BMW Producing Cars Without Touchscreens Due to Chip Crisis

We’ve become accustomed to certain luxuries as modern drivers. Features such as Apple CarPlay, heated steering, and smart navigation have all become available at the touch of an 8-inch screen. But now, even the chip shortage is threatening to take away those new age advancements. BMW recently confirmed its decision to manufacture cars without touchscreens due to the ongoing chip crisis.

Read on to find out why the German automaker will produce certain models sans touchscreens and what this spells out for the automotive industry.

Cars without touchscreens? What’s next?

As of late, we’ve watched just about every automaker halt or pace out production in an attempt to harvest microchip supplies. Some automakers have even made the difficult decision to eliminate select driver assist technologies to accommodate the shortage. All said and done, these decisions are not made lightly. No automaker wants to willingly take a loss after feeling the depths of the pandemic.

To add to the situation, new car sales have reportedly dropped by 26%, which further demonstrates just how fed up consumers are with limited supplies and high price tags. More so, consumers can’t turn to used or pre-owned alternatives for the exact same reason. That leaves a number of consumers at a standstill thanks to the encroaching semiconductor chip shortage.

However, this week’s news shows a new epoch of the chip crisis. Cars being made without modern functionalities echos an eerie road ahead for the automotive industry. If more automakers, like BMW, have to start removing technologies that drivers essentially “pay the price” for, then why would drivers really foot the bill for such high sticker prices? It doesn’t add up.

What BMW models will lose the touchscreen function?

Pretty soon BMW dealerships across the nation will receive the latest shipment of cars without touchscreens. The affected 2022 models include:

• 3 Series
• 4 Series
• X5
• X6
• X7
• Z4

But wait, there’s more

As mentioned before, the probability of consumers paying top-dollar for a vehicle with missing functions is zero to none. To remedy this, BMW dealerships will offer a discount in its place. All cars sold without touchscreens will receive a price reduction of $500.

While the discount definitely sweetens the deal, cars without touchscreens are not the only loss for BMW models. For vehicles equipped with the Parking Assistant Package, the Backup Assistant feature will no longer be available. Basically, this function saves repeat driving behavior, such as backing out of a driveway, and allows the driver to initiate autonomous movements.

Will drivers buy cars without touchscreens?

Cars without touchscreens may just be the beginning of more change to come. The chip crisis has ravaged the automotive industry, all the way from production to the driving experience. We suspect consumers might be weary of investing in one of these models even with the incentivized discount.

At length, once you know what’s it’s like driving a car with modern amenities, it’s a bit difficult to turn time. Are cars without touchscreens the end of the world? Definitely not. But when market prices teeter on the scale of costly, consumers won’t be so inclined to buy a vehicle without having all there is to offer.

What do you think of cars without touchscreens? Would you buy a BMW model without this function? Comment below.