A Report From South Africa

Mr. Wellburn, it's nice to have a different perspective here on FastLane, from one of the leaders of what I feel is the greatest design team ever! The Camaro and Enclave are true examples of all that has gone right with the company, and it's desire to be a design-driven one.

I hope that in your visit to Africa, you were able to get a lot of new ideas for the cars, and were able to inspire a classroom full of students.

PS: Push the Velite concept a little

South Africa - a country of tremendous natural beauty. What an ironic setting for a vehicle so synonymous with poor environmental stewardship.

Hi Ed,

I think it would be neat to see pale colors used in the trim on the fabrics and leathers. Subdued but not boring, I am thinking pale green or lime, and sky blue. It could be a really elegant accent against charcoals and dark browns and burgandy and forest green.

I think daring but sophisticated color pairings could be amazing.

Thanks,
RJ

"The use of color and the combinations of colors here are fascinating."

And its the combination of colors that is key. I think exterior colors need to be evaluated for harmony with interior colors. I've seen examples while car-shopping where I really liked a particular exterior color, but then didn't see a choice for an interior color that really matched well.

I don't think any combination ever looked classier than the Caddilac dark green exterior with saddle interior, but that isn't even offered anymore.

Then again, I'm not sure how GM or other car companies choose colors for exteriors and interiors. It would seem to make sense that the decisions would be made in conjunction, but I wouldn't be surprised that they were done separately

(Oh boy! Ed is my hero.)

Dear Mr. Welburn,
I am not a designer by any means, but I hope you'll like whatI have to say. I too want to join in the chorus for that beautiful thing you call the Buick Velite Concept.
It needs to be on the road--like next year.:)

I hope too, that someday there can be a Kappa Caddy or Buick that will sell out and help create buzz for Cadillac.

Most of all, however, I want to put in my strong support for Art and Science.
I cannot begin to tell you how beautiful I think that design language is! The first time I saw the Evoq in Car and Driver, my jaw dropped to the floor. I love Art and Science!

You and BMW are about the only automakers out there with a distinctive styling language, and you should cherish it. Never be "anonymous" like a certain Japanese comptetitor of yours.
I'd also like to point out a small shortcoming I see.
Whle I think you did a great job with the Escalade interior, as well as the 2007 SRX, I am hoping for an unmistakably Cadillac signature interior design in the future. The spline down the center stack of the Sixteen concept is awesome, and I think it could be more prominent, since it angles the driver's controls towards the driver, and the passenger's controls toward the passenger.
That is the most brilliant thing I have ever seen!

Sometimes, though, I think that your interiors (actually, most car interiors) do not "flow" as well as they can. I think your seats could have a better point-of-view (more luscious, less generic "comfy"), and that the design cues can sweep the entire cabin from front to back. Too often, in my humble opinion, the back and the front seem disconnected.

I am thrilled to hear you even hint of the possibility of bringing back different interior colors in your cars.
That could be the great differentiator for Cadillac. I'll take red-wine leather with snow-white stitiching.

Lastly, I would like to ask you to consider black chrome as optional on all your Cadillacs heretofore.
Maybe you could market it as the option for people who want to be a little more understated, and limit the numbers you produce somewhat (not as low V-series levels though).
A Black CTS with black chrome would be a dream of mine.

Thanks for posting!

P.S. Mr. Welburn, I also like the LED lighting thing in the Aura. I think you should use it extensively for Cadillacs (even other brands).
It would be beyond cool to be able to wash the cabin (footwells, glovebox, ceiling etc.) with a deep, royal blue lights at night (or heaven forbid--blacklighing!)

Now I love the environment grew up in the pine barrens, a 1 million acre pine preserve untouched (thanks to poor soil) in the most densely populated state in America, New Jersey. Over 1,000 per square mile. So I was always conscious of how we use the land and how we can have the smallest impact.

So it's unconscionable to me that these foreign auto factories take up thousands of acres spread eagle in the middle of farm and forest country nestled between a National Park on the East, a National Wildlife Refuge on the West, a National Forest to the South and a National Monument to the North.

Here you have a 300,000 capacity Tundra factory going up in the middle of Fertile Farmland USA, hundreds of miles from the nearest city to make a vehicle that in no way gets any better gas milage than an H3 to add to an already overcapacity region.

Now Hummer opens up a small kit factory to produce 50 or so thousand Hummers on the ourskirts of town to supply the world. Now let me ask you, who is being more environmentally responsible?

I am not against transplants in the middle of plant country but ask yourself how many trees they need to cut down before they put a single factory in a common sense location, like Hamtramack, Pontiac or Jefferson North or Detroit?

As far as the environment, transplants care as much about preserving open space and having a small impact as a pigeon living out of a pigeonhole in a pizzeria in Park Slope, Brooklyn.

Now as far as I'm concerned an H3 actually adds to the beauty of nature and its surroundings, and it will have far less an impact than some of the gas guzzling, carbon spewing vehicles they use now.

Mr. Welburn: Glad you mentioned the EFIJY, when will this stunning street rod be available at the local Buick Dealer?

Buick needs something like the Efijy to really get the publics attention and make the want to visit the dealer.

Buick will have the Enclave, Lucerne and redesigned LaCrosse along with a new RWD Electra (Statesman) by then to take advantage of the increased traffic.

The EFIJY is also the perfect platform to introduce new colors for both the exterior and more importantly the interior. The Soprano Purple paint and cream leather of the concept car are just one of many colors that can be explored. White leather with both dark and light blue and green metallic and the classic medium red interior with white exterior are others.

The most neglected part of recent vehicles has been the lack of color choice in the interior; it is the same black, gray or tan.

Burgundy, Green, Blue and White all look good with a variety of exteriors and some new cloth fabrics would be a welcome change. Another item missing from cars for years is the overstuffed bench seat, modern materials allow this seat type to provide all of the comfort while maintaining support and adjustability.

New interior materials and textures can be explored in this street rod package from the traditional tuck and roll leather to suede. Don’t forget the trim pieces; there are more options than just wood or metallic for the panels and how about some new materials for the trim surround. Brass, Copper, Nickel or Bronze are some metals and there is a wide choice of colors and backlighting options. Other areas are displays, knobs, levers and controls.

The Aero-X is another concept that allows for alternative color and material selections with the high tech feel from the wheels to the canopy roof. New metallic surfaces such as nickel, titanium or composites like carbon fiber can be combined with some innovative backlighting to create a completely new feel.

Maybe the Aero-X could be the first plug in hybrid from GM; with the interest the Tesla roadster has created it makes sense. SAAB has the BioPower hybrid in Sweden and adding the 2.8L turbo V6 for high performance should be achievable.

I can’t wait to see the new Enclave and hopefully the Velite concept will be made in some form. A coupe or even sedan would be better than nothing, and if the Velite coupe sells a hardtop convertible could be added.

Actually of all the GM brands Buick and SAAB present the best opportunity to explore new areas in color, materials and new design directions.

Just some thoughts, I’ll take my EFIJY in Soprano Purple with a bench seat please.

Hi Ed,
Keep up the good work. Your group is what will save GM, not any Wall Street fancy tricks.

Take that small car, rear wheel drive project and bring it to the top of the list. This is a new segment just waiting to be cracked. SUV's made mini-vans a declining segment, you can do the same to the Asian front drivers.

I was wondering if I am correct in assuming that Hummers faced a lot of opposition from consumers when they were given as toys along with McDonald's Happy Meals (there are posts on even McDonald's Official Blog about it) because Hummers are considered to be gass guzzlers.

Is this model any different?

One simple thing that I have learned about from my time yachting, and spending time around friends who have done extensive world cruising:
Red ship's lights

That may sound unbelieveably random, but they have a serious purpose: to preserve night vision.

The potential is big for anybody who does any substantial amount of night driving. Where changes in light levels outside (oncoming cars etc.) can severely damage your night vision.

You have a big thing going with Saab, where you can black out everything but the speedo. I have sugestions for you to go further:

1. Explore the possibility of red night lighting in cars to reduce fatigue on the eyes.

2. A system that blacks out the IP and turns the HUD red at night would also work really well in my opinion.