Usually when an automaker is announcing a design philosophy, it’s for the exterior design of a car. And it typically comes with a flashy new concept car. Honda is taking a slightly different tack, with its latest design philosophy applying to interior design. It’s called “Simplicity and Something,” and the company released the above rendering to illustrate it.
Yes, the name does sound as if Honda might’ve forgotten the second aspect of the philosophy, but it basically means to keep the interior simple but give it a little “something” extra or unique. Feel free to substitute your favorite synonym, like “X factor.” The “simplicity” part is pretty straightforward, and it comes down to keeping controls simple and easy-to-use and providing an open, airy environment with good visibility. In the rendering, that comes through with the climate control knobs and physical buttons for infotainment shortcuts. And both aspects come together with the full-width air vents, slight angles to everything and the high-mounted transparent infotainment screen.
Honda didn’t say anything about the concept interior actually going into a new production model. But you can begin to see the influence of this concept in the interiors of the upcoming Civic and HR-V, which are each shown after the concept rendering in the above gallery. Both feature the high-mounted infotainment system, simple knobs and dials, and full-width air vents. But each has unique details, mainly in the air vents. Of course, their infotainment screens are not transparent.
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