5 Reasons Why New Cars Have Screens

Displays have muscled their way into taking over the dashboards in modern vehicles.

Benjamin Hunting | 

Jun 13, 2024 | 5 min read

Mercedes-Benz

If you sit behind the wheel of a vehicle produced a decade ago, then get into the driver's seat of a brand-new car right after, you'll immediately be struck by how different the dashboard looks. While in-vehicle screens were primarily a luxury in the early 2010s, they are now standard equipment in almost every new model on the market, a fact that dramatically changes not just cabin styling but also how drivers and passengers interact with automobiles.

Here's a look at the proliferation of these screens that have forced a change in automotive interior design and impacted how modern vehicles look, feel, and function.

U.S. Law Made Backup Cameras Mandatory

Backup cameras are an essential safety device, especially given that today's cars, vans, SUVs, and trucks are growing larger, making it difficult for drivers to see behind the vehicle while reversing.

The federal law making backup cameras standard equipment on all new automobiles was passed in 2008. Still, it took a long time to cut through the red tape necessary to make it an enforceable regulation. After working with car companies to ensure the new rearview camera systems were affordable, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration finally mandated that all vehicles sold after May 2018 must include this feature as standard equipment.

Naturally, a backup camera without a screen to display the video feed is useless. Although some vehicles showed the backup video through the rearview mirror, the mandatory display requirement was a huge part of the push to include screens in every automobile on sale today.

Infotainment and Navigation Are Now Expected

The proliferation of mobile phones in the late 2000s changed owner expectations regarding the infotainment features they expected in their new cars and trucks. Specifically, streaming entertainment and GPS navigation features have become integral to most people's daily lives, especially during a long commute.

As a result, automakers have prioritized having these features available in almost all vehicles. Once restricted to upper trim levels or luxury models, the market for in-dash navigation has nearly doubled over the past several years.

Even greater momentum surrounded the integration of smartphone access into vehicle infotainment. Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, two systems that mirror a mobile device's apps on a touchscreen, are available on nearly all new vehicle models and are often included as standard equipment. Through these new screens, in-car infotainment systems can now allow streaming audio entertainment and link to popular navigation software such as Google Maps and Waze.

Manuel Carillo III | Capital One

Higher Feature Count Pushes Automakers Toward More Car Screens

Advanced infotainment, mobile phone integration, and navigation all require a screen in a vehicle to interact with. However, the utility of screens to add features to an automobile isn't just restricted to mapping or mobile phone apps.

As vehicles become more complex with added infotainment features, screens allow manufacturers to introduce perks and capabilities that are impossible otherwise. These include in-depth data displays such as the Performance Pages app offered by Stellantis' high-performance SRT-brand vehicles that allow owners to keep track of things such as lap times and acceleration runs. Off-roaders can keep track of vehicle incline, decline, and other trail data on gauge cluster displays in trucks such as the Chevrolet Colorado ZR2 and Trail Boss models.

Touchscreens also allow car companies to offer over-the-air (OTA) software updates that can install new features and fix system issues using an internet connection rather than forcing owners to head into the dealership. These OTA updates can be scheduled using the touchscreen so they don't interfere with everyday driving.

Car Screen Designs Encourage Different Styling Choices

Practical and aesthetic considerations have also driven the proliferation of screens inside current automobiles. Automakers have discovered it's possible to replace physical buttons and switchgear functionality using onscreen icons. In some car interiors, this solves the problem of finding the real estate on the dashboard, console, or steering wheel to place button, switch, or dial hardware.

This is especially true of models that strive to maximize cabin space, where console buttons can interfere with cupholder, shifter, armrest, or bin placement. As there's usually no dashboard or console to access, rear passengers can also get in on infotainment fun through on-screen controls versus designers trying to find space to cram physical buttons and toggles in the rear passenger space.

To some, from a design perspective, a passenger compartment with fewer buttons is more pleasing to the eye, mainly because of its smoother surfaces. As more vehicles move to screen-heavy designs, especially electric cars, those that retain their analog looks and physical switches risk appearing dated in some customers' minds.

Car Screens Are Cheaper to Produce

Lower production and development cost is another driver pushing automotive interior designers away from physical controls and toward screens. As consumers have seen with the evolution of less expensive flatscreen televisions and monitors, in-car touchscreens are becoming markedly cheaper to produce, with prices dropping in some cases as manufacturing costs have plummeted over the past decade.

This cost saving is true even as the size of vehicle screens has grown. The cost advantage is substantial compared with the investment required to produce and maintain switches, buttons, and other vehicle controls. Overall, a single, inexpensive, do-it-all screen is considerably more economical for a car company.

Benjamin Hunting

Benjamin Hunting is a writer and podcast host who contributes to a number of newspapers, automotive magazines, and online publications. More than a decade into his career, he enjoys keeping the shiny side up during track days and always has one too many classic vehicle projects partially disassembled in his garage at any given time. Remember, if it's not leaking, it's probably empty.