The head-unit in my Ford Focus (2004-ish?) had an MFD. Parallax was a bit of an issue (which buttons were for which function looked different from passenger and driver seat). I rate it as just "okay." The one place it was clearly better than touchscreen was for selecting the radio-station from a list of "favorites." Each station was always on the same button, so switching was simple.

Note that this was for controlling the audio system only; this predates integrated "infotainment" center stacks.