In a recent interview with the Lexus UK blog, general manager of Lexus Design Koichi Suga suggests that future vehicles will move back to touchscreens for infotainment — here’s the direct quote:
“Interior design is becoming more important, as new technologies need to be well executed and well integrated. Lexus interiors have always focused on their human machine interface technologies, ensuring that these are easy to use, easy to operate and easy to monitor. Now people seem to prefer touchscreens, so we need to respond to that demand.”
The Remote Touch controller debuted with the 2010 RX crossover, and quickly replaced touchscreens across the Lexus lineup. Only the Lexus GX survived intact, which can be attributed to a cabin design unchanged since 2013:
Moving back to touchscreen interfaces would transform how Lexus interiors are designed, as most current vehicles have displays embedded deep in the dashboard, making them difficult to reach by hand. There’s also the question of what would happen to the Remote Touch controller — is Lexus willing to drop the whole thing after such a significant investment of time and energy?
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