Summer 2014 issue of Interior Motives magazine out now

The summer edition of Car Design News' quarterly interior design publication, Interior Motives magazine, is out now. This issue features in-depth design development articles on the most important concepts from this year's Delhi, Geneva, New York and Beijing auto shows.

The cover story is Hyundai's Intrado fuel-cell crossover. Designed by the firm's European operation in Rüsselsheim, it's the first vehicle to be developed under newly appointed design chief Peter Schreyer.

The Intrado project took a different design course after Schreyer's arrival in January 2013: "Originally Peter is an interiors guy and you can totally tell; right away he made sure everything had to work," revealed interior design manager Jochen Werner.

Arguably the star of the Beijing show in April, the Exalt carries on Peugeot's current exploration of cutting-edge materials in interesting ways - this time combining them with the traditional craftsmanship and style of China, one of the French brand's most important markets.

"We work on raw materials with a very low process," said design boss Gilles Vidal during our in-depth interview. "With the Onyx [concept of 2012] we already tried this, but with the Exalt we wanted to take it one step further with local sourcing and craftsmanship - all the materials used in this car are sourced in China and Asia."

Another highlight of the summer edition is a behind-the-scenes exploration of the Land Rover Discovery Vision concept unveiled in New York. The concept is a modern, feasible iteration of what a new generation of Discoverys could look like, starting with the Freelander/LR2 replacement due in 2015.

Key to the car's ultra-clean interior design is "the continuing elimination of unnecessary physical switchgear", says JLR design director, Gerry McGovern; the HMI operates via gesture control, a large touchscreen and two rotary controls.

Also showcasing a new design language is Land Rover's Indian owner, Tata Motors, with its Nexon concept. In progressing the design themes explored on the earlier Pixel and Megapixel, the show car provides a mature proposal for the forthcoming new Tata small-car range.

Operating very much at the other end of the size scale is JAC's SC-9 concept. Like the Land Rover, it previews "a new interior design language and also represents future technology and prototype gesture-controlled HMI systems," says design director Lou Tik.

HMI design is also very much at the heart of our final concept story, which charts the development of the Mini Clubman Concept. "We had this key phrase - the ‘Gentleman's Car'," reveals interior design director Oliver Sieghart. "The idea was to have a playful car that wasn't too ‘toy-like'; something very ‘on road', very refined, with high-value materials... with still a little bit of Mini quirkiness, and very reduced and simplified forms."

For more details on this and other issues of the magazine, plus information on how to subscribe or download digital versions from the App Store, visit http://www.interiormotivesmagazine.com

By CDN Team