Nice Timing: XTS, Luxury Watches Share Chrome Cues

Cadillac designers use different finishes to create a warm, inviting interior

DETROIT--June 28, 2013: The creative use of metal finishes and styling cues in luxury watches helped inspire the chrome accents in the award-winning interior of the 2013 Cadillac XTS luxury sedan.

XTS designers, who often look to fashion and other industries for trends in consumer preferences, applied two different chrome finishes to the interior. Satin-finished chrome accents adorn larger elements in the car, including along the door sills and the instrument panel. They create a warmer, more inviting interior and contrast with other finishes such as wood and leather.

Smaller, polished chrome elements, such as the air vents, contrast with the larger satin-finished chrome pieces.

“The luxury watch industry plays with many metal finishes in its designs,” said Marie-Camille LeCoq, lead creative designer who helped execute the XTS interior. “They play with matte, satin, bright chrome and aluminum in beautiful ways, so it was natural to draw influence in a way that extends into the Cadillac XTS the look and feel of the objects consumers interact with in their everyday lives.”

The interior of the XTS luxury sedan is one of the more modern and sophisticated interpretations of the brand’s Art and Science design philosophy. The XTS Platinum model offers the highest levels of refinement, with full Opus leather seat treatments and genuine Sapele wood details that create a luxurious interior environment.