China Will Save Your Car’s Interior

China is taking car interiors back to the future. Hot on the heels of banning electrically operated door handles, it now has yoke steering wheels and digital buttons in its sights.

The former only really affects the Tesla Model S and Lexus RZ, though the aircraft-style yoke was expected to become more popular as manufacturers adopted steer-by-wire.

Like the door handle ban, however, the mandating of physical interior controls will have far-reaching consequences across the entire industry.

As reported by CarNewsChina, China’s Ministry of Industy and Information Technology (MIIT), new vehicles approved from July 1, 2026 will require physical control buttons for most major functions and prescribe specific dimensions, usability and reliability.

While the trend has been worldwide, many Chinese manufacturers have a heavy reliance on the central infotainment touchscreen for not just navigation and media but seats, safety systems, heating and ventilation and more.

The revision to the existing national standard GB4094-2016 – marking of automotive control components, indicators and signaling devices – began in 2023, including consultation with testing institutions and manufacturers such as Geely, BYD and Great Wall, with a draft for public comment expected to be released soon.

This mandates physical controls for lighting (indicators, hazards, horn), gear shifting, activating driver assistance systems, and basic controls like wipers, demisting, power windows, emergency calls and electric vehicle power off.

Switches will also be assessed on sensory feedback, ability to be used without sight to reduce driver distraction and to ensure the functions remain active in the event of a loss of power.  

The proliferation of large screens in vehicles has come under increasing criticism from a number of designers, with Audi’s chief creative officer, Massimo Frascella, saying “Big screens are not the best experience” and former Apple designer Jony Ive, who collaborated with Ferrari on the interior of its first EV, says screens are “the wrong technology to be the primary interface.”

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