The company’s design boss believes oversized displays will eventually become obsolete.
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.
Alfa Romeo Cuorerrosso concept interior
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 In his view, the mine’s-bigger-than-yours race doesn’t make much sense because screens eventually become outdated, potentially turning into expensive liabilities as technology moves on.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. One display can handle navigation while the other shows driving information. The idea is to eliminate the need for a conventional central touchscreen while keeping essential functions within easy reach.
Alfa Romeo Cuorerrosso concept interior with one dial
Alfa Romeo Cuorerrosso concept interior with two dials
“I want to have an infotainment screen but I don’t want to have it on all the time, so I want to hide it,” Mesonero-Romanos said. The designer acknowledges that large screens remain popular across the industry, but he believes those who buy an Alfa Romeo want something different.
It’s a bold position, especially as automakers keep advertising screen size as a selling point. Still, Alfa Romeo hopes there’s a sizable audience that would rather have a cabin designed around driving than one that resembles a rolling tablet.
Alfa Romeo Cuorerrosso center console
The Cuorerosso’s interior doesn’t reject digital technology altogether. Instead, it pairs it with conventional controls, including physical buttons, dials, and switches for frequently used functions like adjusting the temperature and fan speed.
At the center of the cabin, a console integrates a discreet digital display into a surface designed around physical controls. Secondary information, such as the currently playing song or navigation instructions, can appear when needed and disappear when it isn’t.
Whether that vision will translate directly into production cars remains to be seen. The Cuorerosso is a concept, not a confirmed preview of a specific model, and Alfa Romeo hasn’t outlined exactly which interior features will make the transition to showrooms. Nevertheless, the message is clear: the company wants to stand apart in an industry where many dashboards are starting to look remarkably similar.
I’ll continue to die on the button hill, and it’s refreshing to see Alfa Romeo share that philosophy. To its credit, the Italian brand hasn’t gone gaga over giant screens like so many other automakers, resisting the temptation to turn every dashboard into a glorified tablet.
In an industry where bigger displays have become a selling point in their own right, Alfa Romeo seems to understand that good interior design isn’t about screen size but about how everything works together.
Here’s hoping others follow suit before we’re all driving oversized smartphones with wheels. Well, I guess it’s already too late for that.
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