Volkswagen vows to fix infotainment system flaws

Volkswagen CEO Thomas Schäfer has admitted mistakes were made when developing its latest MIB3 infotainment system, but he has vowed to fix it.

Speaking to Car magazine, Schäfer confirmed a huge update was on the way to address the system’s multiple failings.

The same update could also improve the latest operating system offered by both Skoda and Cupra.

“We know what we need to do,” Schäfer said. “We’ve got feedback from customers, we’ve feedback from clinics and from journalists … They say, ‘You know this is not good. You’ve got to improve this.’”

Announcing the overhaul would begin as soon as “this winter” in Europe, an update is now thought to be a matter of weeks away.

Schäfer said he hoped the new ‘3.0 software’ would address many of the criticisms levelled at the system from owners, including the lack of illumination on the hard-to-see sliders that control the heater and radio volume at night.

The update will also increase the speed the system operates and introduce new features.

As well as enhancing the software, some hardware would be improved to make the infotainment more intuitive.

This includes either binning or overhauling the touch-capacitive buttons on the steering wheel, although those changes won’t be implemented until much later down the line in 2024.

Owning up to the faults, Schäfer said that VW would not let such fundamental mistakes happen again, with the car giant’s board now meeting monthly to monitor the progress of the infotainment updates.

“We now have regular clinics, much more than we did before. We use random people. If you asked our own employees all the time, they’ll say that it’s great. But they’re biased!” said Schäfer.

“You need to take people from all walks of life, including ages. We ask them: ‘Does this work for you? Yes or no?’ You find out how simply people can find functions. I hope we will speed this up, and it’ll become like a normal exercise in projects for us.”

Future Volkswagen Group models will also have their own brand identity when it comes to cabins, says Schäfer, while he has tasked designers to make it easier for drivers to find the starter button, volume controls and hazard warning light button.

“We are trying to clinic it from a logic approach,” he said.

“We say, ‘What are the top 10 functions that customers always need?’ We put them on the first level in hard buttons. Then on the next 20 functions, where do we put them? We put some logic into it. And then keep it the bloody same. Don’t change it around.”

For everything you auto know about EVs, listen to carsales' Watts Under the Bonnet: the electric car podcast

Join the conversation at 

our Facebook page

Or email us at 

editor@carsales.com.au