GM despertly needs to make their interiors to a higher quality standard. The interior in the trucks and SUVs are a joke, as are the interiors in most of their cars. GM has done better in some of their new cars like the LaCrosse, G6, and Malibu, but they still aren't as nice as a Toyota, VW, or Honda.

This is my solution. Have one design team design ALL interiors for ALL brands except Cadillac. This design team can do things like standardize power window buttons, door locks and buttons, radios, HVAC controls, etc. to where they are the same for ALL of the cars and trucks GM makes. So instead of having 6 different designs for power window controls spread over the line, they can standardize it down to one style of power window controls. And design one or two styles of steering wheels. Design one style of radio. Design two styles of HVAC controls, one manual, one digital automatic adjusting style. Design one style of headlight controls. Design two styles of steering colums, both tilt and telescope, while one has a power gizmo to do it. Design standardized cupholders.

What GM could change is the style of the dash, style of the gauges, style of the door panels, console, seat, etc depending on brand and car. They could use different grades of plastic from the cheap Cobalt compared to a 50K Yukon Denali obviously. But all those little bits and pieces could remain the same.

If GM did it my way, all these little componets would have to be top quality. They would have to impress you in the 50K Yukon Denali. If they are impressive in a 50K car, imagine what sharing some of those parts could do to improve the little econoboxes like the Ion.

Now Cadillac can have their own design studio. They don't use anything from the corporate parts bin and have to design all of their own stuff. This would keep their interiors looking completely unique and of spectacular quality(they need to set Lexus as the benchmark to beat for interior quality)

Now my plan would cost GM quite a wad of cash in the here and now. But it has the potential to save a lot of money down the road and could really improve the interior quality of their entire lineup.

 

Accept one thing, the hvac controls and buttons and stuff pretty much is the same in the entire line, that is what makes GM interiors cheap.... the speedo in the cheap buick century, is the same one as in my dads 91 chevy caprice. Better materials would be a start, I would not mind paying a bit more for a domestic if they had better interiors, one perfect example is Ford 500! test drove that car, it did not feel like a ford, but more like my brothers audi, granted, I was driving around in a ford 500 limited, but same thing.

 

Actualy, the quality of the interiors is very nice, its the appareance is what GM needs to work on.
Cutting out the sea of grey interiors, adding more detail to the center stack. Throw in some nice chrome or polished trim rings around the speedo so it draws your eyes. How about making the interior flow together, instead of making it look like parts smashed together.
Perfect example of this is teh new LaCrosee. Very nice inteiror with very good seats. Quality is very high, and worlds behind the Regal and Century. Very pleasing to the eye. The Malibu's interior is very nice, but GM needs to break up the greyness.
Also, take a look at the CSV's interior. Very nice. I would also like to understand how all that brushed aluminum made it into a mini van, while the G6 and GP have very little.
I sat in a Freestyle, and it was very nice, but they need to also break up the sea of beige.

 

GM already does what you explained . Like say for instance the 6 disc changer radio . Its the same radio used across several GM cars , but a faceplate to match the divisional styling . Same with steering wheels , the rim and aluminum inner structer are the same across several lines , but the urethane spokes and airbag covers are designed per division or model . Even right down to guage needles and the same basic window and lock switches with divisionally correct caps . Those are just a few simple examples , there many many more .

GM's interiors are getting prgressively better and better with every new model that comes out . The G6 , Cobalt , STS are 3 of the most recent and all have very rich , quality looking interiors . MUCH improved over the Malibu , CTS , ION ect. interiors . It shouldn't cost more to design a quality looking interior . Case and point .... a $17K 2005 Honda civic interior at a base level looks and feels much more upscale than $30K Impala SS's interior . Do I think the re-designed 06 Impala will change that , YES . GM is getting there . They are ditching the huge rolled panel gaps , playschool looking switchgear , mouse fur cloth healiners and seats , cheap shiney looking plastic , and monochromatic everything . The biggest problem I think they have at the moment , is I dont think they could design a cool looking steering wheel to save their lives . With the exception of the Solstice's steering wheel , which was a recovered 3 spoke Vibe steering with a revised airbag cover and looked VERY cool . But even then , the flat black test mules had a 4 spoke Cobalt steering wheel , so thats probably whts gonna make production

 

Just skimmed this thread, but to answer the basic sentiment of the first thread, that is pretty much what is happening, from what I can see. Every time I catch a glimpse of, or climb into, a 2006 or 2007 vehicle, I see much improved interiors with common theme stereos and hvac controls, common window switches (the smart kind where you pull up for up and push down for down), things like that.

Oh, and about the Civic having a more upscale interior than an Impala: methinks not. The Impala interior has some strange lines to it, I'll admit, but the current Civic interior is pretty crappy. Not much better than a Cavalier, imo, though you'd never know it by the way the magazines drool on the Civic. Hard plastic and rattles abound in my friend's '01... jmho of course.

But anyway, the interiors are getting really really good.

 

well my friend's 98 Civic is screwed together and looks a lot nicer than the Impala. The design and layout is good(except for the CD slot at the bottom of the console) and all the materials feel of high quality. And it has 94,000 miles and doesn't rattle.

I've also heard that when Honda redid the Civic for 2001, that it was a worse car than the one it replaced. The mags say they didn't handle as well, and I think the interior went down in quality.

 

GM's interiors are already pretty good quality (light years ahead of my Camaro, that's for dang sure!).

GM's problem is that they need to change their interior direction. The Malibu's interior is top notch, and at least as good as a Toyota or Honda. It's that GM's interiors are way too industrial & unfriendly.

Take a look at the new Ford 500. Sure, we'd rather be caught dead than driving one. But it's interior is well layed out, warm, and comfortable. Ditto the F150. Even the Taurus is a pleasant place to spend an afternoon.

Compare this to the interiors of the Malibu, Grand Prix, and full sized trucks.

The Colbalt is a step in the right direction, more VW-like than anything else, and Cadillac (outside of the CTS) is also a nice styled interior. But new cars like the G6, while great in quality, aren't exactly up there with even Chrysler's direction of interior design, let alone Ford.

 

That is a great way to put it... really well said.

If I compare our GTP's interior to our GTO's interior.... it isn't even a contest.

The good news is that GTO *IS* a GM car... so, I think it would be a nice idea for GM North America to hold a seminar or two with some of Holden's Interior Design people... because they have the resources and personell right there in there own company!!

 

I don't think the problem is quality (newer models are pretty good), but more so appearance and layout. Appearances/perceptions are just as important as actual quality in an interior imo and perceptions are what's killing GM now that they've upped quality.

 

GM's interiors are complete junk. From my sold 94 Camaro to my brothers 03 Silverado, they are just about the same, cheap feeling and looking plastic, squeaks and rattles that are everywhere and huge gaps from between all the buttons and switches and the molding, and the places where the modlings meet each other.
Not too long ago I got a BMW 530i and the interior is maybe 1000x48 better than my Camaro. Even though they are the same years, the Camaro doesnt even come close to the Bimmer. I think that GM still has a long way to go before we can say they have a "good" interior.

seth

 

While your Camaro to Silverado comparison is vaild the BMW to Chevy one doesn't hold water. BMW is a Luxury mark and Chevy is a low price volume competitor they should NOT be even remotely considered in the same category.

 

Just because you think Chevy is a low price volume competitor doesn't mean that it's acceptable for Chevy and GM as a whole to have some of the worst interiors on the market. They either refuse to improve the quality, or just lack the engineering know-how. Either way they need to step it up a knotch or I doubt I will buy another GM car, and im sure alot of people feel the same way.

seth

 

I would agree that Camaro's and Silverado's interior quality is relatively low... though I think Camaro's interior was confortable and well laid out for a sports car.

However, remember that Camaro's basic interior dated back to 1993, and even Silverado is 1999...

There are much nicer ones over the past few years, but I hope they continue to improve.

 

LMAO!! Yeah, compare a $20k sports coupe to a $40k luxury sedan for interior quality. You know, that extra 20 grand buys a lot of fancy plastic parts.

Give me a break.

Oh, and the current Silverado interior is sort of plasticky (actually, all cars are now, but some have "hard" plastics and some have "soft" plastics - it's still freaking plastic), but it is not a squeak and rattle house. At least the Silverados (and Suburbans/Denalis/Sierras/Escalades/Tahoes) I've come across are not.

 

Ya, let me clear up my previous post by agreeing with what you are saying here about Silverado and other GM full size interiors.

They ARE NOT lacking quality, from my experience, with being rattle traps and such, but they do look dated, and the materials used look cheap and are not pleasing to the touch, etc...

I expect a big improvement with the next full size truck, especially with all the praise the new F150 is getting for it's interior.