Thanks to hot new products like the Chevrolet Camaro and Chevrolet Equinox, GM is making a surprisingly quick comeback from bankruptcy. Sales from its core divisions—Chevrolet, Buick, Cadillac and GMC—continue to rise, and so do customer perceptions about product quality. And while stunning new designs and impressive fuel efficiency are a big part of the story, the increased attention on improved interiors is surely helping put more Chevys on the best-sellers list.
Just ask the automotive experts from Ward’s, who recently honored two Chevrolet products with their annual Auto Interior of the Year Awards.
The Camaro earned the nod in the “Sports car” segment, marking another big win for Chevy’s modern-day muscle car. The 2010 Camaro is usually better known for its big engines and small 0-60 times, but designers put just as much effort into its interior as they did the rest of the car.
The inside of the Camaro is a well-balanced mix of retro design cues and up-to-date features, ranging from a classic dashboard setup that puts deeply recessed gauges within chrome-accented, squared-off housings to an available 245-watt Boston Acoustics premium sound system. All models also show off a sporty, three-spoke steering wheel, available with built-in audio controls, and Camaro’s driver seat was specifically designed with enthusiastic driving in mind.
Enthusiasts will enjoy the Camaro’s optional console-mounted gauge package, too. It’s included on 2LT and SS trim levels, and available as an option through Chevrolet dealers, and it provides readouts for the car’s oil pressure, oil temperature, volts and transmission fluid temperature.
Other available interior highlights include an ambient lighting system, six-way power-adjustable driver’s seat, short-throw Hurst shifter, leather trim, Bluetooth connectivity and USB ports for hooking up personal music players like the Apple iPod.
The second Chevy to be recognized by Ward’s was the Chevrolet Equinox, which received the Auto Interior of the Year Award in the “Popular-priced truck under $39,000″ segment. The honor is especially impressive when you consider that the Chevy crossover starts with an MSRP of just $22,615, meaning it beat out some significantly higher-priced competition.
The Equinox offers an incredibly versatile and roomy interior, with unique highlights such as its MultiFlex rear-seat system. This allow the back seats to be moved back and forth by almost eight inches, giving the Equinox the best rear legroom in its class when the seats are all the way back and 31.4 cubic feet of rear storage space when they’re pulled all the way up.
And the interior is as livable as it is functional, thanks to a cabin specifically designed to provide its occupants with best-in-class comfort. The ergonomic center stack puts the Equinox’s controls within easy reach of front-seat passengers, and the pilot also benefits from standard power-adjustable height controls for the driver’s seat as well as a tilt/telescoping steering wheel.
Impressively quiet, the inside of the Chevy offers a wide variety of infotainment features, including an optional touch-screen navigation system with a 7-inch display, available rear-seat entertainment system with two independent display screens, and both Bluetooth and USB-audio connectivity.
It’s further proof that the beauty of today’s Chevrolets is much more than skin deep.
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