Ward's Announces Best Interiors for 2015

[Gecko]

Three sedans, two 5-door hatchbacks, two pickup trucks, two CUVs and a minivan round out the 2015 Ward’s 10 Best Interiors, a collection of accessible vehicles from mostly mainstream brands with exemplary passenger compartments.

While last year’s winners included four vehicles priced above $68,000, such as the $372,800 Rolls-Royce Wraith, the 2015 class is downright proletarian: The most expensive interior honored comes in a top-of-the-line version of the all-new Mercedes C-Class sedan, priced at $65,000 with all-wheel drive and a 329-hp bi-turbo V-6.

“It’s important that great interiors be available in every class of vehicle, not just luxury models that most consumers will never be able to afford,” says WardsAuto World Editor-in-Chief Drew Winter.

“In this year’s competition, we saw a lot of evidence that automakers are thinking creatively about interiors and putting a lot of design horsepower into not just luxury vehicles, but pickups, minivans and family sedans. And they are investing more in high-quality trim materials, electronic features and other details that will surprise and delight shoppers,” Winter says.

This year’s winners in alphabetical order with as-tested sticker prices:

• ’14 BMW i3 ($52,550)
• ’15 Chrysler 300C Platinum ($51,175)
• ’15 Ford F-150 King Ranch ($60,675)
• ’15 GMC Canyon SLT ($40,465)
• ’15 Honda Fit EX-L ($21,590)
• ’15 Jeep Renegade Limited ($33,205)
• ’15 Kia Sedona SXL ($43,295)
• ’16 Mazda6 Grand Touring ($33,395)
• ’15 Mercedes C400 ($65,000)
• ’15 Nissan Murano SL ($41,905)

WardsAuto editors selected the winners after spending February and March evaluating 42 interiors that are all-new or significantly redesigned for the U.S. market.

Each vehicle is scored based on materials, ergonomics, safety, comfort, value and fit-and-finish. In the category of driver information, editors test the user-friendliness of the human-machine interface to see how effectively vehicle information is communicated.

The most important category, worth 20 out of 100 points, is aesthestics and design harmony. Does the color scheme work, and does the interior match or at least complement the exterior styling? Do the individual elements work well together? Does the interior sell the vehicle?

Source: http://wardsauto.com/vehicles-technology/inner-beauty-masses

What do you guys think about this list? I rarely agree with the Ward's lists, and this one is no different

 

[mikeavelli]

I don't even know where to start..but obviously Ward's and myself think very differently....Though I have to say I am a fan of the new Mazda6 under 30k, the Murano, C400 and F-150...

 

[mmcartalk]

Overall, Bentley, IMO, does the best interiors......but you obviously have to pay some real money to get them:

 

[CIF]

Source: http://wardsauto.com/vehicles-technology/inner-beauty-masses

What do you guys think about this list? I rarely agree with the Ward's lists, and this one is no different

Perfectly said, I totally agree. Never paid much attention to Ward's lists, and this is certainly no different.

 

[mmcartalk]

15 Jeep Renegade Limited ($33,205)

I don't see how this one made the list. I recently checked out several Renegade interiors, in several trim levels, and, except for a couple of the controls/knobs, they seemed to use very cheap-feeling materials and trim.

I'm not sure what kind of criteria Wards uses for interiors, but one of mine is not only the looks, but the quality and feel of materials used.

 

[mikeavelli]

Yeah Mike, not remotely sure how that got approved lol..

 

[Och]

Wth is a jeep renegade anyway?

 

[RAL]

At its price level, I found my niece's new Mazda CX5 impressive . . . is similar to Mazda6

 

[mmcartalk]

Wth is a jeep renegade anyway?

It's a new, just-introduced, small car-based crossover-SUV design co-shared with Fiat as the 500X AWD, though the bodies and interiors are markedly different.