Alejandro Mesonero-Romanos has had enough of the screen arms race. The Alfa Romeo design boss looked at the industry’s march toward tablet-sized infotainment slabs and said the quiet part out loud: get rid of them.
According to Hagerty Media, Mesonero-Romanos told Autocar that Alfa is done chasing centimeters. “We are in search of emptiness,” he said. “Screens are nice when you’re sitting in the car, but when you’re driving I’m not convinced. We’re in a kind of war of centimeters for the screens, and to me it doesn’t make any sense, because they become huge. They are designing the dashboard for you, basically.”
He is not wrong. Mercedes offers a fifty-six-inch Hyperscreen now. Fifty-six inches. That is the size of a living room TV bolted to your dash. You cannot sell a car without tech in 2025, but you also do not have to let it take over the entire interior.
Two Screens, One Purpose
The Cuorerosso concept that Alfa showed in Paris gives you the alternative. The interior will not reach production exactly as shown, but it previews the direction for the next Giulia and Stelvio. The driver faces two round screens inspired by classic Alfa dials. They can merge into one when you only need speed and revs. They split when you enter a navigation route or pull up contacts.
Everything else lives in what Alfa calls the Magma center console. It projects information onto a flat surface when you need it. You interact with either haptic controls or a physical dial. Music options, climate settings, whatever. The tech shows up when summoned and disappears when you are done with it.
Hagerty Media reports this layout could let Alfa build cars without a touchscreen at all in the next few years. That would be a first among volume manufacturers in a long time.
If You Want a Big Screen, Buy Something Else
Mesonero-Romanos knows this will not appeal to everyone. He also does not care. “I’m aware that a big part of the public wants to have big screens, but then don’t buy an Alfa. Buy something else,” he said. “I’m sure there are a lot of people out there who think like we do. There’s a lot of people that will be happy with this experience.”
That is the kind of answer you give when you are confident your brand still means something. Alfa is not trying to out-Tesla Tesla or out-Mercedes Mercedes. It is trying to build driver’s cars that do not feel like rolling tablets.
The Pendulum Swings Back
Alfa is not alone. Bugatti hid the only screen in the Tourbillon inside the center console, revealed only when needed. Porsche went full digital in the 992.2 generation 911, then turned around and ditched the touchscreen entirely in the Mission S concept, replacing the infotainment system with a phone mount and an app.
This is happening at the top end first, where brands can afford to ignore the spec-sheet buyers. The question is whether it trickles down to cars normal people can actually afford. A Giulia without a fifteen-inch tablet glued to the dash would be a good start.
You spend enough time behind the wheel and you realize the best interiors are the ones that get out of your way. Mesonero-Romanos gets it. Now we wait to see if buyers agree.
