General Motors vice chairman Bob Lutz spoke at the annual Automotive Interiors Conference in Detroit yesterday, offering insight into where interior design is headed for the automaker. While a great exterior may be the “visual gate” that attracts a consumer to a car, the interior is the part that “either seals the deal or drives the customer away,” he said. While GM has been criticized for weak interiors, the cabin is “the last place in the world where you want to advertise the cheapness of your product,” he said. Even for inexpensive cars, interiors should be respectable, he said. “The whole point is to get as much value to the customer for as little investment and piece cost as possible.” Lutz said a $20,000 car should have a “$30,000-looking interior.”
Power outlets: “He who has the most wins”
When it came to talking specifics, Mr. Lutz said he expects to see a greater number of power outlets in future cars. “Power outlets are the new cup holders,” he said. “He who has the most wins.” While Lutz might not be gadget crazy, he knows there is a demand. “Personally, I don’t feel the need to drive down the highway with a full array of electronic devices buzzing away. Nevertheless, the outlets are in demand.”
“They want to plug in their phones, they want a baby bottle warmer, [and] the ubiquitous radar detector,” he said. “We’re starting to see more 115 volt outlets to plug a laptop into,” he said.
iDrive can “drive people insane”
Lutz insisted electronic controls remain simple to use. Complicated computer-based systems “were invented for one reason, and one reason only,” he said. “To drive people insane.”
“We’ve adopted a lot of needless complexity,” he said. “I simply won’t have it.”
“I’m sure the creators thought they were simplifying things,” Lutz said of devices like BMW’s iDrive. “But the menu is our memory. We’re used to having certain controls in certain places.”
Two-inch-thick seats
Slim seats are in GM’s future, according to Lutz. Lutz said GM will use slimmer concept-car-like seats to increase interior space in its future cars. The next Cadillac CTS may be one of GM’s first cars to use this type of seating, he said. Anything beyond 2 inches is a “total waste of space,” he said. Typical seats are anywhere from five to eight inches thick.
Design-driven again
GM has become “a design driven company again,” Lutz commented. “We want to create emotional appeal.” He said when GM’s design department “ruled” GM, “we made lots of money and had a 50 percent share.”
06/08, 9:29 AM
posted by:
Paul D.
He said when GM’s design department “ruled� GM, “we made lots of money and had a 50 percent share.�
Good to talk of the glory days Bob, but 50% is lala-land. You’ve burned way too many people to ever regain the respect of decades past.
And if there are 2″ thick seats in the Solstice GXP that I checked out at the NY auto show, then head back to the drawing board buddy. Those things sucked. You might has well left the padding out and just had people sit on the crossmembers because that’s what they felt like anyways.
GM might as well outsource a lawn furniture company to build the seats because that was what I would equate the comfort to.
And power outlets do not exude a “Quality Interior”…
06/08, 9:44 AM
posted by:
Northeasterner
I agree that 20k cars should have 30k interiors – but with GM it has been the other way around. GM’s 30k cars have 20k interiors!
06/08, 9:51 AM
posted by:
ss
GM needs to hire the vw/audi interior guys. thats the only chance they have.
06/08, 9:56 AM
posted by:
anon
vw/audi interiors are not that high of quality, i’ve seen numerous late model audi’s and vw’s with center consoles and door panels that have material peeling off
06/08, 10:11 AM
posted by:
Zan
4 I am not sure what Audi and VW’s you were in, but its kind of industry accepted that Audi has one of the best interiors around. Mercedes and Lexus also do a really nice job.
I do have to say that when it comes to comfortable seats I pick Acura. I really loved the seats in the TL I drove.
06/08, 10:24 AM
posted by:
Maverick
You’ve never sat in a Volvo S60R seat then. Oh man! I’d buy one just to turn it into an office chair.
06/08, 10:26 AM
posted by:
Jon
Anon,
Which model Audi / VW? Seriously, Audi’s have the nicest interiors, barring the upper echelon (RR, Bentley, Maybach, etc…) in the auto industry, and VW is also very, very good, better than anything made by any of GM’s subsidiaries.
Jon.
06/08, 10:38 AM
posted by:
anon
They were A4’s and Jettas and the black material on the center consoles were peeling up. I’ll admit the rest of the interior was very nice but I was unimpressed by the center consoles.
06/08, 10:39 AM
posted by:
TW
Yes Jon, If VW can do it so can GM. I’ve had issues with VW (mechanical/electrical), but I give them credit for good interiors with quality materials.
06/08, 10:45 AM
posted by:
jimothy
So Audi, Mercedes, and Lexus have better interiors than Chevy? Shocking!!!
06/08, 11:04 AM
posted by:
Zan
I have a 2003 Jetta and my only interior complaint is the crappy latch on the center console and the covering used on the inside door handles in the arm rest. Other then that it looks and feels nice to me.
06/08, 11:15 AM
posted by:
Ed
#5 and #6, I currently have an ‘04 TL and my wife has an ‘02 S60 T5. For short trips the TL seats are fine, but anything more than 1 hour long and I start aching and twitching trying to find a comfortable position. The Volvo seats, on the other hand, are downright perfect. I can spend the whole day behind the wheel and still feel 100% after I get out of the car. And yes, the S60R with the crazy optional Altacama leather is probably the only factory seat I would love to use as an office chair.
06/08, 12:52 PM
posted by:
CarWanker
Why does it take GM executives 20 years to figure this out?
06/08, 1:04 PM
posted by:
Zan
I am sadly unable to own a Volvo because my wife thinks the name sounds like Vulva.
06/08, 1:04 PM
posted by:
Carsfeverguy
Anybody have more info on these 2 inch seats? I’d really like to know more… I don’t know how comfortable those show car seats really are. The other thing that worries me is how hard they would be from the backside, like if you hit your knees on them. Anyone?
06/08, 1:05 PM
posted by:
Carsfeverguy
Has there been a production application before? (are we talking like carbon fibre shells here with a bit of padding?)
06/08, 1:40 PM
posted by:
Marc
The Jetta is notorious for broker glove box hinges, and buttons have a tendancy to wear out and fall off. The Audi’s too. Usually happens after 50K miles.
06/08, 1:45 PM
posted by:
Michael Karesh
I think GM already hired some VW/Audi guys. Everyone did.
Problem is, they’ve been talking about improving the interiors for some time. I want to see some improved interiors.
06/08, 1:49 PM
posted by:
scotty
yeah GM power outlets are going to make the interior sooo much nicer……….not. why the hell would he say something like that? that just shows thier mentality is the same, for crying out loud, if that your plan.. dont announce it. let magazines point them out as a positive thing that they found, its not an advertising point.
06/08, 1:53 PM
posted by:
Marc
GM has become “a design driven company again,â€? …He said when GM’s design department “ruledâ€? GM, “we made lots of money and had a 50 percent share.â€?
If that is the case, why haven’t they been a design-driven company if they saw results before? What have they been? This all sounds like great rhetoric, but I think that they’ve been a design-driven company all along but their design just suck. Does anybody have anything to add that could help enlighten this?
06/08, 2:31 PM
posted by:
Jon
Marc,
From where do you get this information? I know tons of people with Audi’s / VW’s that have over 50K miles and nothing like this has happened to their cars.
Jon.
06/08, 4:06 PM
posted by:
V V
Hey just Audi probably the best interior design and quality in the industry. The gaps are tiny are quality hight. I owned a 1998 audi A4 and at that time I have never seen such a sweet interior. The 06 Audi’s is just a beautiful.
06/08, 4:08 PM
posted by:
V V
Hey guys Audi probably has the best interior design and quality in the industry. The gaps are tiny and the quality is hight. I owned a 1998 audi A4 and at that time I have never seen such a sweet interior. The 06 Audi’s have much better interiors.
06/08, 4:39 PM
posted by:
RangeRoverBoy
Think Jon Lovitz. Yeah that’s the ticket… ultra-thin seats. It works for maxi pads.
I do like the vulva comment. I can see her point if you pay too much attention to the Volvo… sorry… nevermind.
06/08, 9:17 PM
posted by:
an
“vw/audi interiors are not that high of quality, i’ve seen numerous late model audi’s and vw’s with center consoles and door panels that have material peeling off”
I agree, my 2006 Jetta interior may look good, but the squeaks and rattles are annoying (only 17k miles). Lower door panels that scuff easily. Don’t turn the stereo up too loud, speakers rattle. The suspension rattle is really bothersome. Car is NEVER driver down dirt or gravel roads, not abused, and properly serviced. My 86 Golf at 117K miles had less squeaks and rattles than this car. But hey this interior looks so much better. Whooooppee!
06/09, 11:10 AM
posted by:
Marc
Jon, I worked for a car dealer for a few months during the past year… I’ve been in an innumerous ammount of these vehicles. I saw the interior problems with almost every used VW and Audi we got in. The used car manager gave me a list of problems that I had to check for on these cars before I accepted them in on trade or before I resold them. I could almost always count on these problems being there. Unless you take extra good care of your car, the interiors on these cars don’t hold up so well. Thats a fact and anybody who knows the car market (not just pimple faced car enthusists) knows the reality of these products… Yes, products. By the way, I love Audis and VWs.