FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wibbleton Motors is delighted to unveil what it calls the most significant leap in cabin interaction in over a decade: the Tactile Input Initiation Node, known to customers, engineers and your nan as ‘a button’. Following Euro NCAP’s 2026 safety protocols, which now reward cars that keep physical controls for indicators, wipers, hazard lights and the horn, the company says it is proud to be ‘leading the industry in following the industry’.
A Seamless, Frictionless, Pressable Experience
Unlike earlier interfaces, the button works without a software update. It does not need Wi-Fi. It has never asked you to accept new terms and conditions at a roundabout. It has never displayed a spinning circle while you tried to demist a windscreen. You press it, and the thing happens. Wibbleton’s engineers describe this as ‘immediate, deterministic outcome delivery’, and then, when pressed, as ‘sort of the whole idea’.
‘We spent years asking how we could make the driver experience more immersive. It turns out the answer was a small plastic circle that does one job. I am slightly embarrassed, but mainly very excited.’
Priya Raman, Chief Experience Officer, Wibbleton Motors
Eyes On The Road, Finger On The Future
Perhaps the most exciting feature is that the button can be found without taking your eyes off the road. Using a proprietary system called ‘knowing where it is’, drivers can locate the control by feel alone. Early testers were able to turn the heating down on the A14 near Huntingdon without opening Settings, then Climate, then Zones, then a submenu called Comfort Preferences, where the temperature was inexplicably sitting next to a picture of a seat.
The company also confirms that the hazard light button is red, triangular and in the same place every time. Wibbleton’s design team admits this was ‘a bold creative direction’ that took several months to approve, mostly because nobody could believe it was allowed.
‘In our focus groups, people kept reaching for the button without looking, and then smiling. One man cried a little in a Greggs car park. We have chosen to see that as a positive metric.’
Graham Tellick, Head of Tactile Futures, Wibbleton Motors
Flexible Ownership Options
In keeping with modern expectations, the button also comes with an optional subscription to be pressed. Button+ Premium costs £14.99 a month and unlocks what Wibbleton calls ‘enhanced pressing’, which is the same pressing, but with a small chime and a thank you message. Customers who decline the subscription will still be able to press the button. It will simply feel, according to the brochure, ‘a little bit judged’.
The Wiper Stalk, Reimagined
In what the company describes as its boldest move yet, the wiper stalk has been reimagined as a wiper stalk. It sits on the steering column. You move it, and the wipers wipe. There is no ‘Rain Sensitivity Calibration’ screen, no voice assistant asking ‘Did you mean windows?’, and no moment of quiet despair on the M6 while the sky opens and you scroll through a menu for the speed setting you want. Industry observers have called the redesign ‘staggering’, ‘unprecedented’, and ‘oh, thank God’.
The horn, meanwhile, has been returned to the centre of the steering wheel, where it can be pressed with the full force of one’s feelings. Wibbleton says that during testing, drivers reported a 100 per cent increase in the ability to express themselves to a Vauxhall Corsa at a mini roundabout.
‘I pressed the button, and the thing happened. I sat in a lay-by outside Peterborough for ten minutes just doing it again. I know it sounds daft, but I felt in control of my own life.’
Deborah Pugh, regional sales manager and beta tester
The button will be available across the entire Wibbleton range from next spring, with the touchscreen remaining for those who enjoy it. A spokesperson confirmed that the touchscreen will continue to handle maps, music and the occasional firmware update titled ‘Improvements’, which nobody has ever been able to locate.
About Wibbleton Motors
Wibbleton Motors is a family of vehicles built in the sincere belief that you should be able to turn the fan down without having a minor crisis. Founded in Stoke-on-Trent, the company employs over 4,000 people, around 3,000 of whom have, at some point, been unable to find the demister.
