DS Automobiles Previews Future Interiors As Carmakers Focus On Comfy Cabins

EVs and other tech are giving designers new styling freedoms.

DS Automobiles previews future interiors.

Anthony Alaniz

By: Anthony Alaniz

Jun 8, 2023 at 2:04pm ET

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The era of battery-electric vehicles, driver-assistance features, and other emerging technologies have automakers thinking more about the cabin than ever. The packaging and possibilities allow for new freedoms in designing interiors, and DS Automobiles is previewing the vision that will influence the brand's future cars with a design study. It's called the M.i. 21, and it's more than just a concept.

DS calls the cabin a "design manifesto" because it "incorporates certain regulatory, industrial, and economic demands to be able to ensure faster production." The cabin features an assortment of technological and stylistic tricks, using light that's adaptive and connected to its environment, like the big circle lights in the doors.

Gallery: DS Automobiles M.i. 21

DS Automobiles M.i. 21

The automaker has also expanded the available space, eliminating the central tunnel and center console. The dashboard floats in front of the seats, pushed forward for even more room.

DS also tweaked the human-machine interface, noting that screens are ugly when turned off and add no aesthetic value. The M.i. 21 solves this dilemma by projecting information onto a strip that can turn opaque to display the information or transparent to reveal trim materials. Passengers control the system by voice or remote control on the center armrest. The only screens that DS couldn't adapt were the ones for the side-view cameras.

DS often keeps models like the M.i. 21 hidden "because it incorporates a lot of our future," said DS Automobiles Design Director Thierry Metroz. However, this piece will be on display to the public at the biannual Révélations craft and design exhibit at the Grand Palais Ephémère in Paris, which is already underway and runs through Sunday, June 11.