More exciting interior colour and trim
“LUXURY car interiors feature high-quality materials and combine different colours and textures to create a particular look and feel. To save on costs, the colour and fabric choices in regular family cars are more limited. As infotainment screens, multi-speaker sound systems and attention-grabbing ambient lighting have become commonplace in more affordable cars, mainstream manufacturers are looking for new ways to entice customers to step inside their designs.
“With less freedom to work with, designers do their best to jazz up greyish seats with textures, segmented padding and, when let loose, the occasional splash of colour. Door trims are also usually grey, sometimes with a metallic finish on details like handles to create a bit of glamour. Thankfully, the Fiat 500 and the Smart range have shown this doesn’t always have to be the way. We’re not surrounded by grey-coloured rooms at home – and increasingly in offices – so why should we have to put up with such sombre tones in our cars?
“The seats on the recently revealed Citroen e-C3 are black and white, coordinating with the door trims and dashboard to create a holistic and modern atmosphere. The Renault 5 E-Tech takes the fight against greyness a step further. The ‘Iconic Cinq’ trim option gives you seats with yellow padding that matches the front door trim and stitching on the dash. Many concept cars are following this trend for more interesting and integrated colours and materials, so the days of dull interiors in more affordable cars may well be numbered.”
“Manufacturers are looking for new ways to entice customers to step inside their designs”