@Sportstick Very interesting, your take on color. Would you care to write a guest blog post to expand on this? Please reach out at
[email protected] if interested. The "design office" is listening.
Thanks for the invitation. I'll just continue here, if I may. History and research shows a clear preference in parts of Europe, notably Germany, for dark (if not black) interiors. Those consumers have reported that black is perceived as upscale and luxurious. However, this is a very myopic position to take when selling internationally, where that perception is not as widely held. In the US, black has been associated more often with "sporty/performance", thus it is the only color interior on some high performance models by various manufacturers. Black is more often regarded by mainstream (non-sports car) buyers in the US as drab, confining, and claustrophobic than it is in Europe. In addition, there are regions in the US where black is not as popular due to the very hot climate with triple-digit summer temperatures.
However, when expanding an appeal for upscale or luxury, in North America, the natural leather tones have historically been dominant. A photo goes beyond words, so please consider these, including the first-ever time the exploding upscale truck market included a Luxury Car Interior of the Year Award. Note that color scheme among these others for these established brands with years/decades of experience researching and satisfying consumer preferences. The Ocean is missing an entire interior color category that is among the more highly valued and offered when premiumness is being established. Further, from a simple color harmony perspective, these colors best support the eventual 2023 earth tone exteriors in a manner white, blue, and black do not.
I fully recognize the issues with complexity management and APEI at the operator station based on a count of seat sets. However, the proper balance to manage that should not completely eliminate a significant category of seat colors. Perhaps we don't need to have black in PU and fabric and the overall optimal plan is to provide this missing color family instead? As is, the overall color plan is quite unbalanced to appeal to an array of buyers with two of three interiors differing in hue but equally dark in value, the third cold color of whitish/gray with a cold blue stripe, and overweighted with blue exteriors. Maybe someone's personal preference within the company is being followed, but this is not a market-driven palette. Broadening appeal to be commensurate with ongoing (not just launch enthusiasm) production planning volumes should be among the goals of the Design Office to assist with gaining consideration and turning reservations into orders.