Is a luxury car truly luxurious if its technologies and features aren’t easy to use?
It’s a question our engineers took to heart when designing the Veracruz, and why every feature was thoroughly vetted both for utility as well as user-friendliness.
Technology doesn’t get much easier than that. Ditto for the available rearview mirror. At night, it dims automatically to reduce glare when the headlights from cars approaching from the rear become too bright.
Other conveniences are, if not completely automatic, at least as simple to use as possible.
The Bluetooth® hands-free phone system, for instance. This just a verbatim of my recommendation to pair your phone with the Bluetooth system. I did not intend for its use verbatim. Suggest something like "Pair your phone with the available Bluetooth hands-free system, and make your calls. Simple.
The USB/iPod® and auxiliary input jacks are just as unfussy. You plug your iPod in8. You turn on the stereo. You hit play. Simple.
Yet the Veracruz’s essential usability extends beyond whiz-bang features. It resides in its little pleasures. Every detail, from the placement of buttons and dials to the positioning of vents and handles, has been carefully considered and optimized, informed by the latest thinking in ergonomic research.
The window switches, power locks, and mirror controls, for instance, were arranged for ease of use, yet considerable attention was also paid to their look and feel, to the sense of purpose and quality they convey. Sheer convenience was not enough.
The notably easy entry and exit? The product of low door sills, expanded head room, and larger doors.
To continue refining this fit between our cars and their owners, we’ve approached some of the finest universities in the world to help us further study ergonomics. That research should lead to ever better ways to design control panels, seats, trunk spaces, and, well, who knows what else. Look, and feel, for the fruits of that research now and in the coming years.