Chrysler's Head Of Interior Design Visits Australia

Chrysler's Head Of Interior Design Klaus Busse, has just spent a few weeks here in Australia for the 'reveal' of the new 2011 Jeep Compass. He has also been presenting his design philosophy to dealership staff and Chrysler Australia Executives around Australia.
In a series of State by State meetings he discussed how his team completely refreshed the interior of every model in the range, and also gave an amazing insight into what future Jeep interiors will look like, including some sneek peek shots of interior concepts.

Expect to see some exciting colour pallets and vastly different designs and materials in future models including the Jeep KK Cherokee/Liberty replacement which is due next year. Using a mixture of colours from nature including tropical rainforests, volcanic eruptions and the oceans you can expect the unexpected on future Jeep models. Klaus is responsible for the award winning new Grand Cherokee interior and upcoming Chrysler 300C. His team also worked on the Jeep 70th Anniversary interiors which had the colours of WW2 medal bands inserted into the seat backs. Klaus was off to the Australian Outback and Uluru before heading home - obviously for more colour ideas.

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He recently stated " We had a great deal of input into the process with suppliers and it makes Chrysler Group very powerful moving forward because we are becoming so involved. In the past, I've worked with companies that would craft a beautiful design and then just "throw it over the wall" to engineering and keep their fingers crossed that they would execute it. What we have right now is a true partnership with engineering where if you come to one of our meetings you wouldn't know who the engineers are and who the designers are. Instead, you'll see real teamwork between the engineering and design groups where we complement each other's ideas and fight for good products. We specify materials together with engineering; we push for fit and finish together. For example, look at the A/C outlets on the 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee; those are probably the best in the market. The veins that direct the airflow don't bend when you touch them with your finger whereas the plastic in the previous model was very soft. Those of us in the design office along with our friends in engineering specified the material together and now it's super robust and the fit and finish are significantly improved. We're now expecting top quality, which may have driven some of our suppliers' crazy because we were not happy with what they gave us in the past. They were not used to this demand from us as we wanted the same quality you find in luxury vehicles. It is more about collaborating with suppliers these days to not reject parts, but to work together to gain respect and trust, and come to agreed upon expectations together.
Source ChryslerLLC