Craft and character: Why automotive interiors are rediscovering their human touch

Designers must balance the desire for craftsmanship and authenticity against manufacturing efficiencies, cost pressures, shorter development cycles and expectations around sustainability.

At Car Design Dialogues Detroit 2026, Car Design News editor-in-chief James McLachlan brought together Jennifer Widrick, director of global CMF at General Motors; Ryan Nagode, vice president of interior design at Stellantis; Zeb Coughenour, senior manager of interior design at Lucid Motors; and Stephen Gatny, director of business development, advanced automotive design at Ultrafabrics, to explore how the industry is responding.

The discussion, titled Craft & Character, revealed a growing emphasis on restraint, material authenticity and the human experience, alongside a recognition that the most meaningful innovations are not necessarily the most conspicuous.

Bringing the human element back

For Widrick, colour, material and finish (CMF) plays a particularly important role in creating an emotional connection between vehicle and occupant, especially within a company operating multiple brands on a considerable scale.

"I consider CMF [...] the humanising factor on the interior," she said. "It's bringing the warmth, the personality. It's the one communicating these stories and feelings and the emotional side of the vehicle."

That role becomes particularly important when common platforms and manufacturing processes can make differentiation more difficult. CMF offers an opportunity to establish distinct identities without fundamentally changing the vehicle architecture.

"We can lean into colors, textures, the decor and finish that we're delivering allows us to tell the brand stories and be consistent within the brands and also differentiated between all of the brands under our umbrella," Widrick explained.

At Lucid, Coughenour described a philosophy that puts the physical experience of the interior ahead of its digital capabilities. Although the brand makes extensive use of screens, he argued that technology should not dominate the experience of entering and occupying the vehicle.

"The first five minutes of getting in the car, my touch points are a wood door handle that's well crafted, or like in Gravity, there's a glass cover on the center console, or the wood tambour door in Air," he explained.

"Taking that experience just instantly gives you this more human feel before you get to the tech."

The approach draws heavily on the Californian landscape, with natural forms, layered surfaces and carefully selected materials intended to evoke a sense of calm.

Coughenour suggested that this form of luxury can be difficult to communicate through photography because much of its appeal comes from the physical experience rather than visual embellishment.

"This traditional visual clutter maybe isn't the answer," he said, arguing that the contrast between different materials and the tactile experience of touching surfaces can create a stronger impression than decorative detailing.

Nagode echoed the importance of emotional engagement, particularly as mainstream manufacturers face increasing pressure to control costs.

"We're not designing appliances, right? These are passionate purchases in most cases," he said.

Even at the entry level, he argued, consumers have developed increasingly sophisticated expectations around design, technology and perceived quality. The challenge is to deliver interiors that feel inviting and intuitive without overwhelming occupants with digital content.

"I feel comfortable. I know where my controls are at without having to open up the manual," he said, describing the experience designers should aim to create.

Innovation through restraint

While the panellists agreed on the importance of craftsmanship, they also acknowledged the pressure to develop vehicles more quickly and at lower cost.

Widrick suggested that these constraints are encouraging a more disciplined approach to innovation.

"This idea of speed just forces a more strategic approach," she said. "It does drive us to be more incrementally, I would say, innovative. It's not innovation for innovation's sake anymore. It really is intentional innovations that are planned, that are thoughtful, and that bring meaning."

This requires closer cooperation between CMF, interior design, engineering and suppliers, as well as a willingness to prioritise certain elements over others.

"The team has to show restraint that we all can't get the most surface with the most this, with the most that, with all the chrome bits," Widrick observed. "It's got to have that hierarchy so people understand it, because they're dealing with a lot of inputs."

At Lucid, the relatively small size of the design team has led to a more focused innovation strategy.

Coughenour explained that the company identifies a single significant innovation for each vehicle programme, rather than attempting to introduce new materials or processes across every component.

"We've kind of went through [...] the development process, finding a halo innovation for each program," he said.

For Lucid's forthcoming midsize vehicles, the challenge is to preserve the brand's material character while entering a more price-sensitive segment.

"How do we avoid plastic A-surface altogether? And that's really where we started," Coughenour explained.

The team has explored reducing the number of components and tooling requirements while identifying material processes that could become defining features of the new vehicles.

"We don't have enough people to really innovate everywhere," he acknowledged.

The underlying philosophy is to make one innovation sufficiently meaningful and visible that it becomes part of the vehicle's identity, rather than distributing resources across numerous smaller developments.

Sustainability becomes an expectation

Sustainability was another major theme, although the discussion suggested that its role in automotive design is changing.

Rather than treating sustainable materials as a distinctive selling point, Widrick argued that responsible material choices should increasingly be considered a fundamental requirement of vehicle development.

"Customers have moved beyond us [...] communicating out sustainability," she said. "It's really the expectation that it is our responsibility as OE to deliver on responsible products just equally to safety, to value, to technology."

For a manufacturer operating at GM's scale, even relatively modest changes in material selection can have considerable consequences.

"I'm very passionate about sustainability and couldn't be prouder to be at a company that when I win with sustainability, the massive scale that we get to deliver [...] you can have real impact," she said.

Gatny introduced the concept of "retained newness", arguing that designers should consider not simply how materials resist wear, but how they develop character throughout a vehicle's life.

Rather than treating ageing as something to be prevented, materials could be designed to develop a natural patina or become more appealing through use.

"We want to make sure that this, as it ages, it ages gracefully in the environment and actually adds something to it," he explained.

This might involve metallic finishes that acquire a natural patina or soft-trim materials with grains designed to respond to repeated contact.

Gatny suggested that such considerations could strengthen the emotional relationship between owner and vehicle, while helping preserve its value for subsequent owners.

Nagode described the different requirements across Stellantis's brands, highlighting Jeep's interest in sustainability and the importance of durability for Ram customers, who may retain their trucks for longer periods.

However, he acknowledged that translating promising material innovations into production remains difficult.

"There's a lot of things we would love to throw into the interior space, but we just physically can't," he said, pointing to automotive testing and validation requirements.

For suppliers such as Ultrafabrics, Gatny said the challenge is increasingly to develop materials that perform multiple functions.

"They want materials that can do more," he explained.

Beyond appearance and durability, manufacturers are looking for improved UV resistance, cleanability and even benefits to occupant wellbeing.

Designing for wellbeing

The discussion also explored the role of interiors in creating a sense of calm and providing respite from increasingly demanding everyday environments.

For Coughenour, wellbeing is central to Lucid's design philosophy, extending beyond material selection into the broader experience of occupying the vehicle.

He pointed to features such as Lucid's Sanctuary and Vibes modes, which use the vehicle environment to help occupants relax or change their state of mind.

At Stellantis, Nagode highlighted the growing sophistication of interior lighting, including the Dodge Charger's use of illumination to transform a relatively simple decorative panel.

"We actually call it attitude adjustment lighting," he explained, describing how changes in colour and intensity can alter the perceived character of the interior.

Widrick cautioned, however, that lighting should be deployed with greater purpose rather than simply because the technology allows it.

"We're starting to move beyond that where the light has to have a purpose," she said. "But an ambience is maybe the next step, not so directed, not so graphic, but really to create the ambience that we're looking for."

Coughenour drew a comparison with domestic interiors, where indirect lighting can accentuate architectural forms without becoming the focus of attention.

For Lucid, lighting is intended to reinforce the sculptural qualities of the interior while responding to different driving experiences.

Designing for a second life

The conversation moved beyond the immediate ownership experience to consider how simplified interior architectures might support disassembly, recycling and material recovery.

Widrick suggested that design for disassembly is already an active consideration, although its effectiveness depends on the infrastructure available to process recovered components.

"Just because you can take it apart, do you have the systems to accept that and do something with that deconstructed part?" she asked.

An alternative might be to develop components using fewer material types, reducing the need for separation altogether.

Coughenour pointed to furniture manufacturing as a potential source of inspiration, particularly products formed from a single material without adhesives or complex assemblies.

"Why can't we get that to the automotive industry?" he asked.

He described an ambition to create components such as door panels in which most of the structure could ultimately be processed through a straightforward recovery system.

Nagode agreed that simplification offers opportunities but stressed the importance of involving engineering teams early in the process.

"Design itself, the more simplified the design is from the get-go, just already starts to enable you to kind of think that way," he said.

Gatny similarly emphasised the importance of bringing manufacturing and material specialists into the design process before decisions become too difficult to change.

He also challenged the assumption that craftsmanship must involve visible handwork.

"Sometimes craftsmanship is invisible, and it's not so much what you see, but it's how you employ it," he said.

Poorly matched colours, inconsistent textures or rattling components can undermine the impression of quality just as readily as beautifully executed details can enhance it.

Colour, China and the return of expression

Questions from the audience turned to the influence of Chinese manufacturers and the possibility of more expressive interior colour palettes.

Widrick observed that Chinese brands have moved quickly through minimalist design trends and are now exploring greater embellishment, particularly in the luxury market.

"We're seeing them swing back to embellishment to hit their luxury market," she said.

Chinese manufacturers also appeared more willing to experiment with materials and replace them over shorter product cycles, while GM maintained a longer-term approach to durability and consistency.

On the question of colour, Widrick suggested that more adventurous palettes could emerge through curated programmes, selected trim levels and smaller accent details.

Nagode pointed to special editions as a valuable means of introducing greater personality, highlighting Jeep's programme of monthly Wrangler and Gladiator editions.

Coughenour expressed enthusiasm for greater experimentation, suggesting that a future bespoke programme could give Lucid customers considerably more freedom.

"I really see over the last five to six years the resurgence of just trying new things," he said. Good news for everyone, CDN says.