Congress has cut federal funding for public media — a $3.4 million loss for LAist. We count on readers like you to protect our nonprofit newsroom. Become a monthly member and sustain local journalism.
This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.
This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.
LA Auto Show 2006: Interior Design Studios Aim to Change the Way We Think About GM Vehicles
()
2007 Chevy Malibu shown above...no seriously, that's a Malibu
On Monday, in a sneak preview of what you can see this weekend at the LA Auto Show, LAist was invited to get an inside look at what GM Design has been working on for the past five years. We took a gander at what's coming up in GM’s future lineups (next year and beyond). David Rand, Executive Director of Interior Design, was eager to show to us and explain the new direction that General Motors is taking in order to capture a quickly changing market.
The American driver is becoming tired of the same external features of a luxury vehicle. GM executives realized five years ago that commuters were beginning to spend more of their day inside of their vehicle traveling to work and that it was quickly becoming their second living room. It is for this reason that GM made it a corporate initiative to focus more attention on making their car interiors globally competitive.
Support for LAist comes from
()
Integrated Center Stack
They have been working on integrating radios and other controls into what are called Integrated Center Stacks (shown above), which give designers the ability to tailor the types of controls available to the consumer better, as well as customize how the buttons feel and are positioned. Gone are the cheap radios that used to come standard with all GM vehicles, instead there are high quality sound components integrated beautifully, free from the confines of a black metal rectangle.
Integrated components focus on texture for “blind driving”, as well as unique responses and lighting. Cluster displays (speedometer, tach, etc) now feature gorgeous designs that enhance their functionality and add to the driving experience. Designers also focus on choreographed lighting on heads up displays (including animations and sequential fading of lights), as well as colored ambient lighting throughout the vehicle. A lot of the upholstery is stitched onto the interior of the car in order to relieve the driver of the sense that his or her car was stamped out of a mold on an assembly line. There is more of an organic and familiar luxury feel to all of the classes, Saturn and Cadillac alike.
GM has put a lot of stock in 11 major design studios located in America, Europe and Asia to bring more life to their vehicle interiors. It makes sense to say that while the outside of a car still captures our attention initially, that impressive feeling we get from experiencing the interior of a coworker’s luxury car for the first time is what really sends our minds buzzing. They are obviously onto something.
()
David Rand, Executive Director of GM Design Interiors
As Editor-in-Chief of our newsroom, I’m extremely proud of the work our top-notch journalists are doing here at LAist. We’re doing more hard-hitting watchdog journalism than ever before — powerful reporting on the economy, elections, climate and the homelessness crisis that is making a difference in your lives. At the same time, it’s never been more difficult to maintain a paywall-free, independent news source that informs, inspires, and engages everyone.
Simply put, we cannot do this essential work without your help. Federal funding for public media has been clawed back by Congress and that means LAist has lost $3.4 million in federal funding over the next two years. So we’re asking for your help. LAist has been there for you and we’re asking you to be here for us.
We rely on donations from readers like you to stay independent, which keeps our nonprofit newsroom strong and accountable to you.
No matter where you stand on the political spectrum, press freedom is at the core of keeping our nation free and fair. And as the landscape of free press changes, LAist will remain a voice you know and trust, but the amount of reader support we receive will help determine how strong of a newsroom we are going forward to cover the important news from our community.
Please take action today to support your trusted source for local news with a donation that makes sense for your budget.
Thank you for your generous support and believing in independent news.
Chip in now to fund your local journalism
(
LAist
)
Trending on LAist
-
With less to prove than LA, the city is becoming a center of impressive culinary creativity. -
Nearly 470 sections of guardrailing were stolen in the last fiscal year in L.A. and Ventura counties.
-
Monarch butterflies are on a path to extinction, but there is a way to support them — and maybe see them in your own yard — by planting milkweed.
-
With California voters facing a decision on redistricting this November, Surf City is poised to join the brewing battle over Congressional voting districts.
-
The drug dealer, the last of five defendants to plead guilty to federal charges linked to the 'Friends' actor’s death, will face a maximum sentence of 65 years in prison.
-
The weather’s been a little different lately, with humidity, isolated rain and wind gusts throughout much of Southern California. What’s causing the late-summer bout of gray?
Best of LAist