Touch screens work on phones because phones have limited real estate. Even then some people doggedly held onto their physical keyboards for years (eg Blackberrys).

To me, touch screens are usually an excuse for terrible UI/UX. Why? Because it makes the maker lazy. "We'll fix/update it later" I'm sure is the mantra as they cut corners to get it out the door.

Physical buttons force you to do more work up front and think about how the UI works.

And of course that "later" rarely ever happens. It's onto the next model.

Physical buttons, knobs and switches allow you to use the interface without looking at the screen, something incredibly important for a driver of a vehicle. You shouldn't have to look away from the road to adjust the AC, for example.

This may be a blessing in disguise.