Volkswagen Ditches Touch Sliders, Fully Returns to Physical Buttons

Volkswagen has announced it will completely abandon its widely criticized touch-sensitive slider design and return to physical buttons. On March 25, CEO Thomas Schäfer stated that due to issues such as poor usability at night and frequent accidental touches, the touch-based climate control sliders and steering wheel controls previously used on models like the ID.3 and the eighth-generation Golf will be phased out gradually. Although the company had attempted to improve the user experience by adding backlighting, customer feedback remained unsatisfactory. Volkswagen acknowledged that its original design philosophy—inspired by iPhone-style interaction logic—was flawed. The newly launched ID.Polo already features physical center console buttons, rotary knobs, conventional steering wheel controls, and individual window switches for all four doors. Mid-cycle updates for the ID.3 and ID.4 in mid-2026 will also reintroduce physical buttons, and touch sliders will be entirely eliminated from future model generations.