BusinessWeek wrote an in-depth story on the amount of work GM is putting into its interiors to make them seem more luxurious. We’re not sure where BusinessWeek got the photos it posted to go along with the story, but one, shown below, looks to be an updated interior for the 2008 Cadillac STS. Otherwise there are some nifty potential innovations, like the light-up stalk shown here that will help drivers find the control they need in the dark without having to turn on a light.
[GM's Design Drive Hits the Road, BusinessWeek via GMInsideNews]
Previous
Subscribe to our feed
Email us your tips!
Good article. Interior materials that look and feel good (and are durable) are very important.
Things that I notice are the hollow plastic panels on the Explorer, the clicky power window switches with no resistance or weight to them on recent VW/Audi products, and the over-use of metallic silver painted plastic trim (I think nearly every make does this now, and a lot of it doesn't wear very well).
"the light-up stalk shown here that will help drivers find the control they need in the dark without having to turn on a light"
Oh, please. If a driver can't find a stalk in the dark without it being illuminated, they've got no business being in the drivers seat to begin with.
Graham,
I think its more for knowing what button, direction etc you should be using.
Graham,
I think they're trying to help the drivers find the specific function on the stalk, not the stalk itself. Probably more useful when one is less familiar with the vehicle. Good for GM, their interiors are really making some inroads on the Asian competition.
wade,
beat you to it by 50 seconds
Perhaps there are too many controls on the turn signal to begin with. Is that button at the end of the stalk still the cruise control "set" button?
Stalk looks like its turn control, brights, and I think that is windsheild wiper interval control. I can't tell for sure if a button is there, most cruise controls these days have migrated to the steering wheel.