VW Boss Vows to Fix its Infotainment Woes

As one of the world’s biggest car brands, Volkswagen has its own share of controversies and problems. From the Earth-shaking ‘dieselgate’ scandal to minor issues such as the touch-sensitive control ‘buttons’, yet another problem looms on the Wolfsburg marque, albeit less serious than the former.

Volkswagen’s latest infotainment system, dubbed as the MIB3, has received rather unfavourable reviews from journalists and users alike, citing laggy software and finicky menu placements being the most common problems. VW has installed said MIB3 system on most of their new models, including the electrified ID line-up.

Speaking to Car Magazine at the 2022 LA Auto Show, VW’s CEO Thomas Schafer admitted that there were some mistakes during the designing phase of said infotainment system. A dedicated over-the-air software update will fix UI-related issues, rolling out in Q4 2022. The impending software update promises faster and smoother performance, aside from boasting new features.

Schafer further added that Volkswagen is committed to improving its user interface (UI) design by organising regular clinics, where random members of the public will be participating in giving feedback and responses pertaining to its infotainment system. He also insisted on not using their own employees for the feedback, fearing favouritism and biases will affect their assessments.

This strategy, all in all, is beneficial for Volkswagen in assisting them to create more user-friendly and intuitive infotainment systems for its future cars.

For MIB3’s hardware issues, fixes and upgrades will commence starting next year up until 2024. Among hardware issues noted by customers and critics alike are the non-illuminating volume and climate control sliders sitting below the infotainment display.

As reported earlier, VW will also replace its touch-sensitive controls with actual physical buttons, after receiving backlashes and complaints from users. The controversial touch-sensitive controls have been the subject of criticism from customers ever since it was being introduced by Volkswagen years back. 

Volkswagen will replace its ill-fated touch-sensitive ‘buttons’ with physical ones next year, with the upcoming Tiguan  receiving said buttons firsthand.