‘It’s hard to put craftsmanship on a touchscreen’, says Aston Martin boss

Aston Martin remains committed to physical controls in its cars following customer feedback, one of the firm’s development bosses has stated.

Neil Hughes, head of product management at Aston Martin, told the PA news agency that it was ‘hard to put craftsmanship on a touchscreen’ and that he thought the car industry had reached ‘peak touchscreen’.

“I think we’re off the peak of that, and some lessons have been learned across the industry that customers want a choice of both, and you can go too far with one.

“It’s very hard to put craftsmanship on a touchscreen, whereas a luxury brand like us, we want to show detailing.”

Hughes was speaking at a preview event for the new DBX707. Acting as Aston Martin’s flagship performance SUV, the DBX707 has been upgraded with a new touchscreen and driver display but, crucially, a large number of physical controls for some of the car’s features.

It shuns a trend which has seen many car manufacturers adopt a screen-centric approach with many firms housing all of a car’s key settings and controls within the main touchscreen.

The DBX707 retains key ‘hard controls’ for systems such as the driving modes, suspension, exhaust and heating and ventilation adjustment.

“You can familiarise yourself with it, you can have the muscle memory, you know where they are”, added Hughes.

“You’re not fumbling around looking for touch buttons for those items. You want ready access on a day-to-day basis without having to figure out through sub-menus on the main display.”