Domestics Fare Well in Interiors Awards

[doh]

http://www.canadiandriver.com/news/060609-2.htm

News media and industry differ in choices of best automotive interiors


Detroit, Michigan - The 7th annual automotive "Interior of the Year" awards sponsored by Wards Auto World revealed differing opinions among industry judges and news media judges. Winners were determined on two separate ballots, one exclusively for news media and the other for members of the industry at-large.

In the voting by industry at-large, GM's Pontiac Solstice won in Best Popular-Priced Car interior; the Chevy HHR won for Best Popular-Priced CUV interior; the Chevy Tahoe won Best Popular-Priced Truck interior; and the Cadillac Escalade took top honours for the best interior in a Premium-Priced Truck.

In the same categories, members of the news media voted the Audi A3 Best Popular-Priced Car interior; the Mazda CX-7 the best interior in Popular-Priced CUV category; the Toyota FJ Cruiser Best Interior -- Popular-Priced Truck; and the Land Rover Range Rover Sport as having the best interior in the Premium-Priced Truck category.

New this year were six product feature categories that journalists and the industry at-large also voted on: Best Navigation System, Best Seat System, Best Instrument Cluster, Best Sound System, Best Overall Interior Innovation, and even Best Cup Holder.

The two voting groups showed much more agreement in the interior features categories where they picked the same winner in three of them: Best Navigation System -- Acura, manufactured by Alpine; Best Instrument Cluster - - Ford Mustang, by Delphi; and Best Cup Holder -- Mercedes M-Class, designed by Fischer Automotive.

Dodge swept the awards by the industry at-large voters in the three other categories: Best Sound System -- Dodge Magnum for its Boston Acoustics system; Best (Driver) Seat System -- Dodge Charger by Johnson Controls; and Best Interior Innovation -- Dodge Grand Caravan, for its Stow N' Go seats, developed by Chrysler Group and Magna/Intier.

However, members of the media picked three different models for these categories. Their choices were: Best Sound System -- Audi S8 for its Bang & Olufsen stereo; Best (Driver) Seat System went to Mercedes S-Class, which makes it own seats; and the Best Interior Innovation was the Honda Ridgeline for its trunk in the pickup bed, developed by Meridian Automotive Systems, Inc.

The winners of the annual "Interior of the Year" awards competition were selected from a field of 53 finalists picked by the editors of Wards Auto World's various auto industry magazines and newsletters.

[USA1Fan]

The media is obviously largely out of touch. That pretty much sums up the discrepancies.

[big swede]

Originally Posted by USA1Fan

The media is obviously largely out of touch. That pretty much sums up the discrepancies.

I don't know about that. I think a lot of people would have some similiar choices. The most obvious choice of the Audi A3 over the Solstice shows that maybe it's not the media but the industry that is out of touch.

[CarShark]

The fact that the HHR won anything for its interior tells me that it's the industry that's horribly out of touch.

[salbracht]

I've sat in both the Solstice and the HHR and I would NEVER give them an award for interior design in either case. The "Industy" judges are either "on the take" or they are smoking something.

[tgagneguam]

Domestics Fare Well in Interiors Awards

The votes are in - and the big winners in this year's Interior of the Year, a competition put on by Ward's Auto World magazine, were the American brands. In all, DaimlerChrysler took six of the categories in the competition, with Ford winning five and GM, four. Balloting was conducted across the auto industry, with a separate vote solely for journalists. The winners were as follows:

The first entry below each award represents the vote per Industry At-Large Vote while the second represents News media Vote. It's nice to notice the discrepancy between the industry at large and the media, which seems to favor import designs. I'm not one that favors conspiracy theories, but the media's preferences-some of which I agree with-are interesting, nonetheless.


Overall Vehicle Interiors
---------------------
Popular-Priced Car
Pontiac Solstice
Audi A3
---------------------
Premium-Priced Car
Lincoln Zephyr
Lincoln Zephyr
-------------------
Popular-Priced CUV
Chevy HHR
Mazda CX-7
-------------
Premium-Priced CUV
Subaru B9 Tribeca
Audi Q7
---------------------
Popular-Priced Truck
Chevy Tahoe
Toyota FJ Cruiser
------------------
Premium-Priced Truck
Cadillac Escalade
Land Rover Range Rover Sport
--------------------------------


Interior Features
-----------------------
Best Instrument Cluster
Ford Mustang (Delphi)
Ford Mustang (Delphi)
-----------------------
Best Navigation System
Acura (Alpine)
Acura (alpine)
-----------------
Best Cup Holder
Mercedes M-Class (Fischer Automotive)
Mercedes M-class (Fischer Automotive)
-----------------------------------------
Best Sound System
Dodge Magnum (Boston Acoustics)
Audi S8 (Bang & Olufsen)
--------------------------
Best Seat System (Driver)
Dodge Charger (Johnson Controls)
Mercedes S-Class - Mercedes
-------------------------------
Best Interior Innovation:
Dodge Grand Caravan - Stow N' Go Seat System (Chrysler Group & Magna/Intier)
Honda Ridgeline - trunk in pickup bed (Meridian Automotive Systems, Inc.)

Source: The Car Connection(Scroll halfway down).

[TuffG929]

I can't belive those media prics chose Fj over the Tahoe and other Trucks out there that are just better.

[tgagneguam]

Originally Posted by TuffG929

I can't belive those media prics chose Fj over the Tahoe and other Trucks out there that are just better.

Precisely. Even some of the auto rags that are customarily friendly toward Toyota have been critical of the FJ's interior.

[plane]

What? Media bias favoring imports?
Nah. Couldn't be.
You cannot prove that we are biased.
Unless somebody took a secret vote and posted the results on the internet...
DOH!

[MaxLegroom]

As much complaining as I have read about the Lincoln Zephyr interior, I am surprised, but also pleased. If nothing else, the interior of the Zephyr looks and feels special. I guess these people did not share Car and Driver dislike of the rectangular shapes of that design...

[jwrebholz]

Doesn't surprise me in the least. The journalists all picked imports almost exclusively. It's not a surprise I disagree with most of their picks.

As for the industry picks..I'd say many of them are dead-on. The GMT-900 interiors are fantastic to look at, comfortable and functional. Those Stow 'n' Go seats were a brilliant idea and one that struck me as a "why didn't someone think of this before?" idea. The only one I don't agree with is the instrument cluster award. Yes, the Mustang's IP is pretty, but those narrow letters make it tough to read at a glance.

Also--there really IS an award for everything, isn't there? Best CUP HOLDER?! Someone has too much free time.

[rueben44]

I hate I mean HATE the design of that Lincoln I really don't see how it won at all. The outside has grown on me but that interior...ugghh!

[CrunkedRL]

I'm a little shocked the Solitice made the cut. This car clearly has more plastic in it than the Sky.

[kodos78]

Never really looked at the Zephyr interior before. First shock? That it doesn't look like a tarted up Fusion interior at first glance!

Second shock -- how strange it looked. I guess I could get used to it after time, and it even started growing on me in the time I stared at it online. But still something made me a little bit uncomfortable. Will have to look at it in person.

[cadillacpimpin]

Originally Posted by CrunkedRL

I'm a little shocked the Solitice made the cut. This car clearly has more plastic in it than the Sky.

it seems to me that most ppl dont even know what a sky is. let alone that its a saturn. or in anyway related to the solsitce, or made by gm.
good thing? or bad thing? i guess theres +'s both sides.

i wouldnt call it media bias, i would call it someone who has an opinion and just so happens to have their thoughts published to be read by millions of people.... in other words... media bias.