The Best New - PRODUCT DESIGN
Auto Interiors
From current models to provocative concept cars, MFGrs tries to improve its reputation for poor quality and cheap parts by building better interiors...
Ford Verve Concept
Design theme: Small but not cheap
Ford will offer U.S. customers a car based on the Ford Verve.The interior is simple and sporty, with high-quality materials that look and feel good, especially for a small car. Wing-shaped buttons in the center "stack" control the heating, ventilation, air conditioning, telephone, and other features. Ford is betting that in an era of expensive gas, Americans will be more like Europeans, willing to pay a premium price for small cars with upscale interior features such as rich materials, connectivity for wireless devices, upgraded sound systems, plus sporty handling.
Design theme: "Bruce Wayne's day car"
A surprise entry at the Detroit Auto Show, the angular Cadillac CTS Coupe Concept has more than a hint of Batmobile about it. It won the concept car category in the auto show's EyesOn Design award competition, chosen by a panel of 20 automotive designers, including Chris Bangle, director of BMW Group Design, and Jack Telnack, the retired vice-president for global design at Ford.
The sharp angles in the car's exterior carry through to the interior, with color-contrasting leather seats with pointy side bolsters. Even the seat bottoms come to a point at the front edge. The doors and the dash have black metallic inserts with what Eric Clough, director of design of Cadillac interiors, called a "satin" finish, in place of glossy, polished wood inserts.
BMW X6
Design theme: A sexier SUV
BMW achieves a much sportier look with the 2008 X6. On the inside, the center console is extended nearly to the back seats. At the very rear of the console is a rear-seat video screen that twists and tilts. Despite the X6's tapering roofline, rear headroom is nearly the same as in the X5. The headliner, the passenger-facing part of the roof, is thicker over the center console but thinner overhead.
Chevrolet Malibu
Design theme: A $40,000 car for $20,000
A panel of journalists named the Chevrolet Malibu, which debuted in the North American Car of the Year at the Detroit Auto Show. Manufacturing tolerances are tighter for the new Malibu than for previous models. Improved fit and finish reduces squeaks and rattles, and increases customer-perceived value. In addition to improved quality, the car offers standard features such as satellite radio and an upgraded version of GM's OnStar communication system.
Honda Pilot
Design theme: Simple, functional
Honda showed a prototype of the next-generation Honda Pilot a. Except for details including air vents and interior color choices, the prototype is expected to be close to the final production version, which goes on sale later . The new Pilot is bigger than the vehicle it replaces in nearly every dimension, including more interior storage. There's also more room in the second row, and that row slides farther forward than before, to give easier access to the third row.
Hummer HX Concept
Design theme: No wimpy trucks
The Hummer HX Concept looks like a truck with the padding and upholstery stripped out, exposing the metal underneath. The seats are modeled on aircraft seats—not the first-class reclining kind, but the minimal kind with exposed tracks on the floor, and polished, cross-braced beams that look like they could support a bridge. There's also a folding shovel that fits in the passenger's side door. The side doors are removable. The HX also has a rubberized floor, and woven nylon material covering the instrument panel and other interior components.
Lexus LF-A Roadster Concept
Design theme: Hold on tight
The Lexus LF-A Roadster Concept will soon be part of a high-performance Lexus "F" lineup, like Mercedes-Benz AMG or BMW "M" models. The LF-A Roadster wraps around the driver and passenger, including seats with high side bolsters; a heavy knee bolster that creates a two-tier dash; a high center console; plus substantial metal door handles that also serve as hand grips.In addition, the lightweight carbon-fiber and aluminum body is sculpted closely around the seat backs and behind the occupants' heads. Making the occupants feel secure is a priority, since top speed is expected to be above 200 mph, thanks to a V10 engine that will produce more than 500 hp.
Lincoln MKT Concept
Design theme: Modern but welcoming
Lincoln badly needs to start attracting younger customers and it hopes the MKT Concept will help. It has a crossover-minivan layout, but on the inside it has sweeping curves and gleaming armrests that look as if they were sculpted out of a single piece of metal. A closer look shows the handles are etched with dotted loops and swirls. MKT interior designer Joann Jung said the patterns resemble high-end fountain pens, which both look and feel good. "The etches are very modern, but modern can be cold and icy, and too 'young.'
Mazda Taiki Concept
Design theme: High tech meets Salvador Dali
The Mazda Taiki Concept is a rare bird nowadays, purely a concept car with little or no apparent shot at becoming a production car. Still, it's an interesting exercise that looks like a cross between high-tech and organic forms. The interior is molded closely around two semi-reclining seats, with the driver slightly ahead of the passenger. In the car at the Detroit Auto Show, the driver's side was all black, the passenger's side all white. The occupants sit virtually on the floor, with their legs straight out. The head restraints look a little like melting, Salvador Dali timepieces.
Mini Cooper Clubman
Design theme: Bigger inside, not much bigger outside
The Mini Cooper Clubman, which goes on sale in mid-February, has highly unusual asymmetric sides. There's a short, rear-hinged door, popularly called a "suicide door," on the passenger side only, allowing easy access to a roomier backseat than the standard Mini Cooper. There's more room in the rear seat than in the standard car, but understandably, it's still not huge inside. The front seatbacks are concave, which echoes the car's rounded gauges—especially the oversized speedometer—and also makes room for the rear passengers' knees. Folding one or both rear seats creates extra room in the squared-off cargo area behind the seats.
Nissan Forum Concept
Interior theme: Curvy, futuristic cocoon
Seats with oversized, wraparound headrests (properly called "head restraints," for the role they play in preventing whiplash injuries), high side bolsters, and big round bottoms are a few of the things you first notice inside the Nissan Forum Concept. There are stereo speakers in the headrests. The Forum is a rolling living room, in which passengers can withdraw into an electronic-gadget cocoon, or else take advantage of the pivoting second row of bucket seats, face rearward and interact with people in the third-row bench seat. Continuing the visual theme, the instrument panel wraps around the driver.
Audi A8L W12 Quattro
Design theme: Rich wood and leather
At the high end, Audi offers what it calls Audi Exclusive, a selection of extreme high-end accessories comparable to the Mercedes-Benz Designo program. Audi Exclusive includes unusual wood inserts such as maple or ash instead of the typical dark, burled walnut. Other appointments include a Bang & Olufsen stereo and perforated, breathable leather on the seat bottoms and backs.
