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Chrysler says its interiors will get more attention
Thank goodness! That was our first response, and we bet it might have been yours as well. Ralph Gilles, vice president of Advance Interior and Design for Chrysler tells Automotive News that his company will begin designing new interiors as much as a year sooner than in the past.
Chrysler's 2008 minivans are cited in the article as an example of the company's decision to invest more time into what some customers consider the most important part of a vehicle. Gilles said the longer design time will give Chrysler more opportunities incorporate innovative ideas, materials and technology into its products.
Hopefully it will give Chrysler more opportunity to get rid of those vast expanses of gray, featureless plastic that their cars are now filled with. It's about time the company that has had some of the most progressive exterior designs gets interiors to match.
[Source: Automotive News - Sub. Req.]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Tyk 9:46AM (8/07/2007)
Hmmm .. with its new hack and slash, short term profits ftw, performance-tied (ie profit) compensation packaged, CEO... i somehow doubt the interiors are going to improve.
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Allan 9:41AM (8/07/2007)
"It's about time the company that has had some of the most progressive exterior designs gets interiors to match."
You mean like 2008 minivans that look like 1988 minivans? Ya, I don't know about that. But yes... nice to see some attention to interiors.
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Don 1:31PM (8/07/2007)
Have you driven one?
It might be a good idea to do so before you condemn what's certain to be a great vehicle.
Bob-omb 12:00PM (8/08/2007)
"What's certain" to be a great vehicle? Now who's jumping to conclusions?
Kowell 9:48AM (8/07/2007)
I love the Patriot's look, I was really interested in buying one.... then I saw the interior and it's neverending sea of the cheapest plastic I ever saw. My old Cherokee's interior felt sturdy and impossible to break. This looks like it will break the first time I rough it up a little... Not to mention the limitless scratching potential...
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ebm14 9:48PM (8/07/2007)
I agree, I was all set on this car and upset once I sat inside. I hardly see any of them on the road, but I do see more Compasses which happen to share the same interior
and don't know why.
I think they seriously need to address the interior on this car ASAP or they will lose a lot of money quickly. Their new owner is also giving the company several months to make a profit or else!!!
stefan 9:49AM (8/07/2007)
Its a little bit too lait for that chrysler.
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Tioch 9:57AM (8/07/2007)
Umm, progressive exterior design? If by that you mean "we design one exterior idea and then force-feed the public with it by putting it on all of our cars", then you've got a minor appreciation for progressive styling. Chyrsler, how about you get rid of the ribbed hood design considering it's not making your Sebring a success story. Listen, the most interesting element in your car line over the last year has been cupholders that chill your drink. I don't think it's just the interiors you've been having a problem with Chrysler... This is a company that once cared more about styling than it did actually nuts and bolts engineering and now it's a company that can't get any of it right. I don't think a few bits of wood and metal-looking plastic is "forward thinking".
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Nellydesign 10:05AM (8/07/2007)
If the Minivans are an example of "more interior attention" someone at Chryslerberus need to understand what the definition of "more" is.
They are still awful. Aside from the cheap materials, the overall look is planar, flat, uninspiring, poorly integrated, poorly assembled, and dull. Every surface intersection looks like no thought was put into it.
I'll tell you what it looks like. It looks like everything was designed by engineers on a computer without a single Automotive Designer ever setting pen to paper. The surfaces have no love and no life. Why not just take the humans out all together and just configure a computer to intersect random boxes together to make interiors.
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rickhamilton620 3:19PM (8/07/2007)
Wow, to me you hit the nail on the head! I kept lookin for words to describe the new interior on the minivans and I agree with you completely. I dont know if the plastics on the dash and doors are "soft touch" but the angles used make them look cheap and rock hard. (for example, the driver's door armrest.) The interior surfaces of the two previous generations were way more organic and added warmth. And yes to me the Uplander's dash looks much more appealing than the Chrysler's. Does anyone know if it's upper dash has soft touch plastics?
Nellydesign 10:06AM (8/07/2007)
Oh and the "computer tower" center stack look failed with the Cadillac CTS too.
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Gregory Anderson 11:19PM (8/07/2007)
Hopefully the new Challenger, and my next car I should mention, will have these much needed improvements in place at time of delivery.
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TriShield 10:25AM (8/07/2007)
The minivans look fine inside and out. As nice as any other vehicle in the segment.
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felipe 10:47AM (8/07/2007)
hahahaha...lol you must own one.
what are you compairing it to the TWAT winning Uplander?
Bob-omb 11:16AM (8/07/2007)
The sad thing is that the Uplander DOES have a more stylish interior than the new Caravan! I mean the Uplander is a terrible van and the interior materials are cheap, but they still look better in a photo than this. And it's not a mish-mosh of mismatching drab colors.
And while we're on the subject, how come Ford and Chrysler steering wheels always look like they're made out of Play-Doh? I can't stand them. I also don't like my town's post office. Okay, I think I'm done.
G. Caravan 10:40AM (8/07/2007)
"It's about time the company that has had some of the most progressive exterior designs gets interiors to match."
That statement is about 4 years overdue. The current Chrysler/Jeep/Dodge lineup is probably the worst looking in the company's history, as if it was designed by GM and not by Chrysler. That includes the upcoming minivan, which is a recycled '93 model (I believe, the cost-saving part played it's role - they simply took the oddments laying around their warehouses and put them together to build a "Brand-New" model with no manufacturing cost involved)
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Scott 11:31AM (8/07/2007)
Your comment is about 4 years overdue. The GM family of interiors is MUCH better than Chrysler these days. Take a look at the GMT900-based trucks and SUVS. Nothing Chrysler offers is in the same league.
dan 1:31PM (8/07/2007)
The LX cars have more legroom than almost anything else on the market. That's a more important interior feature to me than how hard the plastic on the dash is.
If only they hadn't ruined them with a belt line up to your neck. Way to go, exterior design department.
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A&W 11:12AM (8/07/2007)
I wish Mr. Gilles alot of luck. But I'm afraid under this new ownership he will not get the resources he needs to back up that statement.
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Avinash machado 11:44AM (8/07/2007)
Chrysler also needs to change the exterior looks of the Sebring, let alone the interior.
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