If the inside doesn’t meet the driver’s needs and expectations, he said, the initial infatuation can end quickly.
Speakers at the conference, sponsored by Ward’s Automotive, agreed that quality is the price of entry for any new vehicle in the fierce, post-recession market where annual sales are forecast to hit 13 million this year. To win over the savvy buyer, a car’s beauty must be more than sheet metal deep.
“The level of importance placed on the interior is far higher than it has ever been,” said Mike VanNieuwkuyk, executive director of global vehicle research for J.D. Power and Associates.
“We’re drawn to the exterior, but the interior determines how well we like the vehicle.”
No one knows that better than Chrysler Group LLC. Chrysler’s vehicles were eye-catching, but cheap plastic interiors turned off customers. Sales fell and the company ended up filing for bankruptcy in 2009.
Under new Fiat SpA management, however, interiors became a priority and reviews for the upgrades have been positive.
“Customers are still attracted to the exterior, but now the interior seals the deal,” said Klaus Busse, who heads interior design for Chrysler.
“We hid our interiors in the past because we weren’t as proud of them,” admitted Ralph Gilles, head of Chrysler design. He called Chrysler’s previous interiors a “festival of polypropylene” when “we made plastic look even harder than plastic.”
Gilles said exterior designers were required to create interiors as well, and Chrysler relied on a one-step process for the grain of the plastic. Today, the company has interior design specialists and uses a 12-step treatment to give plastic more texture and a better look.
In a sign of how far Chrysler has come, two vehicles were honored Tuesday among Ward’s 10 Best Interiors. Chevrolet’s new Cruze compact also was named.
David Lyon, executive director of interior design for General Motors Co., said it was hard to believe five years ago that “Chevy would have a leading-class compact car that sold because of its interior design.”
After reliability and durability, interior content is the main reason a buyer selects a particular vehicle, said VanNieuwkuyk. In part, that’s because the average time spent in a car is almost three hours each weekday, and 18.5 hours in a full week, according to the 2009 Arbitron National In-Car Survey.
“Automakers often don’t want to take the risk, but now is the time” for innovative interiors, said John Oilar, vice president of engineering for Magna Seating.
But cost remains a factor, he said, because the national spending psyche has not recovered from the recession.
Savvier shoppers are researching even the smallest of purchases and expect a lot for their money. In cars, that means more leather seats than ever before, said Oilar, even in small cars.
Hyundai Motor Co. tries to implement features found in more upscale cars in lower-priced vehicles, to give customers more value than the competition, said Chris Zarlenga, design manager at Hyundai’s Technical Center.