[RahulNagaraj]

According to reports, Peugeot's rectangular-steering wheel 'Hypersquare', previewed on its Inception Concept car in 2023, will enter production in 2026.

Linda Jackson, CEO, Peugeot, confirmed that the rectangular steering wheel will come with steer-by-wire technology. The timeline for its introduction coincides with the arrival of the band's 208 supermini and 2008 crossover offerings. Jackson stated that the rectangular steering wheel has already been installed on test vehicles and trialled by "customers across Europe".



The Hypersquare will be paired with Peugeot's 21-inch panoramic curved infotainment system, positioned on the dashboard.

Peugeot CEO, stated, "The next stage for us is going to be Hypersquare." Jackson, further mentioned, "We’re going to take and evolve the steering control. We’ve moved from a beautiful, round, little steering wheel, into a very ‘tech’ arena, which is more based on a gaming-type idea."

The CEO further explained, "Not only do we think it’s technically superior, but it’s also linked to another technology in steer-by-wire, which is important as it enhances something that is absolutely fundamental for Peugeot: the pleasure of driving. It’s agile, flexible and offers easy agility, and that’s what we want to create."

She also stated, "While we all love to have a car that looks beautiful, is it beautiful inside? Is it practical? Is it ergonomically designed around you? Does it give you the right infotainment? For me, the interior becomes more important than the exterior."

Source: Autocar UK

Link to Team-BHP news

[1.2TSI7DSG]

If it's a rectangle, it is not a wheel.

@mods should correct the "wheel" to "controller" on basis of English correctness

[SmartCat]

They are literally trying to reinvent the wheel, despite the well-known idiom asking people not to do that.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reinventing_the_wheel

[Jeroen]

History repeats itself.

Last time somebody launched a car with a square steering wheel was the Austin Allegro in 1973. British Leyland kept the square wheel for less than 18 month during the Allegro 10 years of production.



It was not a huge succes, in fact it has often been mentioned the square wheel was a PR disaster. Even when they replaced it for a more traditional steering wheel, it could never shake its reputation of having this horrible square steering wheel.

Jeroen

[GrandTourer]

Originally Posted by RahulNagaraj

Peugeot CEO, stated, "The next stage for us is going to be Hypersquare." Jackson, further mentioned, "We’re going to take and evolve the steering control. We’ve moved from a beautiful, round, little steering wheel, into a very ‘tech’ arena, which is more based on a gaming-type idea."

She's speaking less like an automotive CEO, and more like a tech CEO. While this is all nice and fancy, let some things be the way they are.
No need to reinvent the wheel, as SmartCat said.

The CEO further explained, "Not only do we think it’s technically superior, but it’s also linked to another technology in steer-by-wire, which is important as it enhances something that is absolutely fundamental for Peugeot: the pleasure of driving. It’s agile, flexible and offers easy agility, and that’s what we want to create."

The pleasure of driving = drive by wire??
Since when?

[Sachin V.W.]

I still feel very odd when I drive a car with flat-bottom steering wheel. Even if I upgrade to D cut steering wheel car, it is going to be a big big adjustment for me after driving regular steering wheel cars for almost 30-32 years.

Rectangular steering ? I can't even imagine myself driving a car with that at all.

[Iyencar]

Is this the automotive version of the Gavin Belson Signature Box 3? Her speech sounds like it was written by the writers of HBO’s Silicon Valley

Peugeot CEO, stated, "The next stage for us is going to be Hypersquare." Jackson, further mentioned, "We’re going to take and evolve the steering control. We’ve moved from a beautiful, round, little steering wheel, into a very ‘tech’ arena, which is more based on a gaming-type idea."
The CEO further explained, "Not only do we think it’s technically superior, but it’s also linked to another technology in steer-by-wire, which is important as it enhances something that is absolutely fundamental for Peugeot: the pleasure of driving. It’s agile, flexible and offers easy agility, and that’s what we want to create."

t

[Jekyl87]

I for one am excited to see some big companies thinking out of the box and reinventing basics in automotive design. Technology has evolved so much, but we still cling to old ways as is evodent from the comments to this news. Why does a steering need to be a wheel or rectangle even? If its anyway electronic, why can it not be a controller? Or something else I can't even fathom? If no one takes bold risks we dont disrupt and are only stuck in incremental innovation.

[Newtown]

Originally Posted by Jeroen

History repeats itself.

Last time somebody launched a car with a square steering wheel was the Austin Allegro in 1973.

Thanks for bringing back some wonderful memories of my uncle's Allegro in England. What fascinated me more at the time was that my uncle was this large portly gentleman and used to fill out the little Allegro quite well. I don't quite recall the shape of the steering wheel though.

[Redex]

Impractical, ugly, awkward and unnecessary. At least the Allegro wheel was just a very "slightly" squared circle design with good visibility through the wheel. It is large but this is because it had manual rack and pinion steering. Like most mass market cheap cars of the 1970,s it did not have power steering.

[PreludeSH]

Will it have a very tight turning ratio which is even more than F1 ? I normally push/pull steering to turn and this makes it impossible to smoothly glide your hands over.

A square would even be easier than this rectangle where the length is so much more than breadth/height.

[svsantosh]

Originally Posted by RahulNagaraj

According to reports, Peugeot's rectangular-steering wheel 'Hypersquare', previewed on its Inception Concept car in 2023, will enter production in 2026.

Somehow the 1st thing my brain said is in 50 years from now our mobile phones with 4 cameras in the rear will double up as a steering wheel, dash cam, keyless entry, ICE, what else dont know...!

Really Miss the pure internal combustion cars with buttons and switches from 80s and 90s.

[pranavt]

Is the steering wheel made for bilateral hand amputees? Or are they expecting people to fist the steering wheel?

The logistics of holding that thing don't make sense for anyone that desires any form of steering control while driving a car.

[Mystic]

I think automakers are preparing us for autonomous driving and may be flying cars of future not far away and may be in our life time itself. Instead of google maps, we need to study on how to navigate from A to B by flying on the path of great circle of the earth which is the shortest distance.

Pls see the below video which is already 2 years old.

https://youtu.be/QE6grE_EeQg?feature=shared

[M@y@vi]

Well well! I was just thinking why should it be a wheel still? Why not a joystick or two handed butterfly controller that can be moved around?