Peugeot stole much of the night-before-the-show news coverage by unveiling a baby grand piano.
It is one of the first products to come from the new Peugeot Design Lab which has been working on a number of products since 2010, exploring the automaker’s industrial history for inspiration, according to Cathal Loughnane, head of the lab which works closely with the car designers.
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“I love designing car interiors but the lab is a really good way of giving designers a break and a new challenge,” he said.
One of the car designers is also a pianist and came up with the idea of designing a new piano, the design of which has hardly changed in centuries. Peugeot approached piano maker Pleyel and the project went ahead.
The keyboard, raised so that it is flush with the top of the piano, was one of the more revolutionary aspects of the design. It allows the audience to see the pianist’s hands more easily, no matter where they are sitting.
It also allowed Peugeot’s design team to learn more about sound something that will be passed on to the car designers.
The Design Lab also produced the scooter and time trials bike unveiled as part of the Onyx supercar concept, also unveiled on the eve of the show and making its public debut today (27 September).
It is also looking at other design challenges, including salt and pepper grinders, long part of Peugeot’s industrial heritage.
Loughnane sees the Design Lab competing with Porsche Design.
“We have five or six clients who are looking for a service they can’t find anywhere else,” he said.
“The difference is that we are part of the car design studio, not separate.”
