{"id":839732,"date":"2026-08-02T11:56:23","date_gmt":"2026-08-02T11:56:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/839732\/"},"modified":"2026-08-02T11:56:23","modified_gmt":"2026-08-02T11:56:23","slug":"mercedes-benz-ceo-admits-it-went-too-far-removing-buttons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/839732\/","title":{"rendered":"Mercedes-Benz CEO admits it went &#8216;too far&#8217; removing buttons"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"m7p3v71 _1ivmml5pq _1ivmml52 _1ivmml5d _1ivmml53fc _1ivmml53l6 _1ivmml53zy _1ivmml545s\">Like almost every automaker,\u00a0Mercedes-Benz\u00a0has embraced ever-larger screens and an ever-reducing roster of physical buttons, but its CEO is now willing to admit it might have gone a little too far.<\/p>\n<p class=\"m7p3v71 _1ivmml5pq _1ivmml52 _1ivmml5d _1ivmml53fc _1ivmml53l6 _1ivmml53zy _1ivmml545s\">In an interview with\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.autocar.co.uk\/car-news\/new-cars\/mercedes-big-screens-stay-we-went-too-far-removing-buttons\" class=\"_87i7r20 _87i7r21\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Autocar<\/a>, Mercedes-Benz CEO Ola K\u00e4llenius was asked about criticism regarding more and more vehicle controls being moved from physical buttons, dials and switches to the touchscreen.<\/p>\n<p class=\"m7p3v71 _1ivmml5pq _1ivmml52 _1ivmml5d _1ivmml53fc _1ivmml53l6 _1ivmml53zy _1ivmml545s\">The CEO said the company spends &#8220;countless hours&#8221; on user interface development, and quipped that he himself spends &#8220;hours every year discussing [the interface] with our engineers and we joke it needs to be so easy that either a five-year old kid or a Mercedes board member can use it&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p class=\"_1ivmml5hv _1ivmml5d _1ivmml5pj _1ivmml56 _1ivmml5n\">Looking for your next car?<\/p>\n<p class=\"nb3b4e7 _1ivmml5hv _1ivmml5d _1ivmml5pq _1ivmml52\">CarExpert can help you <a href=\"https:\/\/www.carexpert.com.au\/car-chooser\" class=\"_1isa4f20 nb3b4e8\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">research<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.carexpert.com.au\/compare-cars\" class=\"_1isa4f20 nb3b4e8\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">compare<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.carexpert.com.au\/buy\" class=\"_1isa4f20 nb3b4e8\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">buy<\/a> so you choose with confidence.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"_1ivmml51gy _1ivmml51yg _1ivmml514 _1u8h4qz8\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/2025-02-mercedes-benz-mbux-hyperscreen-1.jpg\"  loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"MBUX Hyperscreen\" fetchpriority=\"low\"\/>MBUX Hyperscreen<\/p>\n<p class=\"m7p3v71 _1ivmml5pq _1ivmml52 _1ivmml5d _1ivmml53fc _1ivmml53l6 _1ivmml53zy _1ivmml545s\">He went on to say that with familiarity it &#8220;becomes second nature&#8221; and noted the vast improvement in voice control systems.<\/p>\n<p class=\"m7p3v71 _1ivmml5pq _1ivmml52 _1ivmml5d _1ivmml53fc _1ivmml53l6 _1ivmml53zy _1ivmml545s\">Mr K\u00e4llenius did concede, though, the &#8220;industry as a whole might have gone a little bit too far&#8221; with on-screen controls, and that &#8220;sometimes you get a bit ahead of yourself and do technology for the sake of technology and maybe forget a little bit about the customer&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p class=\"m7p3v71 _1ivmml5pq _1ivmml52 _1ivmml5d _1ivmml53fc _1ivmml53l6 _1ivmml53zy _1ivmml545s\">He then promised &#8220;from now on, you will see us reintroduce the most sensible buttons&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"_1ivmml51gy _1ivmml51yg _1ivmml514 _1u8h4qz8\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/2027-mercedes-benz-c400-electric_c-class-electric-78.jpg\"  loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"Mercedes-Benz steering wheel and digital instrument cluster inside the 2027 Mercedes-Benz C-Class Electric, with an infotainment screen visible to the right\" fetchpriority=\"low\"\/>CLA steering wheel<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"_1ivmml51gy _1ivmml51yg _1ivmml514 _1u8h4qz8\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/2026-mercedes-benz-cla-hybrid-stills-52.jpg\"  loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"CLA window controls\" fetchpriority=\"low\"\/>CLA window controls<\/p>\n<p class=\"m7p3v71 _1ivmml5pq _1ivmml52 _1ivmml5d _1ivmml53fc _1ivmml53l6 _1ivmml53zy _1ivmml545s\">The latest generation Mercedes-Benz vehicles are available with a dashboard-spanning three-screen setup known as MBUX Hyperscreen or MBUX Superscreen depending on the model.<\/p>\n<p class=\"m7p3v71 _1ivmml5pq _1ivmml52 _1ivmml5d _1ivmml53fc _1ivmml53l6 _1ivmml53zy _1ivmml545s\">Launched in 2021 as an option of the EQS luxury sedan, these setups feature a digital instrumentation screen, a large central touchscreen, and an another touchscreen ahead of the front passenger.<\/p>\n<p class=\"m7p3v71 _1ivmml5pq _1ivmml52 _1ivmml5d _1ivmml53fc _1ivmml53l6 _1ivmml53zy _1ivmml545s\">A similar setup has now filtered all the way down to the company&#8217;s entry-level sedan, the CLA &#8220;four-door coupe&#8221;. Most functions, including the air conditioning, are controlled from the touchscreen, although some things can be adjusted by capacitive buttons that live on the steering wheel and in a strip in the centre console.<\/p>\n<p class=\"m7p3v71 _1ivmml5pq _1ivmml52 _1ivmml5d _1ivmml53fc _1ivmml53l6 _1ivmml53zy _1ivmml545s\">Physical switches are basically limited to those operating the electric seats and windows, the stalks behind the steering wheel, and the odd scroll wheel.<\/p>\n<p class=\"m7p3v71 _1ivmml5pq _1ivmml52 _1ivmml5d _1ivmml53fc _1ivmml53l6 _1ivmml53zy _1ivmml545s\">MORE: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.carexpert.com.au\/mercedes-benz\" class=\"_87i7r20 _87i7r21\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">Explore the Mercedes-Benz showroom<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Like almost every automaker,\u00a0Mercedes-Benz\u00a0has embraced ever-larger screens and an ever-reducing roster of physical buttons, but its CEO is&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":839733,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[64,63,99],"class_list":["post-839732","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-business"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/839732","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=839732"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/839732\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/839733"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=839732"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=839732"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=839732"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}