Euro NCAP's 2026 Rules Are Quietly Bringing Buttons Back to the Cabin

Physical controls have slipped back into the spotlight, and this time it is the safety rating system rather than nostalgia driving the change. Under Euro NCAP’s updated 2026 Safe Driving assessment, cars are now scored on whether essentials — turn indicators, wipers, hazard lights, the horn and the eCall emergency button — can each be operated through a direct, physical input rather than a touchscreen menu. The results released this year show just how wide the spread already is.

The Audi Q7 managed a full 100% for essential driving controls and 90% overall in the driving-controls category, while the Kia EV2 also put in a strong showing. The BMW iX3 matched the Q7’s perfect score, and the Cupra Raval reached 80%. Chinese-brand models came out at the other end of the table: the Aion UT and Zeekr 7GT each managed 20%, and the Leapmotor B05 scored nothing at all. The Geely E2, at 80%, stood out as the exception among Chinese entrants.

What makes this a genuine industry storyline rather than a footnote in a test report is the geography of the results. With manufacturers from China pushing hard into European showrooms, cockpit architecture — once a design question — has turned into a ratings liability. Programme Director Aled Williams pointed out that Xpeng stayed with touchscreen-based control despite clear customer pushback, and he called on other carmakers to follow the lead of Audi and Kia instead. The Xpeng X9, which scored only 20% on the physical-control measurement, also lost ground on speed assistance, where it struggled with conditional speed limits over a 2,000 km road test.

It is worth stressing that the scores do not sink overall safety ratings. Every vehicle mentioned, the X9 included, still received five stars, and the Mazda 2 Hybrid held onto the four stars it inherits from its Toyota Yaris sibling. The BYD Shark pickup also took five stars, though it carried a side curtain airbag penalty. The takeaway is subtler than a pass or fail verdict: the ratings now express a preference, and that preference runs against the screen-everything philosophy that has dominated interior design for the past decade.

The practical consequence for automakers selling into Europe is that a single global dashboard layout may no longer be enough. Region-specific hardware — real knobs, stalks and switches for the functions regulators care about — could become part of the cost of doing business, particularly for brands trying to build trust with European buyers. Whether that reverses the broader drift toward minimalist cabins is an open question, but the direction of the incentive is no longer ambiguous.