The Los Angeles auto show this year was full of surprises right from the start, almost all of them good ones. Some marques were absent, but that list was short, and mas- sively outshone by the much longer list of established and new marques present and on display. It took up two big halls, and felt much like a show from the beforetimes. And that’s just the show itself; the cars themselves, especially their interiors, brought a spectacular diversi- ty of design and configuration. Clearly, the interior is a hot spot, probably the primary main one, for design and style innovation. That stands to reason; exterior design is heavily constrained by aerodynamic and regulatory con- siderations. Of course there are also design constraints inside the car, mostly to do with safety and utility. But those are rather more flexible strictures than the exterior ilk of aerodynamics and pedestrian protection, and the vehicles on display in LA showed that interior designers are stretching their imaginations in new directions.
There’s a push-pull dynamic at work here: the role of the automobile is changing, as are the ways people use it and the experience we expect from it. Meanwhile, new ma- terials; technologies, and techniques are expanding the range of the possible—and, crucially, the affordable and the feasible. At the same time, traditional elements are still acquitting themselves well; despite the demand for display-type virtual instrument panels and touchscreen controls, there’s evidently still a role for physical gauges; knobs; buttons; dials, and (saints preserve us!) even the occasional lever or two. Pushbutton shifting is coming on strong, but there’s also all manner of sticks and dials and knobs to do the job. Seats and headrests have perhaps never been quite so various as they are now, and we marvelled at the colorful departure (at last!) from years and years of nothing but black-grey-beige upholstery and trim. Lighting is an integral interior design element for function and decoration. Dashboards range from proudly upright to expansively horizontal. There’s even some fun whimsy in HVAC air registers. At the other end of the variety scale, almost the whole of the industry seems to have pounced on an astoundingly uniform steering wheel design.
Now…come and walk the show with us!