Honda shifts back to buttons and dials

Honda has reverted to manual controls in its new Jazz at a time when most carmakers are focusing on expanding what can be done through touchscreens.

The latest Jazz has dials to operate the heating and air conditioning rather than a screen, as in the model’s previous generation.

Jazz project leader Takeki Tanaka says the reason for the change is “quite simple”.

“We wanted to minimise driver disruption for operation, in particular, for the heater and air conditioning,” he explains to Autocar.

“We changed it from touchscreen to dial operation, as we received customer feedback that it was difficult to operate intuitively. You had to look at the screen to change the heater seating, therefore, we changed it so one can operate it without looking, giving more confidence while driving.”

Honda’s re-introduction of dials comes as other marques move to touchscreen-only controls and functions.

However, while the Japanese carmaker has gone back to basics in some areas, the Jazz’s infotainment system is more high-tech than before. Among its features is the Honda Personal Assistant, which is billed as an artificial intelligence assistant that can understand multiple requests at one time.

The Jazz also features a hybrid powertrain with a 1.5-litre petrol engine, two electric motors and a lithium-ion battery. This allows the car to produce a combined output of 80kW/109 PS and 253Nm of torque, and it can accelerate from 0-100kph in 9.4 seconds.