The 200C hybrid-electric sedan concept was one of the few surprises of NAIAS 2009. Based on a shortened version of the company's rear-drive 300C platform, it provides a glimpse not only of an electric-powered replacement for the company's popular range-topping sedan, but also marks Chrysler design director Ralph Gilles' vision for the future of the troubled US brand.
The 200C was designed by Nick Malachowski (exterior) and Ryan Nagode (interior) at Chrysler's design HQ and Advanced Interior Design studios in Auburn Hills, Michigan. It's a handsome and well executed take on the mid-size sedan format, featuring parallel window and character lines that arc gently downwards as they run from a stepped trunk and dissolve as they meet distended front wheelarches. This emphasizes the height of the hood, giving the car a muscular down-the-road graphic in keeping with the 200C sporting pretensions. A recessed area of sheet metal above the side sills runs in a band around the entire car, housing full-width chrome air intakes and exhaust surrounds at the rear.
Interior designer Ryan Patrick Joyce tells us that the interior was all about "clean, organic, asymmetrical design and open space". The Zen rock garden-inspired floor rises up in waves to provide support for the car's four identical bucket seats, which feature intersecting leaf forms that leave natural gaps in the backrests for cooling. Each slim chair is made up of a number of differently colored layers, providing what Joyce calls "great attention to ‘thick to thin'."
The driver sits in front of an EcoVoyager-style single-rim steering wheel and a huge single-surface touch-screen IP that uses a system called 'uconnect' to allow many of the vehicles functions to be controlled via an iPhone. We don't have enough space here to detail its myriad functions, but a full demonstration left us suitably impressed.
The 200C was designed by Nick Malachowski (exterior) and Ryan Nagode (interior) at Chrysler's design HQ and Advanced Interior Design studios in Auburn Hills, Michigan. It's a handsome and well executed take on the mid-size sedan format, featuring parallel window and character lines that arc gently downwards as they run from a stepped trunk and dissolve as they meet distended front wheelarches. This emphasizes the height of the hood, giving the car a muscular down-the-road graphic in keeping with the 200C sporting pretensions. A recessed area of sheet metal above the side sills runs in a band around the entire car, housing full-width chrome air intakes and exhaust surrounds at the rear.
Interior designer Ryan Patrick Joyce tells us that the interior was all about "clean, organic, asymmetrical design and open space". The Zen rock garden-inspired floor rises up in waves to provide support for the car's four identical bucket seats, which feature intersecting leaf forms that leave natural gaps in the backrests for cooling. Each slim chair is made up of a number of differently colored layers, providing what Joyce calls "great attention to ‘thick to thin'."
The driver sits in front of an EcoVoyager-style single-rim steering wheel and a huge single-surface touch-screen IP that uses a system called 'uconnect' to allow many of the vehicles functions to be controlled via an iPhone. We don't have enough space here to detail its myriad functions, but a full demonstration left us suitably impressed.
