[ZenMaster]

In a fight between ease of use and cost cutting, cost cutting always wins. Especially when, crores of Rs. Otherwise spent making life unnecessarily easier for customers can be pocketted with little effort by removing them and updating their infotainment software

[TrackDay]

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[greenhorn]

Bad idea. Honda had removed all buttons in the 9th gen civic premium models ( my 2014 civic didn't have any buttons) but they had to put it back due to overwhelming customer feedback. But given Tata's history of deleting features, I doubt they are coming back

[amol4184]

Who exactly is demanding these "features"? I refuse to believe this came out of market survey.

Starting with e-brake, then gear shifters, now to a/c and other controls. None of these changes have improved my overall experience in the car in fact it has become frustrating and less intuitive. Tesla even moved gear shifter to touch screen.

In few years, physical controls will be a rarity and I will gladly pay extra to give me buttons. They make phones with big tactile feel buttons for seniors, so I hope they make cars with senior buttons too. I'll sign up.

[100Rabh]

Bad move, Tata. Physical buttons are by far easier to use in a running car as compared to the touch buttons and definitely safer too. Our muscle memory can easily remember position of physical buttons, I doubt if we could do the same with touch buttons.

[ASP007]

Was that really needed after the running success of the Nexon? Steering wheel controls may be an alternative, but what about XE and XM variants? A company that emphasizes on safety of their cars shouldn't have done this. Penny wise Pound foolish.

[landcruiser123]

How ironic, especially for a car (& brand) that prides itself on safety being its USP.

[V.Narayan]

I am usually not given to strong words {put it to age or laziness} but this move to touch screen operations whether of the entertainment modules or the core operation of the car is a stupid move against safety. Displaying information on a screen is one thing and making operations through a touch screen is an entirely different matter.

A driver of a car, like a pilot of an aircraft should be able to drive/fly without taking his/her eyes off the windscreen. For that all controls should be - (a) in easy arms length reach; (b) tactile and uniquely so; (c) positioned clearly away from other similar controls; and (d) have an audible or visual feedback that the switch/knob has worked. This is ergonomics 1.01.

Touch screens don't meet any of these criterion and worse of all require the driver to take his/her eyes off the road to look at the bloody touch screen, then point his finger and press all of which can take between 0.5 to 2.0 seconds long enough for the scenario on the road and traffic around to change dramatically.

The ultimate ergonomics are found on jet fighter aircraft where we use a concept called HOTAS (hands on throttle and stick) i.e. all key control buttons/switches needed in a majority of combat situations are either on the throttle (accelerator) or stick (steering wheel) and because all controls are tactile the pilot trains to handle all controls blind folded. Now that maybe an extreme we don't need drivers to be accomplished in but you get the drift. Controls fitted on the steering wheel of a car is a positive move in the direction of HOTAS.

[ramharis]

Definitely not a good strategy. Tata has decided to make life hard for people. This only pushes people to go to lower trims and add aftermarket system with a big screen and faster units.

Wonder why manufacturer do such incredibly bad things ?
More income option to govt, make usage of music system in cars prohibited because the driver takes his eyes off road use them.

Why has all car manufacturers stopped listing to customers ? Or are they listening to customers and then doing exactly the opposite.

[aayusht]

Originally Posted by whitewing

And imagine the spurt of accidents, because the drivers forgot to wear conductive footwear

And imagine an iteration where instead of the steering wheel, you have a tablet. Swipe left to turn left swipe right to turn right. What would happen on our Indian roads where sometime a turn is diagonal?

[amitayu]

This seems to be, in an obtuse sense, modernisation or keeping with the times.

Unlike us BHP-ians, there is an enthusiasm for such tech-rich features in cars. I have met people who suggested the Sync-3 in my car is a backdated device because it has old school physical buttons. many expect ICE units to be 'modern' like the mobile phones, with full bezel display and no physical buttons.

BTW, how much of a cost difference would it probably make for the producer to do away with physical buttons. I can understand less parts/components, less wiring and electronics, maybe lower assembling time.
What would be the margin of difference that may entice producers to go for such units?

[ashokabs]

Much Ado About Nothing!

Most people would use the steering mounted controls for safe driving. Even push buttons or switches are not safe.

[Pulse500]

Very bad decision indeed.

I would never like to buy a vehicle that has no physical buttons for controlling music system volume, air-conditioning temperature and fans, cabin and external lights, phone-calls, emergency switches, door/window/mirror controls and menu options for any infotainment screens.

Physical buttons also must be properly sized, shaped for giving appropriate tactile feel, and must be accessible at the right locations, so that driver is not distracted while on road or when handling tricky situations (e.g. reducing audio volume / mute, reduce AC fan speed if noisy, drop BT calls etc). A bad audio track or corrupt MP3 file can also be extremely distracting.

I hate touch screens in cars especially if the driver has to be dependent on it. I have seen touch screens from greatest manufacturers misbehave, whether wet / sweaty / oily fingers, high humidity/dust, micro scratches or cracks, sometimes unknown reasons. They use a thin capacitive sensor matrix, right? And in automobiles, nobody can control scratches and car screens are not like a phones or tablets which we replace every 1-3 years.

Touch screens might be acceptable for rear passenger headrest entertainment, but definitely not as the main control/HU/infotainment units which car drivers use heavily during while watching the roads.

In near future, for cost savings, automakers may even think of replacing ABC pedals with pressure sensitive electronic pedal switches or touch switches, like that in EVs :-)

[TorqMaster]

I have Dec 2020 Nexon AMT. almost all of those functions are found on the steering wheel. The driver can use the steering to operate the buttons. The passengers can use the touch screen since the functions are found there too.

My personal opinion based on my experience-
I have got used to the position of the horn and the switches now and I barely ever made a mistake of hitting the wrong button. I also don’t feel the need to take my eyes off the road to do these .

[aniyo]

Tata has a history of deleting features. I January 2019 they deleted speed sensing lock stating safety. Idiots. After which they deleted rear charging point.
They use to provide air vent instead of ac vents, I am stuck with Air vents.

The physical buttons are easily accessible with hand on gear or the arm rest. As others have mentioned when the screen freezes we just reset using physical buttons.

I am sure that Tata can never build a long term brand. The people are very shortsighted. I like the Nexon though I miss a few features.

I may be completely off the mark here but I think Tata also wants an exit option from the PV business and they want to ensure a good valuation. I hope this is my fictional imagination and not what Tata is thinking