Could you please give some examples of the aspects you are thinking of, less related to old money the manufacturers seek to further differentiate themselves? Are you thinking of aspects like the vegan upholstery in the new 5er?
Yeah, I think that's one specific example that's representative of a push towards more progressive and sustainable material choices. Agree or not with the ethical choices, but if an increasing number of people want to buy into the warm & fuzzy feeling they get from believing (sometimes right, sometimes wrongly) that what they're buying is better for the environment and life on this planet, versus the warm & fuzzy feeling that sinking into a car interior where a leather trimmed steering column exists, then some manufacturers will obviously seek to exploit that.
I'm not suggesting that BMW are the only ones going down this route, but it's the easiest for me to give examples of. So, take for example BMW project-i, on the surface it was about electrification, but from the inception of the MCV (which became the i3), they were pressing home the sustainability aspects of material, design and manufacturing choices all the way back in 2012, and the Vision iCircular is further pressing home the point 10 years later, and here we are with a vegan 5 series option.
Beyond that one element though, consider the evolution from customisation of cars (exterior colours, different woods and trim colours), to personalisation of cars (extended options where you're changing the form of the car, things like M-performance parts for example - they may be easy to hate, but you can get an M3 from the factory that looks
very different to the M3 next door) or enhanced personalisation such as 'Mini Yours' where 3D printed parts are made specifically for your car, with your name on them... to the future, where it's gone beyond personalisation (... this is mine), to personification (... this is my friend), with digital assistants, that are growing beyond simple voice interaction, to fully blown 'characters'.
Two of those examples are based around MINI, but at the other end of the spectrum, Rolls-Royce, perhaps the ultimate in customisation and personalisation, showed their Next 100 concept, and they didn't focus on those things, nor the materials, nor extreme luxury, but on having a car with which you formed a personal bond, as you might your own chauffeur.
Taking the Next 100 cars in 2016 as a jumping off point, the MINI allowed for simple images to be displayed in the exterior panels for personalisation purposes, and here we are several years later, with e-Ink exteriors then showing up on the iX iFlow, and further enhanced in full colour on the Dee. Linking back to the R-R Next100, the Dee also focuses on being a 'digital companion', and we're seeing 'Spike' in the Mini.
Even going back as far as the GINA concept, whether or not you perceive the ideas as novelties and gimmicks, the underlying drive is to make a car that you bond with more like a pet or a person, than a piece of furniture that's available in a range of fabrics... it's a living thing more than it's an inanimate object.
Refinement of an inanimate object to the nth degree may be less valued than a car being personified as a friend, and traditional markers of quality or luxury such as wood, leather, and chrome (for example, which falls in and out of favour), disappear in favour of perhaps more vulgar, but emotionally inspiring personalisation. A combination of both has existed for a long time, for those of fabulous wealth. People can criticise the likes of the Boat tail, or the Sweptail from Rolls-Royce, as being gaudy, vulgar, outdated are just flat out ugly, but the truly luxurious aspect of these cars has never really been about the looks, materials or price - it's been about getting something entirely unique... it's a reflection of the customer that no options list can compete with.
I'm not saying any of this is objectively better or worse, or right or wrong, and my preferences lay somewhere in the middle. I don't really care about wood or leather that much in principle, so long as it looks good, but I absolutely love the idea of a bespoke Phantom with a gallery commission. I don't want the automotive equivalent of clippy the f#cking paperclip bothering me when I'm driving down to the shops, but a completely customisable interface that happens to talk at me like it's John Steed from the Avengers, that might be nice.
Sorry for the long post, I was
trying to be specific, if failing.
