Range Rover puts the brakes on screens, but is not bringing back real buttons

More screen is no longer luxury, according to Range Rover

Ryan Miller, Range Rover’s global director of product and service marketing, told Australian publication GoAuto that the company is deliberately stepping away from the race in which technological progress is effectively measured in square centimetres of screen area. Future models will have fewer and smaller displays, while Range Rover does not currently see a separate passenger display as necessary.

This is a fairly clear response to the current luxury-car trend. Mercedes-Benz offers an MBUX Hyperscreen measuring up to 39.1 inches in its newer electric models, while Chinese premium brands have made dashboards with multiple displays an almost obligatory statement. Range Rover wants to stand apart by moving in the opposite direction.

The idea is not a bad one. While rivals try to outdo each other with screens, true luxury may instead lie in an interior that does not resemble the TV aisle of an electronics store.

Range Rover GT shows the new direction

The upcoming Range Rover GT will be the first to demonstrate the new philosophy. The electric grand tourer, with a lower body and coupé-like roofline, will use one central touchscreen and a slimmer digital instrument cluster ahead of the driver. Range Rover describes the solution as technology that blends into the vehicle’s architecture rather than dominating it.

The change is significant because Range Rover has so far followed the growth in screen sizes fairly faithfully. The diagonal measurement of the Range Rover’s large central display grew from 8 inches in 2013 to two 10-inch screens in 2018. The current L460 generation took digitalisation even further.

A similar minimalism can already be seen in the current Range Rover Velar. With the 2023 model update, JLR removed the previous lower screen and consolidated the main functions into an 11.4-inch Pivi Pro touchscreen. According to the manufacturer, around 80 per cent of routine tasks can be completed in no more than two touches.

A smaller screen does not solve the ergonomics issue

This is where the more controversial side of Range Rover’s strategy emerges. Fewer screens do not mean more physical controls.

Multimedia, climate control and many other functions will remain controlled through the central touchscreen. Physical switches will be retained in a limited capacity, for example on the steering wheel and doors. Range Rover is therefore making the dashboard visually calmer, but it is not returning to the days when temperature or volume could be adjusted blindly with a rotary control.

This is precisely where minimalist design can conflict with ease of use. The Velar’s current solution illustrates the problem quite well. Euro NCAP has also criticised the removal of physical temperature and volume controls, as touchscreen use requires drivers to take their eyes off the road more often.

Range Rover’s argument is different. According to Miller, the brand wants to create a cabin that reduces visual and acoustic noise and shows the driver only the necessary information. This fits well with the brand’s “reductive design” philosophy of deliberately simplified design in recent years.

Minimalism could become a powerful weapon in European competition

Range Rover’s decision will be particularly interesting in the European market. German premium brands are increasingly using digital user interfaces as a selling point, while Chinese manufacturers are pushing into the luxury segment with huge screens, complex infotainment systems and extensive cabin technology.

The British brand is essentially trying to turn this race into a weakness. If everyone else adds screens, Range Rover can sell their absence as luxury.

This is not merely a design experiment. In June 2026, JLR confirmed that Range Rover’s future model range will use a more flexible powertrain strategy than before, and that new models will also arrive on the EMA architecture developed for electric vehicles. The GT is therefore highly likely to shape not only the interior of a single niche model, but also provide an indication of the overall direction of the next generation of Range Rovers.

If Range Rover can combine smaller screens with a genuinely fast and intuitive user interface, the strategy could work very well. If changing the climate-control temperature still requires precise targeting on a touchscreen, the result will simply be a smaller screen with the same old ergonomic problem.