Bojan Vrbnjak
Škoda Superb it has many friends in Europe, both as a hatchback and as a sedan. The newest generation Skoda's show horse will soon go on sale, and will roll off the production line at the same time as the hatchback VW Passat, which is also new.
Both models are based on digital cockpit. However, to our colleague Peter from the USA clearly doesn't like how it is Škoda placed the instruments in front of the driver. Does he know the base versions of the Mercedes EQE and EQS models? Here is Peter's opinion:
The automaker Škoda may not be familiar to US readers, but it is an important part of the VW Group in Europe. Think of the damage as Pontiac belonged to Chevrolet before GM recklessly dumped the brand in 2009 to avoid bankruptcy. Skoda makes a version of the Passat, the Superb, but in this case at least one part of the car doesn't live up to the Superb name.
The new digital instrument panel in the Superb looks like it was squeezed into the dash and nailed directly in front of the old analogue unit. The infotainment screen is also large and juts out of the dash, but at least it looks a bit framed. The instrument panel, however, is unapologetic and the area around the screen is huge. It looks like I was asked to do it. Oddly enough, the interior of the Volkswagen Passat, which is practically the same car, doesn't look like this. The screen itself is the same, but it is integrated into the instrument panel in a much more aesthetic way. The frame is barely recognizable. Very impressive.
To be honest, I don't think a lot of car manufacturers know what to expect from their customers in terms of their interior design preferences. Because of smartphones, some people like having a big screen in their car. It is so beautiful, so pleasant to the touch that they feel good about it. But others don't like it at all because they find it a big, rectangular block that's harder to use than real physical buttons. Regardless of which side of the fence you're on, I think we can all agree that there are better ways than Skoda's approach. If you're going to put a screen in your car, it should at least look like you didn't literally throw it in there.
