Color, Materials & Finish (CMF) remains an essential emotional vocabulary by which vehicle designers, and in particular vehicle interior design departments, express their individual brand identity, differentiate themselves from the competition, and appeal to their target consumer base. The Car Design News and Ultrafabrics Colour, Material & Finish (CMF) Survey 2025 has established itself as an annual litmus test for CMF within car design but also casts a critical eye towards the future of car design, imparting authoritative expert insight, whilst also giving back to the car design community.
Earthy tones were clearly the dominant color trend and (followed in a distant second place) Achromatic hues were the leading trends globally, but also across most regions and design roles.
Within the area of materials innovation, the leading response was sustainability closely followed by integrated technology (touchscreens, smart surfaces, HUD), and in third place was lightweighting. There was some variance by region and design role, but the same three main issues predominated.
The choice of materials and colors plays a huge role in defining the passengers’ mood. They should encourage a feeling of tranquility and calm, something that conventional suede has done for decades.
Baby Boomers strongly prioritized comfort and traditional materials. Generation X had more of a balance of priorities such as comfort , minimalism, traditional materials, sustainable materials, and smart surface + tech integration. For Millennials, there was a stronger bias towards sustainable materials, and smart surface + tech integration. Generation Z, strongly prioritized smart surface + tech integration, and sustainable materials. There was some small variation by region, most notably Japan, but in terms of design roles, they followed the global picture with a clear generational divide.
