Why the 2026 Mazda CX-5 ditches physical controls

The next-generation 2026 Mazda CX-5 will ditch physical climate controls and a rotary dial for its infotainment system, eschewing long-standing mainstays for the Japanese auto brand. However, Mazda promises its new touchscreen-based controls won’t be distracting.

“Mazda’s driving philosophy remains the same,” Mazda’s project manager of in-vehicle technologies and human-machine interfaces, Matthew Valbuena, told Motor1.

“We are focused on minimising driver distraction.

“Even though our approach to the solution may be different than what we have done previously, the goal is the same – it’s how do we give the driver the connectivity and the features they are looking for, but in a safe way that does not distract their driving,” he added.

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Mazda has been offering models with a rotary dial for infotainment since the MZD Connect system debuted for 2014 in the third-generation Mazda 3.

At the time, it said the new system was designed with a “top priority on safe driving [that] minimises the factors that lead to driver distraction”, with a “commander knob designed to be operated by touch alone”.

The brand currently offers a range of infotainment systems, each confusingly with different operating principles.

For example, MZD Connect remains in the ageing Mazda 2 and CX-3, and features the rotary dial and touch functionality for the screen but only when the vehicle is parked.

The following generation of Mazda infotainment tech, Mazda Connect, debuted with the fourth-generation Mazda 3 launched in 2019. This saw the removal of touch functionality, with the infotainment screen controlled exclusively via the rotary controller.

To further confuse things, certain Mazdas running Mazda Connect subsequently gained touch functionality but only for use with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, which are notoriously finicky to use without a touchscreen.

This means some Mazda model lines either have or don’t have touch functionality, depending on the variant.

The new CX-5 – due in Australia in mid-2026 – moves to a 15.6-inch touchscreen, up from 10.25 inches to become Mazda’s largest in Australia… at least for now.

In the US market, it’ll also feature Google Built-in with embedded apps such as Google Maps and the Google Assistant, though Mazda Australia has yet to confirm if local CX-5s will also feature this functionality.

Mr Valbuena said “consumer sentiment will bolster the demand for this to propagate through the lineup”, indicating more Mazdas will ditch the rotary controller and physical climate controllers.

While the next CX-5 will have a huge touchscreen for a Mazda, they new mid-size SUV will soon be surpassed by its electric counterpart, the CX-6e.

The upcoming CX-6e, which like the 6e liftback is an electric vehicle (EV) developed and built by the Chinese Changan Mazda joint venture, has an enormous 26-inch touchscreen that effectively combines the digital instrument cluster, infotainment screen, and passenger display.

Unlike the outgoing CX-5, which has separate physical climate controls, the new CX-5 sees these moved to the touchscreen. However, they are anchored at the bottom so they’re always visible.

Mazda says there are still multiple ways to control various functions, including steering wheel controls and the embedded voice assistant. However, Mazda says the rotary controller was nixed for simplicity and ease of use, and due to the fact a majority of adults own a smartphone.

“Trying to control that great variety of apps with a singular command knob would be very difficult,” Mr Valbuena told Motor1.

“We didn’t want to have this super complicated user experience that required reading a massive owner’s manual. We wanted that kind of jump in and go and discover, and this system delivers that.”

Mr Valbuena further compared the new and outgoing Mazda infotainment systems to the now-defunct iPod Classic and iPod Touch, saying: “Both can do the same things, but the iPod Touch has greater flexibility and can do more things than the iPod Classic.”

Mazda is the latest proponent of rotary infotainment controllers to move away from them.

Audi phased out its MMI rotary controller, while BMW has been progressively removing its iDrive controller – first in its new-generation compact models, and now with its Neue Klasse EVs.

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