Egg cartons, zippers, nail clippers, manual gear layouts—solutions so good they’re invisible. Like these, car design once mastered function over form.
Yet, some manufacturers abandon proven answers for trends and cost-cutting disguised as innovation. Physical climate control buttons swapped for touchscreens, often cheaper but less safe.
Instrument clusters removed entirely.
Shiny piano black surfaces that scratch and smudge if you so much as look at them.
Is replacing a broken screen or a scratched piano-black surface really cheaper for the customer, or just a trick to make more money by solving problems that were artificially introduced?
A good car — like any good product — shouldn’t get in your way.
It should work intuitively, predictably, and let you focus on what matters.
I’d rather drive my 16-year-old Golf than buy a new car that tries to turn the wheel square.
Here’s hoping the industry remembers that great design solves problems, not creates them.