Autoblog and Yahoo may earn commission from links in this article.Door Handle EraWe've come to a point in our automotive development that automakers are divided on one specific thing: door handles. A trend had emerged over the years where (predominantly Chinese) brands introduced the idea of electric door handles, eliminating the need to, uhm, pull a lever or erm... handle to open a door; instead, one simply needed to press a button to unlatch the door.However, major legislation has pushed back on the idea, with instances of people getting stuck after accidents. Audi is one of the latest brands to speak truthfully about the pitfalls of the technology, but was also honest enough to say it was almost a reality.2027 Audi Q9Cole AttishaLoud and ProudDuring a session with media in Munich, Germany, Audi CEO Gernot Döllner told those in attendance that he considers the conventional door handles on the all-new Q9 one of his "proudest" features. Furthermore, he pointed out that the decision came very late in the development process, 45 weeks ago to be exact.AdvertisementAdvertisementWhy so late? Well, brands typically spend a considerable amount of time preparing the prototype model to be perfect for when the CEO gets to test-drive it and give it the final go-ahead. In this case, he latched on to the door handles (pun intended) and ultimately decided that the electronic type doesn't make sense. Döllner says that Audi was, in fact, able to produce a very innovative door handle, but after his test drive, he felt that from a consumer standpoint it would be worse than the conventional type.AudiEngineering ExpertsAnother thing Döllner was proud of was the fact that his very late decision to revert to conventional door handles didn't upset the production timeline. You'd think it would be very simple to do since all it does is open and lock a door, but apparently it isn't that easy. Döllner praised the production team, saying it normally takes two years to change door handles, but the body engineers were able to change the tooling that was already in place.So what did we miss out on? According to the CEO, the innovative door handle featured a wing-type design that was to be placed on the top of the door. It would have used piezoelectric technology, which meant only a little physical pressure would have needed to be applied to it to open the door. Interestingly, he did mention that the technology might be used for another market segment, stating it had no place in a full-size SUV.Cole AttishaThis story was originally published by Autoblog on Aug 4, 2026, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Autoblog as a Preferred Source by clicking here.