(2021.08.06)Bad Neustadt a.d. Saale. Preh has been nominated as one of 27 finalists for the globally renowned Automotive News PACE Award 2021. Judges selected Preh’s haptic rotary knob bonded to a touchscreen display — a solution that is being used in this form for the first time in an automotive series production vehicle.

Automotive News presents the PACE Award for particularly innovative, completely new or "game changer" products and processes in the automotive industry. For the annual competition, only a narrow selection of finalists are nominated from among the numerous worldwide applicants. During the next months, the jurors will gather additional details about the innovations, which will take place for the first time by means of "virtual site visits". The PACE Award winners will be announced at a ceremony in Detroit in September.

Since winning a PACE Award in 2006, Preh has applied five previous times for this prestigious industry award and each time has been named a finalist. This year, the automotive supplier entered the race with the innovative combination of a touch screen with a bonded rotary knob. This HMI solution, new in the automotive industry, went into series production for the first time in the all-electric Ford Mustang Mach-E.

Preh CEO Charlie Cai explains, "Mounting a rotary knob cut-out free to a touch display has numerous advantages. I am convinced that we will see this kind of solution more and more in new car interiors in the future. After all, the contribution of haptic controls to more intuitive operations is obvious, and less distraction ensures greater road safety."

Studies suggest that when functions are selected via touchscreen, the time spent looking away from traffic can increase. The addition of haptic, clearly tactile operating elements reduces this.