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NOVI, MI – Chrysler’s emergence from bankruptcy in the summer of 2009 drew a collective sigh from much of metro Detroit.

But for a team of interior designers at Magna International, it was about that time they learned Chrysler had pulled ahead by a full eight months the complete restyling of the passenger compartment of the Dodge Journey cross/utility vehicle.

It was a hair-on-fire moment for teams at both Magna and Chrysler, but one that was necessary: The Journey was dead on arrival as an ’09 model and desperately needed resuscitation.

The hard work appears to have paid off: The new model has a significantly better interior, and the experience reflects improved supplier relations for Chrysler.

“It was aggressive,” recalls Jay McCarthy, senior program manager for Magna Exteriors and Interiors. “It was difficult to put a plan on paper that looked like it would work.”

In its first two years in the market, the Journey never cracked the top 10 in terms of sales in Ward’s Middle CUV segment.

A cheap-looking cabin with drab colors, excessive amounts of hard plastic and a general lack of style didn’t help the cause.

Customer feedback indicated a lack of perceived quality in the Journey interior, so Chrysler wanted an extreme makeover – and quickly, McCarthy says. Magna also was the Tier 1 integrator of the first-generation Journey cabin.