What is a Reptilian Car?

Last night I was watching this show called American Car. The program talked about the competition between American top car companies. Throughout the hour special most experts viewed America as losing its grip in the American auto industry. Then one expert or consultant said that the reason we are losing a grip on the market is because we need more reptilian cars. Then he referred to the Hummer H2 as being the first reptilian car in a long time. I was like reptilian car…what. He couldnt be referring to the reptile could he? Then I started to wonder what he meant by that. What does it mean to have a reptilian car? Is it a car that represents America or represent the buyer? I included a link for an example.

Detroit's Hot Buttons

Newsweek Magazine, January 12, 2004

So, U.S. car makers are rediscovering "emotional quality" - ambiance (feel comforted in stressful traffic and long commutes), feel (the size and feel of buttons), sound (the click of the key or switch), and the all important Reptilian hot button of smell as a means to improve their market share. Americans today assume a certain level of reliability. Now they want their new car's interior right down to the buttons to have the right emotional "feel" and attention to detail that the Japanese and European automakers have been doing for years.

www.brand.com...

[edit on 14-3-2005 by Event Horizon]

Wow, thats interesting. I thought maybe the fellow on the program was just using the term in his own way, but apparently its actual auto industry jargon. I can only speculate that 'reptilian' aspects are the more basal, gutteral emotional aspects. And that this might be a hold over from the time when it was supposed that the human brain was effectively made up of an advanced mammalian brain with a primitive reptilian brain in the 'older' lobes.