Ed Welburn Talks about GM Interiors

[nsap]

By Ed Welburn
GM Vice President of Design

I have been reading through some of the comments here in the Design forum and have taken particular interest in the interior discussion threads.

I have to admit that most of the postings are right on with respect to past execution elements relating to our vehicle interiors. While I won't bore you with the details around why things like gray interiors are necessary, I will tell you that GM's leadership understands the competitive landscape and has made a commitment to intensely focus on this area. We are on an all-out mission to raise the bar on interiors.



We are now turning the corner with some of our new products, such as the Buick LaCrosse, Buick Lucerne, Cadillac STS, Hummer H3, Saturn SKY, Saturn AURA, and Chevrolet Cobalt SS to name a few (see more images). These products are some of the first to demonstrate gains in fit and finishes, thanks in large part to our new product development organization. Progress will continue as additional launches and mid-cycle enhancements are executed.


http://fastlane.gmblogs.com/archives...or_1.html#more

[AdmiralViscen]

"mid-cycle enhancements are executed."

That's what I like to hear.

[tgagneguam]

We are now turning the corner with some of our new products...

I think that that's a correct statement in some cases, though still there's much work left to do.

...such as the Buick LaCrosse...

I find this choice particularly odd, as many of the auto rags (and even folks on this fan site, myself included) have expressed their displeasure with the LaCrosse's interior. It's sort of like Ed doesn't actually get it.

Interestingly, I saw several LaCrosse's on the road today (and a surprisingly large amount of SRX's, incidentally), and I got to thinking that it's actually not that bad. Of course, my view of the LaCrosses coincidentally became obstructed by several, similarly-priced Chrysler 300's zooming by, and then I remembered: Buick dropped the ball on the exterior of this car, too.

[free_energy0]

The only really good interiors are the Cobalt and the new Saturns. The STS looks decent but I havnt been in one up close. The rest of GMs interiors are not were they need to be to fight the relentless competetion.

[GM_Fanatic]

Originally Posted by nsap

... Saturn AURA,...

Those were the most interesting 2 words in my opionion. Does this mean that AURA is going to be the official name? If so, thats good because the name has really grown on me.

[mgescuro]

Originally Posted by nsap

While I won't bore you with the details around why things like gray interiors are necessary, I will tell you that GM's leadership understands the competitive landscape and has made a commitment to intensely focus on this area.

I dunno about everyone else.... but I owuldn' tmind being bored reading why he thinks that grey interiors are necessary.

It would be nice to get the corporate perspective.

[Slack]

Originally Posted by mgescuro

I dunno about everyone else.... but I owuldn' tmind being bored reading why he thinks that grey interiors are necessary.

It would be nice to get the corporate perspective.

Looks like you beat me to it. I'll get the tissue, Ed, bore me to tears.

[tallpaul]

GM still needs to make a sedan that a person 6ft 6in tall or larger fits like a glove and is comfortable. i am 6ft 6in tall and the 2004 regal i own fits just fine. i did however own a 2004 grand prix gt 2 and it was the most uncomfortable car i have ever owned.

[zeobandit]

Originally Posted by tallpaul

GM still needs to make a sedan that a person 6ft 6in tall or larger fits like a glove and is comfortable. i am 6ft 6in tall and the 2004 regal i own fits just fine. i did however own a 2004 grand prix gt 2 and it was the most uncomfortable car i have ever owned.

I agree completely, but this is not only a GM issue. I am 6'5", 285, and there are very few cars I fit into comfortably to the point where I would/could use it as a daily driver. This covers all brands.

[BigAls87Z28]

Id aslo love to hear the explaination behind the sea of grey, tan or black interiors.

[SVT2888]

Originally Posted by mgescuro

I dunno about everyone else.... but I owuldn' tmind being bored reading why he thinks that grey interiors are necessary.

It would be nice to get the corporate perspective.

I wouldnt be bored either. I would want a good explanation that makes sense.

[spudglo08]

Ya whats with all the cheap ass plastic?Especially the AC/Heat vents.One sise always looks like it's cut bigger than it's supposed to.And the cheap ass uncomfortable seats in the GMT-800's?

[VivienM]

Originally Posted by mgescuro

I dunno about everyone else.... but I owuldn' tmind being bored reading why he thinks that grey interiors are necessary.

It would be nice to get the corporate perspective.

There are a couple of reasons, I think:
a) Inventory. Unless you want to color coordinate interiors (red car get red seats, etc, blue car gets blue seats), then more interior colours means more combinations, which is always annoying given the inventory business model.
b) Toyohonda. Given that everything Toyohonda does is inherently modern, and everything traditionally done by the Big Two and a Half (OHV, bench seats, column shifters, that confy cloth they used to have, wiper controls on the left of the steering wheel instead of the right, soft comfy suspensions, overassisted steering, etc.) is ancient archaic undesirable junk, it follows that imitating Toyohonda is obviously the way to make a car look more modern. And what colour is a Toyohonda interior? Generally, rather grey.

If you look on eBay Motors (which is a great way to study automotive history, if you ask me), you will see that in the mid-90s, GM continued to have multiple interior colours (e.g. blue, red, etc) in cars like Luminas, Caprices, or Roadmasters. Look at what Toyohonda offered at the time. Toyohonda == modern, GM == ancient. That's how things seem to run in this screwed up Honda Accord-loving post-modernist world we live in.

And given that I'm sure it's cheaper to only offer grey, well... that was an additional reason to drop the other colours. (Though you can still get a blue interior Impala, interestingly enough, with the base cloth seats only)

[GM-10]

I haven't laughed this hard in a while. Clearly Ed doesn't get it. And add me to that list of people who wouldn't mind being bored with an explanation for the sea of gray interiors.

[puma12]

Originally Posted by tgagneguam

I think that that's a correct statement in some cases, though still there's much work left to do.

I find this choice particularly odd, as many of the auto rags (and even folks on this fan site, myself included) have expressed their displeasure with the LaCrosse's interior. It's sort of like Ed doesn't actually get it.

I just had to say that I broke up laughing reading the last sentence. I completely agree with you 100%, it really does seem like Ed, and perhaps all of GM, doesn't seem to get it... Heck, maybe they'll never get it. But, by god, let us hope they'll get it soon.