The end of touch-button VW interiors is near.
When Volkswagen moved on from the nearly universally loved Mk7 Golf, fans weren’t entirely happy with the results. The Mk8 hatch brought more controversial looks and a new interior, both of which felt like steps backwards. Thankfully, it seems that Volkswagen has heard your complaints and is making some changes for the updated 2024 Golf, and we should even get a peek at them before the end of next month.
Most of the Mk8 Golf’s complaints came from inside the cabin. The Mk7 Golf that preceded it had one of the best interiors on the market for the money. Its build and material quality were higher than almost anything else in its price range, and its infotainment system and ergonomics were delightfully simple and easy to use. However, the Mk8 Golf’s cabin lacked that thoughtful touch, introducing tons of complexity to its user interface, with touch-sensitive buttons for volume, fan, and steering wheel controls, as well as a lack of illuminated dashboard buttons.
Volkswagen
The 2024 VW Golf won’t be a new model but an “evolutionary development of the eighth Golf generation,” according to Volkswagen, and it comes just in time for the model’s 50th anniversary. With its facelift, the “Mk8.5” Golf, as some have called it, has the opportunity to address most, if not all, of the issues that plagued its predecessor, from exterior design, to interior fit and finish, to assisted driving features and, most importantly, “next-generation infotainment systems and software.”
This news piggybacks previous statements from VW execs recognizing the need to bring physical buttons back to their interiors. Back in June, VW CEO Thomas Schäfer said touch-button interiors “definitely did a lot of damage” to its customer base. More recently, VW’s interior designer Darius Watola said that physical buttons are coming back to all of the brand’s interiors, even for EVs.
We’ll see how much better this updated Mk8 Golf will be in a few weeks when it’s finally revealed, and pre-sales are scheduled to begin in the spring. Hopefully when we do finally get some seat time in the new Golf, there isn’t a capacitive button in arm’s reach.
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