Touches of style and luxury give carmakers a bit of buzz

Most new-car buyers may be focused on iPod outlets, side-curtain air bags, or third-row seating. Carmakers are certainly focused on those things, too, but they're also adding touches to interiors that consumers might not ever have thought they needed. Or wanted. Or could get.

Toyota, for example, has engineered a moisturizing upholstery for the rear seat in the top-of-the-line XLE Camry model for 2006. The fabric is coated with a naturally occurring component called Sericin, which is extracted from silkworm cocoons and can be found in high-end cosmetics.

Because most XLE models have leather seats, only a small number of Camrys will have the special fabric, making it all the more puzzling why the Japanese company went through the trouble of designing it.

''This is another mystery from the east," said Wade Hoyt, northeast public affairs manager for Toyota Motor Sales. ''It's a moisturizer. If you have dry skin exposed to the seat fabric this could help alleviate that. . . . It's one more thing a salesman could mention in the showroom. It's newsworthy and fun to talk about it."

Gets you a little ink.

Regardless of whether the moisturizer works, the seats feel soft, and, of course, comfort is one of the most important elements in car interiors as American drivers spend more and more time behind the wheel, eating, watching DVDs, and talking on the phone as they drive.

To that end, Volvo has introduced a few new interior components that show just how much the automobile has become an extension of our living quarters. The dash of the S-41 has a control panel shaped like a television remote control. The C-70, the brand's new four-seat retractable-hard-top convertible that will launch in the spring, will have 5-liter covered storage bins in the back, an acknowledgment that people need more closet space everywhere they go. The Swedish company is also sprucing up its cars' interior decors by incorporating the look of stainless steel -- just like many customers now have in their kitchens -- into dashboards, and is introducing coordinated colors instead of just gray or black on the steering column and other interior parts. Furthermore, Volvo is keeping its wood touches more natural-looking, without layers and layers of shiny varnish, perhaps a nod to a mid-century modern look that is now popular.

''The look of stainless steel is very Scandinavian," said Geza Loczi, director of design at the Volvo monitoring and concept center in Camarillo, Calif. ''And we're into simplicity and boldness."

At Honda, while much of the interior design focus has been on convenience (take the Element's vinyl flooring that can be hosed down) and versatility (the company nearly 10 years ago introduced its trademarked Magic Seat that folds down flat into the flooring) the carmaker is adding a few new soft touches.

When Honda's high-end Acura TL was redesigned in 2004, it was imbued with LED lights that are strong enough to help a driver find things inside the car at night, but not so bright as to be distracting.

Of course, being on the road at night can also make a driver tired.

The Element, introduced for the 2003 model year, and CRV have front and rear seats that fold flat, with enough room for sleeping.

''You scoot the front seats all the way forward, take the headrest out, and flatten them, and do the same in the back," said Honda spokesman Chris Naughton. ''It might be bigger than you think. I would guess the length is 6 feet."

Although few customers might actually take advantage of the feature, Naughton said there's still a good reason to offer it: ''It exceeds customer expectations.

BMWs, on the other hand, might exceed drivers' expectations in many ways. But for the US market, German engineering seems to be above creating a decent cup holder. Thomas Clawges, president of TEC Accessories Inc., a business in California's Bay Area, decided to help frustrated BMW owners, especially those with the E39 5 Series, which has been replaced by the E60.

''The cup holders in that car are extremely pathetic," Clawges said.

''Most people had the same complaint. In Germany eating and drinking aren't really done" while driving. ''Smoking is. So you have an ashtray."

TEC Accessories designed an add-on cup holder that costs $89, a small price to pay, Clawges said, for a gadget ''that you can install with no tools in seconds."

Simpler than most home improvement projects.