Hyundai Set to Bring Back Physical Buttons Amidst Buyers’ Complaints

Hyundai admits it made a mistake by replacing too many physical controls with touchscreen buttons.

It is no secret that almost all major automakers nowadays have de-cluttered their interior by replacing traditional physical buttons with virtual buttons on their larger and larger infotainment screens. While designers may love it as it allows them to make the car more minimalistic, it comes as no surprise that many customers loathe this move. And that’s exactly what Hyundai learned from its decision to go all-in on touchscreens, as its customers in the US voiced their discontent with the screen-only route.

Talking to Korea JooAng Daily, Hyundai Design North America (HDNA) president Ha Hak-Soo said, “As we were adding integrated [infotainment] screens in our vehicles, we also tried out putting touchscreen-based controls, and people didn’t prefer that.”

“When we tested with our focus group, we realised that people get stressed, annoyed, and steamed when they want to control something in a pinch but are unable to do so,” the design boss added.

One of the biggest complaints American buyers have about the screen-only approach is that drivers will easily get distracted for a long period of time if they want to access the car’s screen. What also frustrates them is that even simple tasks such as adjusting the climate control and disengaging certain ADAS functions take more time and effort when using the screen compared to physical buttons.

The US-only 2025 Hyundai Ioniq 5 XRT now gains more physical buttons compared to their Korean counterparts.

As a result, HDNA has elected to introduce back some physical buttons to several models in the future, with the US-spec 2025 Hyundai Ioniq 5 already leading the trend by offering more buttons and dials over their Korean counterparts.

This issue does not only plague Hyundai drivers in the US, as the European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP) has also put up a new ruling to curb this buttonless interior endemic. From Jan 2026 onwards, automakers must provide physical controls for five essential controls—turn signals, hazard warning lights, windshield wipers, horns, and SOS features—in order for the car to get a five-star safety rating in its crash test.

While the absence of several key physical buttons in most Hyundai models can be daunting, they’re still far-fetched from other automakers. Not contemptuous with deleting physical buttons and dials from their cars’ interior, some of them even elected to remove some other key interior pieces like the instrument cluster, signal stalks, and even gear shifters.