needed, and physical where it’s needed.” The great touchscreen takeover of the 2020s Ferrari’s epiphany is the latest example of a manufacturer reappraising the minimalist and futuristic design trends that have transformed the automobile in recent years — not always for the better. With Tesla and software-loving Chinese rivals leading the way, cars have started to feel like battery-powered cell phones on wheels. That’s led to impressive innovations such as advanced safety features and automated driving, but also a tendency to reengineer stuff that worked fine already, including door handles, glove box latches and indicator stalks. Perhaps this urge to reinvent is a byproduct of how other aspects of car design have become so bland. Nowadays everyone seems to drive an SUV. But in this push for smooth interior perfection, simple tasks like adjusting the air conditioning are often less intuitive. Fiddling around for the right setting on the ubiquitous flatscreen is potentially dangerous when out on the road. What seems fun to a twentysomething automotive software engineer, or to China’s young tech-savvy consumers, might feel annoyingly complicated to 50-something Western buyers. Automakers should adapt for different markets. Real cost of aesthetic perfection The touchscreen bears much of the blame. They allow manufacturers to remove instrument clusters, buttons and switches and that’s saved them lots of money. As well as using fewer materials and improving aesthetics (in some people’s view), the software can be continually updated, which is great. I’m no luddite: Give me a screen and head-up windscreen display for navigation. On a recent vacation my rental came with a handy wireless phone recharging pad. But touchscreens have made some manufacturers overlook ergonomics and good design. Having to hunt through an infotainment system to adjust basic functions can be maddening. Most British drivers say they’d rather have physical buttons, and they’re right. Studies show it takes much longer to perform simple tasks like changing a radio station when using a screen. Even the designer who shaped the look of modern smartphones, former Apple executive and automotive fan Jony Ive, is skeptical about relying too heavily on screens in cars. Alas, even safety-first brands such as Volvo have leapt onto the screen-first bandwagon. The compact electric EX30 SUV’s speedometer is displayed on the center screen, which is also used to adjust a panoply of functions including temperature and fan speed. Although many features can be changed using voice controls, it shouldn’t need a touchscreen to open a glove box. Rebellion against driver-assistance overload I sympathize with drivers who complain that modern cars are constantly telling them to keep their eyes on the road and not drive too fast, at the same time as inviting inattention with their gallery of gizmos. Even though speed-limit, lane-departure and driver-attention warnings are mandatory for new cars in the European Union, people are rebelling. Surveys show motorists often turn off driver-assistance systems. Some frustrations are down to “implementation and education rather than the tech itself,” said Ben Townsend, head of automotive at Thatcham Research, which was set up by the insurance industry to try to cut the cost of claims. “Several manufacturers have shown that it’s possible to implement these systems in a way that’s not annoying or nagging.” Still, buttons are definitely staging a comeback. From next year it’ll be harder for automakers to nab a five-star safety rating on Europe’s New Car Assessment Program if they don’t have them for key functions such as hazard lights. And Ferrari isn't the only manufacturer getting ahead of this mildly retro refit. After the digital interface and touch sliders on its early electric vehicles were panned, Volkswagen is promising more physical controls in future. Hyundai and Mercedes-Benz are doing similar. While this will lift costs and complexity in an industry already getting by on thin margins — Ferrari excepted — it’s money well spent. Some design decisions have far graver consequences. A Bloomberg investigation of Tesla’s electrically powered doors, which have flush handles and whose mechanical releases can be hard to locate, found they were flummoxing drivers and first responders to crashes or when the vehicle loses power. Flush door handles can improve aerodynamics. They also look sleeker and are oft imitated. But VW recently became a prominent critic and the design is in the regulators’ crosshairs, including in China, which is reportedly considering an effective ban on fully concealed door handles. Tesla is working on a redesign to make the emergency release more intuitive. The future is hybrid: Digital and physical combined Until vehicles are fully driverless, manufacturers need to strike a balance between aesthetics, efficiency and digitalization on one hand, and sticking with physical controls where needed for safety and ease of use. Doing everything with a touchscreen or reinventing the humble door handle is asking for trouble. By Chris Bryant, Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering industrial companies in Europe. This column reflects the personal views of the author and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.

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Ferrari’s crowd-pleasing refit is pushing all the right buttons