Alfa Romeo is also positioning itself against large screens: it prefers physical controls

The trend in new models is for them to have large multimedia screens that house most of the car’s digital systems. From the ADAS systems to the air conditioning, including the inevitable infotainment system. Some brands are betting on large screens, which manage almost everything that works on board. But there are dissenting voices that prefer to keep relying on physical controls.

Several brands have already taken a position in this curious screen war. Mercedes, for example, relies on large screens for its MBUX system, while others, such as DS, claim that not only are they not as efficient as people think, but they are also unattractive and inelegant. There is a bit of everything in this particular conflict. And now, Alfa Romeo is the one taking a position on this issue.

What the Italian manufacturer is seeking is to follow the path of simplicity and ease of use. As the brand’s CEO, Jean-Philippe Imparato, has stated, “our customers don’t want screens a metre long and 200 digital assistance systems that have to be connected and disconnected“.

From 2025, Alfa Romeo will begin using Stellantis’ new platform, called STLA Brain. When it uses this new architecture, it will apply the changes that future customers of the brand have requested. This indicates that there will be an instrument panel that uses both digital systems and physical controls.

The infotainment system aims to offer all the information needed for driving. But, of course, without needing to offer information that goes very far into the future. As an example, Imparato says that “I don’t need to know what the weather will be like three weeks from now. What I want is to drive“.

As regards autonomous driving applied to Alfa Romeo models, the brand’s CEO points out that there will be two positions: “I want to drive” and “I want to be driven“. When starting the car, the driver will have to select the mode they want at any given moment to prevent the assistance systems from acting if they do not want them to. These, by the way, will not be in the car for no reason.

The brand’s engineers want the ADAS systems to be tailored to the real needs of each model. According to Imparato, it is not a matter of fitting a system just because it is present in another brand, but of ensuring it really serves a purpose. So the great battle between brands with screens for everything and those that will use a mixed system, with physical controls.