Physical controls worked just fine for decades, but then the industry became obsessed with putting everything on a touchscreen. Now, Alfa Romeo is pushing back against the trend, with the company's design boss arguing that oversized displays are dictating interior design and could eventually become obsolete.
Speaking with British magazine Autocar, Alfa Romeo design boss Alejandro Mesonero-Romanos didn't mince words about the current trend. "Let's get rid of the screens," arguing that oversized displays are increasingly dictating dashboard design rather than serving the driver's needs.
He has a point: screens have indeed killed creativity, as dashboards are now built around them when they should be built around the driver. That's what happened when smartphones became prevalent: devices increasingly look alike compared to the pre-touchscreen era, when there was plenty of room for innovation.
Circling back to cars, Mesonero-Romanos also criticized the industry's "war of centimetres" as automakers compete to install increasingly large displays. In his view, the mine's-bigger-than-yours race doesn't make much sense because screens eventually become outdated, potentially turning into expensive liabilities as technology moves on.
Refreshingly, the gorgeous Cuorerosso concept unveiled earlier this month at the Paris Motor Show offers a glimpse of what that philosophy could mean for future Alfa Romeo interiors. Rather than filling the dashboard with digital real estate, the striking fastback embraces a cleaner design with technology that can effectively fade into the background.
One standout feature is a fresh take on the brand's traditional cannocchiale instrument cluster. The setup uses two round displays that can merge into a single unit, giving Alfa Romeo more flexibility in how it presents information to the driver.
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