With growing concerns drivers are distracted by fiddly touchscreens, a study has named and shamed the brands with the most difficult and convoluted systems to operate.
It comes as manufacturers from next year are threatened with having safety ratings for vehicles downgraded if simple functions in the cabin are not operated using buttons and instead require motorists to prod through various screen menus.
With these new rules imminent, Auto Express examined which car brands have the most complex infotainment systems.
The test, which focused on how drivers interact with the systems while on the move, ranked the screens based on how distracting they can be.
It found that Skoda has the easiest to use out of ten mainstream brands.
But which car maker has the worst, according to the test results?
Driven to distraction: Auto Express has tested 10 of the latest infotainment systems from mainstream brands and named which are most time-consuming to use...
Auto Express asked three drivers with varying degrees of experience of touchscreen systems to complete five common tasks while driving around a test track mimicking real-world road conditions.
This involved attempting to travel to a 20mph speed limit and navigate junctions and roundabouts while trying to make five relatively simple adjustments in the cabin.
These included: turning off Lane Keep Assist; turn on navigation and select ‘home’; increase the cabin temperature by two degrees; turn on the heated seats; and select radio and adjust the channel to BBC Radio 4.
Each brand's system was graded based on the time it took users to complete the changes, but also timed their circulations of the closed route to measure how much drivers were slowing down while distracted by the infotainment adjustments.
The average time to successfully complete setting changes in the Skoda Superb - featuring the Volkswagen Group's latest navigation system - was 4.8 seconds.
It was found to be the simplest to turn off the lane keep assistance safety feature and set a sat-nav destination, and was among the best performers across all five adjustments.
The Skoda Navigation system was rated best by Auto Express. It had the shortest average distraction time recorded
At the opposite end of the spectrum was Genesis - the luxury arm of Hyundai.
The 'ccIC' infotainment system in its GV60 SUV was ranked lowest of all ten touchscreens tested as it took drivers an average of 13.6 seconds to complete the five tasks - almost three times longer than when using Skoda's system.
The worst of these was turning off lane keep assist, which took 22.6 seconds - almost four times longer than drivers did in the top-ranked Skoda Superb (6.6 seconds).
It also took the test team an average of almost 20 seconds to change the sat-nav location to home and tune the radio, suggesting drivers needed to have their eyes off the road for a prolonged period of time to complete these relatively common tasks.
As such, the average lap time was also 36 seconds slower than what the drivers were told to aim for, which was among the biggest shortfalls across all brands examined.
The five tasks included: turning off Lane Keep Assist; turn on navigation and select ‘home’; increase the cabin temperature by two degrees; turn on the heated seats; and select radio and adjust the channel to BBC Radio 4
The 10 cars put to the test by Auto Express. Its editor says glitches in infotainment screens are common
Paul Barker, editor at Auto Express said: 'By combining myriad manual controls into a single digital system perched atop your dashboard, car makers are able to reduce time and money spent on design, development, manufacture and assembly, making significant savings across the board.
'However, as touchscreens become more complex, they are increasingly distracting.
'Glitches are also common, with screens occasionally freezing or failing to respond promptly, causing drivers to look away from the road longer than necessary.'
A Genesis spokesman said: 'While the test focused on accessing features and making changes through the infotainment screen, there are also shortcut direct access buttons for these most-used features on the steering wheel and on the central dash to do exactly the same thing.'
Genesis' 'ccIC' infotainment system was ranked lowest of all ten touchscreens tested as it took drivers an average of 13.6 seconds to complete the five tasks - almost three times longer than when using Skoda's system
The Genesis screen was tested in its GV60 SUV, pictured
UK drivers: Most of us want more buttons
The test comes as drivers - as well as road safety groups - call for car makers to simplify their dashboard controls to make changes to settings easier when on the move.
A poll of almost 1,500 drivers carried out by What Car? last year found that nine in ten motorists want manufacturers to take a step back in time and provide more buttons and switches.
Three in five polled told the automotive title that they had experienced been distracted by an infotainment display while driving in the past.
Some 89 per cent said they prefer having physical buttons, knobs and dials in their cars over touchscreen systems that can be 'fidgety, time-consuming and sometimes infuriating to operate' - especially when on the move.
The recent manufacturer fixation with providing complicated iPad-style gadgets is also becoming a major turn-off for car buyers.
Three in five (60 per cent) said they would be put off purchasing a model that didn't have traditional buttons and switches on the dashboard and relied heavily on touchscreen controls.
In contrast, just 8 per cent said they would be more attracted to a motor with a completely uncluttered cockpit with almost all the functions adjustable via a flashy touchscreen system.
VW is one of the brands that has received most criticism from drivers for replacing control buttons and switches with touch-sensitive haptic 'sliders', which are incredibly difficult to operate
Volkswagen, which was not included in Auto Express' test, is one brand that's received the most criticism for its infotainment controls, namely its haptic ‘sliders’ controls fitted below the touchscreen for the heating and volume in popular cars like the Golf.
Users have found this incredibly difficult to operate on the move and owners even more infuriated by the introduction of similar controls on the steering wheel.
Thomas Schäfer, chief executive at Volkswagen Passenger Cars, in 2022 confirmed it would ditch touch-sensitive haptic controls on the steering wheel, stating on LinkedIn: 'We are bringing back the push-button steering wheel! That's what customers want from VW.'
And last week, at the unveiling of the ID.Every1 concept - a first glimpse of the new ID.1 arriving in 2027 - VW design chief Andreas Mindt said more button controls would be returning to the German giant's cars from next year.
'From the ID.2all [due in 2026] onwards, we will have physical buttons for the five most important functions – the volume, the heating on each side of the car, the fans and the hazard light – below the screen,' Mindt said, according to Autocar.
'They will be in every car that we make from now on. We understood this.
'We will never, ever make this mistake any more. On the steering wheel, we will have physical buttons. No guessing any more. There's feedback, it's real, and people love this. Honestly, it's a car. It's not a phone: it's a car.'
VW design chief Andreas Mindt recently confirmed that more button controls would be returning to the German giant's cars from next year following customer feedback
The recent trend for removing buttons and adding more control functionality to touchscreens is said to be 'undermining' the ban on using a phone at the wheel.
Since March 2022, motorists caught by officers or AI roadside cameras touching a device will automatically receive six penalty points on their licence and a £200 fine (and if, within two years of passing your test, will cost you your licence).
Fortunately, new rules introduced next year could deter car manufacturers from increasing functionality into their touchscreen systems.
Independent car safety body Euro NCAP, will downgrade the safety ratings of cars that don't have physical buttons for controlling five key functions.
From 1 January 2026, vehicles without physical hard buttons or switches for the indicators, hazard lights, horn, windscreen wipers and SOS function will receive lower marks in crash tests.
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