For the past two decades, every automotive interior overhaul seems to have followed a singular mantra: “When in doubt, free up space.” And certainly, buyers have benefited from flatter rear compartment floors and the modern trend of removing intrusive stalks and oversized knobs. But as in all things, at some point along the line, we hit a point of diminishing returns.
Eventually, the same philosophy that drove interior volume improvements for decades was weaponized in the war on switches. Despite the growing expanses of negative space now occupying vast swaths of interior real estate, designers press on, generation after generation, “freeing up space” with each redesign. And every time, I ask the same thing: Freeing it up for what?
I’m serious. Buttons and dials have all but vanished. Switches, stalks, and knobs have been reduced to only the bare minimum. We have so much open space in some car interiors that automakers are fabricating elements out of thin air just to avoid shipping nothing instead. Remember this weird thing from the Hyundai Elantra?
This whole panel does nothing—not nothing I like, or nothing I care about—just nothing. Once we’ve collectively freed up so much space that the most affordable cars on the road are filling nothing with more nothing, I think it’s time to move on, don’t you?
Apparently, somebody at Subaru shares my frustration with do-nothing interior redesigns, because they absolutely hit it out of the park with the 2026 Outback’s dash. The new infotainment screen’s horizontal orientation cleared room to bring the physical HVAC controls back beneath it, while still accommodating a redesigned (much larger) storage bin and wireless charging cradle. But wait, there’s more!
Check out the cup holders. The new, elongated dogbone orientation accommodates all sorts of cups, thermoses, and, yes, even ceramic mugs. Plus, because the forward cup holder is now aligned with the shifter, it’s much easier to reach, especially for shorter drivers, who now only have to reach over and down—not rearward—to grab an item there.
See? While everybody else was busy making space, Subaru was making progress.
Yes, auto critics are obsessed with physical controls. And yes, many of us are olds (as evidenced by the fact that nobody has used that term for probably a decade now), but here’s the thing: we elderly folk (early millennials and up) are the ones buying all the new cars. Lo and behold, one of the most common complaints about the previous Outback’s tech was its incorporation of digital climate control buttons, which landed it on Subaru’s short list of things to address for the 2026 model.
Now, do audio next!
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Byron is an editor at The Drive with a keen eye for infrastructure, sales and regulatory stories.