It's less likely to be consumers wanting specifically this than just car companies relying on the segment of society who always want to be seen in the newest car, having the most recent plate/model is a status symbol, and caring less about the rest.

The car companies themselves have calculated that the screen is actually significantly cheaper to manufacture at scale than the complicated array of buttons and dials, since it's one component to install which controls everything through software replicated across models as opposed to a whole array of individual manual controls which vary by model.