GM to Further Differentiate Interiors and Exteriors of Redesigned SUV Family

[ne_one]

GM to Further Differentiate Interiors and Exteriors of Redesigned SUV Family
Car and Driver
December 24, 2012
by Rick Kranz

General Motors has dropped the cookie cutter approach to the interiors of its full-size SUVs, beginning with the redesigned 2014 models.

“In the past we shared SUV and (pickup) truck interiors. That is not the case going forward,” said Chris Hilts, creative manager of interior design at General Motors. When the Chevrolet Tahoe and the Suburban, the GMC Yukons, and the Cadillac Escalades get their redesigns, they’ll be getting their own instrument panels, consoles, instrumentation, center stacks, knobs, materials and other design elements.

Hilts cited two reasons for the change in strategy. First, GM learned during clinics that SUV buyers want more refinement in their vehicles. (No surprise there.) However, pickup owners want a different look in the Silverado and the GMC Sierra interiors.

“We went to a lot of clinics. What we learned is that truck customers like their interior to feel like a truck. In some of our past experiences, we felt truck customers would like a passenger-car interior,” Hilts said. “That wasn’t quite the case when we started listening to what was being said.”

Full article at link.

[goatgary]

From what I've seen of the 2014 Silverado and Sierra someone didn't have their hearing aids turned up.

[Ambalanche]

I could've sworn I read somewhere that the Silverado and Sierra were going to be more differenciated from each other, but they look more alike than ever!

[Novak454]

Me thinks this be more advertizin' than realizin' - Popeye.

[haleykeek]

i just hope that the cadillac escalade have a top notch interior.something that will be miles ahead of the chevy/gmc twins of tahoe and yukon.the escalade should have an interior rivaling that of the range rover.anything less just wont cut it.seriously for a truck costing upwards of over $70,000 nothing else will do.and i'm excited to see what the sierra denali,and chevy high country will have on the inside.

[CaddyLac10]

Did GM really need to ask around to know that the Tahoe, Yukon and Escalade needed unique door panels? I'm glad there are "clinics" to clear that up.

[Ed753]

Does anyone understand what this guy is even trying to say? Does he know what he's talking about!?



Currently the high-end truck trims use the SUV dash, for 2014 all the trucks will use the same dash, and from what we've saw, the GMC vs. Chevy look really close.



The SUVs will get their own dash, OK that good, but what the heck is this suppose to mean?


As for exterior styling, Hilts suggested that the 2014 Chevrolet and GMC SUVs will be noticeably different from each brand’s pickups. Today, the front-end styling of the Tahoe and the Suburban are nearly identical to the Silverado, as is the front treatment for the Sierra and Yukon models. Hilts said if a Chevrolet dealer places a 2014 Silverado and 2014 Tahoe side-by-side on the floor, “they will appear as completely different interiors and they will look like completely separate vehicles.”


They don't today!?

[Canuck]

Does anyone understand what this guy is even trying to say? Does he know what he's talking about!?



Currently the high-end truck trims use the SUV dash, for 2014 all the trucks will use the same dash, and from what we've saw, the GMC vs. Chevy look really close.



The SUVs will get their own dash, OK that good, but what the heck is this suppose to mean?


As for exterior styling, Hilts suggested that the 2014 Chevrolet and GMC SUVs will be noticeably different from each brand’s pickups. Today, the front-end styling of the Tahoe and the Suburban are nearly identical to the Silverado, as is the front treatment for the Sierra and Yukon models. Hilts said if a Chevrolet dealer places a 2014 Silverado and 2014 Tahoe side-by-side on the floor, “they will appear as completely different interiors and they will look like completely separate vehicles.”


They don't today!?

He must mean the Silverado and Tahoe will look less like each other. It is a poorly worded statement. C&D could have written a better article than presenting the quote the way they did.

I am skeptical given how the Silverado and Sierra were supposed to look very different from each other based on these type of comments prior to their debut.

[GG_TECH]

There is a downside on going independent in aesthetics on similar GM brands and that is commonality. Commonality insures volume for parts manufactured are always lower in price for those common parts. I expect the prices to stay up not down for vehicles whose parts are not common throughout GM brands.

[lio45]

From what I've seen of the 2014 Silverado and Sierra someone didn't have their hearing aids turned up.

I could've sworn I read somewhere that the Silverado and Sierra were going to be more differenciated from each other, but they look more alike than ever!

I don't think you're reading this right...

I read it to mean "In the past, our fullsize pickups and our fullsize SUVs used to have identical interiors. Now we've realized that truck buyers want truckish interiors and SUV buyers want carish interiors. So we'll make sure we give the SUVs a completely different interior... so for this generation, there will be the truck interior for our single fullsize pickup model (available with either a Chevy or a GMC badge/grille) and there will be the totally different SUV interior, which we will be using in the Tahoe/Yukon/Suburban/YukonXL clone family."

So, it's not at all about giving Chevy and GMC different interiors... it's about the ChevyGMC pickup twins having one interior and the ChevyGMC SUV twins another.

[BlackGTP]

I think GM is "getting it" based on cars like the Buick Verano/Cruze, etc.. I look forward to the new trucks - I bet they will be class leading.

[z/28orss]

i just hope that the cadillac escalade have a top notch interior.something that will be miles ahead of the chevy/gmc twins of tahoe and yukon.the escalade should have an interior rivaling that of the range rover.anything less just wont cut it.seriously for a truck costing upwards of over $70,000 nothing else will do.and i'm excited to see what the sierra denali,and chevy high country will have on the inside.

the escalade interior


Tahoe


range rover ?


not sure if serious?

[richmond2000]

I prefer the idea of the "BASIC" suvs looking like there truck counter parts and giving the Denali / High country? versions unique int/EXT treatments to the "Basic" versions and the Escalade IMHO should look NOTHING like ether of the truck/SUV twins
and IMHO if you are buying a LS/LT Tahoe you probably buying it for its "truck" attributes as there are a lot of better "CUV" that are NOT trucks

[Evo69]

Really GM? I have to see those differentiation before I believe it. The GMC Sierra truck should by 2014 have a different dash/IP than the Chevy Silverado. But no, they are the same except for the interior trim lights.

[G8tor]

Bad comparison to show the Denali interior to the Escalade both are targeted to high end luxury so they would be more alike than distinct compared to say the Tahoe and the Escalade.