How Cadillac turns old newspapers into luxury car interior trim
"It's not just the materials we use, but how we are applying them in a really exciting way for the customer," Nina Cho, a colors, material, and finish designer who worked on the Optiq, said in a GM press release. "We took a new approach to interior materials application and placement."
As an alternative to the petroleum-based plastics and synthetic textiles used in most car interiors, Cadillac chose what it calls "patterned accent fabric." Woven from yarn made from 100% recycled materials, it has a more interesting textured appearance that was designed to complement the different interior color schemes available on the Optiq, according to Cadillac.
Cadillac is also putting a new spin on that traditional marker of automotive luxury-wood trim. An available "PaperWood" veneer is made up of equal parts tulip wood and recycled newspaper. Cadillac claims that letters from the newspapers are visible when viewed up close, although from a normal distance it looks like conventional wood trim.
"The PaperWood veneer is made by repeatedly stacking the thin layer of the dark tulip wood with the recycled newspaper, and they essentially mill the laminates for use in the car from the stack," Cho said. "What's really special about this process is that the veneer is made up of different newspapers, so each trim piece is entirely unique to that vehicle."
Cadillac's entry-level EV, the Optiq is slated to get a few updates for 2026, despite this only being its second model year. Highlights include a lower base price thanks to the addition of a new rear-wheel drive model to the lineup, plus the launch of the sporty Optiq-V. Meanwhile, some the Optiq's recycled interior materials are also making an appearance in the 2026 Cadillac Vistiq three-row electric SUV.
Along with the Optiq and Vistiq, Cadillac's EV lineup includes the Lyriq and Escalade IQ, as well as the Celestiq, a hand-built sedan costing about $350,000. This gives Cadillac an electric lineup mirroring its gasoline crossovers-and they're selling well. In its second-quarter financial results, GM reported that Cadillac is now the number one luxury EV brand in the United States and that one of every four Cadillacs sold in the U.S. in the first half of the year was electric.
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