• CEO Benedetto Vigna says production costs for touch controls are 50 percent lower than actual buttons.
• Ferrari will implement more traditional controls in its cars.
• Existing Purosangue and 12C Cilindri vehicles can be equipped with a steering wheel equipped with physical buttons.

Over the years, we’ve heard nearly every automaker tout haptic buttons as a useful evolution in car interior design. While they look great in printable images, capacitive buttons are often frustrating to use and usually have a glossy finish, making them fingerprint magnets. Better late than never, car companies have listened to customer complaints and are returning to hard keys.

Ferrari not only admits its mistakes but also actively corrects past mistakes. Maranello is offering a retrofit for existing Purosangue and 12Cilindri models to swap out the capacitive touch buttons on the steering wheel and make room for conventional controls. Additionally, newer models bearing the Prancing Horse logo, such as the Testarossa and Amalfi, have more physical buttons than their predecessors.

Ferrari Luce physical controls

Photo by: Ferrari

In an interview with Indian CarsThe company’s CEO candidly admitted what everyone knew all along, but no other executive dared to say: touch buttons are much cheaper to make than real ones. Benedetto Vigna said the production costs of touch buttons are 50 percent lower than old-school buttons. Side note: Imagine how much money companies would save by eliminating buttons altogether.

‘That touch [button] is something created for the supplier’s benefit.’

In the same interview, the head honcho also discussed the aforementioned retrofit and how the company is “removing the touch” on the two V12 models. Benedetto Vigna explains the transition (pun intended) a return to traditional controls, even at a higher cost, saw Ferrari stand out with its custom-made switchgear:

‘We don’t have a problem with electronic consumer products that look the same. But we don’t like driving around in cars that all look the same. We need to do something unique. We’re used to it [doing] something else.’

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Ferrari Luce window buttons

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Photo by: Ferrari

The upcoming Luce will be the clearest example of how Ferrari is rethinking its interior, combining analog and digital elements. The company’s first electric vehicle features an interior co-developed with LoveFrom, the American creative collective founded by Sir Jony Ive, Apple’s former head of design.

Luce has many buttons and switches developed from the ground up to access various functions, including dedicated HVAC controls, rather than burying them on the main screen. It can be assumed that it is not cheap to make and requires quite a lot of money to build. Of course, those costs will be passed on to the customer, with an initial price tag of more than $500,000.

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Source: Ferrari

Motorcycle Pickup1: Ferrari’s CEO considers it “bizarre” and “absurd” to assume that electric cars should rely solely on screens. He’s right. The type of drivetrain should not determine how the driver interacts with the vehicle’s functions. Changing the temperature or turning on heated seats should be done easily, without having to fumble through menus or use touch buttons, regardless of whether the car has a combustion engine or not.

While Ferrari only caters to the one percent, well-known brands have also announced plans to bring back matching buttons. The Volkswagen Group is not only phasing out touch buttons, but also bringing back physical buttons for features that previously migrated to touch screens. Brands like Hyundai, Kia and Toyota are also looking to avoid over-reliance on screens. But brands like BMW and Mercedes have done away with most traditional controls in favor of a “minimalist” style much to the dismay of many customers.