Stellantis owns several brands, one of which is DS. Formerly a Citroen model designation, DS became its own standalone brand in 2009. Think of it as a French version of Lexus, manufacturing a bunch of cars we're unfortunately missing out on.

Before the French manufacturer bashing begins, allow us to share a statement recently made by DS' chief designer. In a recent interview with Autocar, Thierry Metroz called the current trend of loading interiors with screens a "little bit stupid". What a legend.

"Our target is to delete all the screens in our future interiors," said Metroz. "The problem with the screen is when you switch off your screen, you're just left with a rectangular black surface with all the fingerprints. It's not very sexy; it's not very luxury."

According to Metroz, the idea of covering the dashboard with screens is not its philosophy. Instead, DS is looking at new technology that could potentially replace screens. Whatever this technology may be, Metroz wants it to be less intrusive while adding more serenity to the interior. "Of course we need to deliver the information for the driver," said Metroz. "It's a big challenge."

If anyone can pull it off, it's the French. While we like to make fun of French build quality, which is only marginally better than Tesla's build quality, it has given the world some pretty cool car-related stuff.

Examples include wacky styling, the MPV, mass-market front-wheel drive, small-capacity turbocharged engines, and the Alpine A110. The latter is the only viable alternative to the Porsche 718 Cayman. And let's not forget about the daddy of all French cars, the Bugatti Veyron.

If they can make the Veyron work, surely they can get rid of annoying touchscreens?

It's a pity DS isn't exported to the USA because we could use a healthy injection of French je ne sais quoi. In 2018, there were rumors that the French brand would return to the US, but that was before the Stellantis takeover. We haven't heard anything since.

DS is currently working on launching its all-new DS7, but its next generation of cars will be inspired by the DS Aero Sports Lounge Concept unveiled in 2020.

Oddly, the DS7 still has a screen, so Metroz hasn't won his battle yet. Good luck, Monsieur.