GermanyMercedes-Benz is putting buttons back. Sales chief Mathias Geisen says customers still want the big displays, but for the functions they reach for constantly they want a separate control they can find without looking.
The first hardware is already here. The steering wheels in the new CLA Shooting Brake and the electric GLC replace part of the touch-sensitive pads with physical rollers, keys and switches. That wheel becomes the standard item on future Mercedes models and will be retrofitted into the lineup that has already been shown, starting with the CLA.
The decision came out of usage data from the company’s software-defined cars, which log what people actually touch. Buttons win for regularly used functions. The preference is not uniform by market: European buyers reach for physical controls more often, while screens and voice commands are more popular in Asia.
None of this means smaller displays. The new GLC carries the MBUX Hyperscreen at 39.1 inches diagonally, and Mercedes is treating the button question as a matter of which functions get hardware, not how much glass to fit. Extra buttons are most likely to appear first in the large SUVs.
Mercedes has not given a timeline for the rest of the range, and has not said which functions beyond the steering wheel get physical controls back.
