Tesla’s interiors may equal its exteriors, now that it has poached a Volvo exec

By Lulu Chang Published December 23, 2016

If you were to judge it by its cover, you’d certainly be impressed by Tesla and its sleek exteriors. But inside? Maybe it needs some work. So now, to help with this endeavor, Tesla has hired one of the biggest fish in the pond. Anders Bell, whose current title is Senior Director of Engineering and Head of Interior Engineering at Volvo. Bell will soon have a new title — well, the same title, but at Tesla instead.

Tesla managed to hire the top engineering talent from the Swedish automaker, Electrek has learned, and Bell confirmed the move himself by updating his LinkedIn profile in the last few days.

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It’s a big move for the veteran Volvo engineer, who has overseen all interior engineering at the firm,from start to finish over the last two years, Electrek reports. But now, he’s leaving Sweden for sunny California.

While Bell boasts quite an impressive resume, his new role at Tesla will be no walk in the park. While the car company has enjoyed shining praise for most of its mechanics and its exterior aesthetics, a common complaint has been its sub-par interiors — at least when compared to other luxury cars. Given that they’re shelling out $60,000, a number of customers have been less than impressed by the ubiquitous black plastic, misaligned cubbies, and issues with cup holders. So now, Bell will be in a position to take everything he learned (and established) at Volvo, and help Elon Musk’s company step up its game.

Bell joins Tesla at a critical time, just as the company promises to ramp up its production and deliver more vehicles in 2017 than ever before. So if you’re not on a Tesla waiting list yet, now that its interior has a chance at matching its exterior, it may be high time to jump on the bandwagon.

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