Volkswagen CEO criticizes feature that's becoming increasingly popular in car design

Car design in 2025 has shifted towards a futuristic-looking, aerodynamic, and flat aesthetic, but Volkswagen CEO has called out one feature that’s becoming increasingly popular, and has ditched it in the latest ID model.

Maybe it was the Cybertruck that started this trend, or EVs as a whole, but cars are quickly losing the smooth curves that we know and love, and instead are opting for flat bodies with harsh lines.

The Volkswagen ID series is no different, with the multiple models in this range all moving over to have similar bodywork.

The crux of this is the removal of handles in favour of the pop-outs, but Volkswagen CEO Thomas Schäfer has hit out at the dysfunctional feature.

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Volkswagen CEO hates pop-out door handles

Cars have all sorts of new inventions, and door handles seem to be the latest point of interest. One Italian manufacturer has replaced the handles with toy pistols, while the gullwing style of doors remains a cool feature that requires a push of a button.

Pop-out door handles are increasingly trendy.

However, Volkswagen CEO Thomas Schäfer has had enough of them.

Speaking to Deutsche Welle at the IAA Mobility Show in Munich, Schäfer claimed that the pop-out door handles are ‘terrible to operate’.

“People expect familiarity with the brand that they’re buying into. From that point of view, we are getting back to functions that have to be easy to use.

“It’s all nice if you have these flush door handles, but they are terrible to operate.”

So much so that they are leaving this feature behind.

“We give the people what they’re asking for. We study a lot, get the feedback from customers, dealers, from the media, and we take that seriously,” he said.

What is the alternative?

Cars are seemingly foregoing the old and simple handle, with the doors now being completely flat. Whether that’s an aesthetic approach or for performance, that’s up for debate.

But for Volkswagen, it’s not the pop-out door handles; how do you open the car?

Well, Schäfer has the answer to that, too.

Modern Volkswagen cars have taken heed of the ‘if you can’t go forward, you must go back’ motif and reverted to a crank button handle with the new ID.2 Polo.

While it’s only a tiny feature in otherwise brilliant cars, this doubling-back of modern design could be an indication that manufacturers are trying too hard to keep up with the futuristic tech models pioneered by the likes of the Tesla Cybertruck.

Especially given that Schäfer claims the Volkswagen drivers asked for it.

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