Car manufacturers are increasingly offering environmentally-friendly alternatives to traditional leather car seats, such as BMW’s ‘Veganza’, Mercedes-Benz’s ‘Artico’ and Volvo’s ‘Nordico’. In particular, there’s a new trend for ‘vegan leather’ over and above any old ‘synthetic leather’ materials.
Let’s take a look at what these materials are actually made of, and how they compare with conventional leather trims that these brands have sold for decades.
So, why the move away from traditional leather?
There are a few reasons why car companies are increasingly turning towards man-made and organic leather alternatives.
Firstly, the industry has been responding to growing public demand for the use of environmentally-friendly materials in the last decade. Like the food and fashion industries, the motoring sector has been a heavy user of animal skins for many decades. With more and more customers looking for products that are animal-free and don’t harm the environment, car manufacturers are inevitably starting to respond.
Some brands have started offering ‘vegan leather’ as the default interior trim on some models, and this could potentially persuade would-be buyers to choose their model over alternatives still using real leather.
Even customers who are not vegans are starting to demand alternaives to leather. From mass animal slaughter, to the high CO2 emissions of the agricultural industry, to the potentially unsafe work conditions of leather tanning, it is clear to see that traditional leather products have significant ethical issues that many consuumers are no longer prepared to support.
Secondly, car manufacturers are all working to reduce their manufacturing emissions – although you’re welcome to debate whether this is for moral reasons or legal obligations. Making real leather requires a lot of resources, including some harmful chemicals that in turn produce waste and pollution.
By comparison man-made and organic leathers require fewer resources to manufacture, and plant-based leathers produce little to no waste, helping the car brand meet its lower emissions targets.
Finally and crucially, these man-made leather alternatives are simply cheaper to make, as the basic materials are often much cheaper to buy than animal hide, largely because the production process uses less energy and is more water-efficient. This makes offering leather alternatives an attractive option for car brands, as they get to cut costs and appeal to the rising number of eco-conscious buyers at the same time.
There are two key types of leather alternative and they are easy to confuse with one another. But they do have a few key differences…
What is synthetic leather?
Synthetic leather has a few different names – also known as artifical leather, faux leather, leatherette or even pleather (plastic leather) – depending on what the marketing departments think will sound most appealing to customers.
Whatever you call it, it’s made from plastics that are coated in vinyl and then textured to look like real leather. It’s more or less the same as what used to be called vinyl seats, but modern texturing and production methods have made the finished products look and feel much more like real leather.
No animal products are used in the production of synthetic leather, which certainly improves its ethical standing. From an environmental point of view, however, it’s not quite as clear-cut. The plastic materials used in synthetic leathers are not truly biodegradable, unlike animal hides, and the manufacturing process results in similar amounts of waste to traditional leather production.
In essence, the key benefit of synthetic leather to car companies is to save costs rather than save the environment.
What is vegan leather?
Vegan leather is a specific kind of synthetic leather, and the key word here is ‘organic’. Intead of plastics, vegan leather is made from naturally-sourced organic materials – usually plants.
However, this plant-based leather is sometimes lumped together with other synthetic materials under the term ‘vegan’, which can be confusing and misleading. Therefore, some sustainable leather products will be marketed as vegan but also include some synthetic plastic and rubber materials.
As with all aspects of a vegan lifesyle, the key purpose of vegan leather is to address ethical and environmental concerns. For car companies, however, it has the added benefit of being cheaper to make than traditional leather.
What is plant-based leather?
Plent-based leather is simply another term used to describe vegan leather. Like any other form of syntheic material, it’s not actually leather as no animal hides are involved.
What is vegan leather made from?
Car brands that sell vegan leather trims tend to remain tight-lipped about which materials they use. The fashion industry gives us a few ideas, though.
Commonly used organic materials include mushroom fungi, pineapple leaves, tree bark, apple skins and grape skins, which are dried and pressed into a thin sheet.
Will I see any differences between these new eco-friendly leathers and real leather?
In short, yes. It may look almost like the real thing and make the cost of buying a new car slightly cheaper, but synthetic leathers are often less durable than natural leather, which means they aren’t likely to last as long and are more prone to tearing. If you’re buying a used car that’s several years old, this could be quite noticeable.
This could lead to unexpected costs to repair your car seats compared to natural leather seats, so your longer-term ownership costs could be higher.
Plastic-based leathers also don’t offer as much ventilation as natural leather, so you may notice more perspiration on your lower back and legs on longer drives, especially in warmer weather – in much the same way that polyester fabrics in your clothes don’t offer as much air circulation as natural cottons or wools.
Although the manufacturing process for vinyl and synthetic trims have improved over the years, many artificial leathers lack the same softness and suppleness as natural leather, so they may not feel as comfortable. This also accelerates wear, as the materials don’t move and stretch like natural fibres do.
Artificial leathers also don’t age naturally over time and use like real leather, so you won’t get a natural patina to a car interior like you see in older luxury cars that feature real leather.
Vegan and synthetic leathers: pros and cons
Pros
- Usually cheaper than real leather (though vegan leather can come with a premium, depending on the brand)
- No animals are slaughtered to produce car interiors
- Can be more eco-friendly to produce, although not as much as you might think
Cons
- Not as tough or durable as these materials are thinner
- Not as supple as natural leather, so not always as comfortable
Which car brands offer vegan leather or synthetic leather trims?
Tesla was one of the pioneers of this movement, and started offering vegan upholstery options a few years ago. Today, a growing number of brands, from mainstream manufacturers to luxury marques, offer their own alternatives to traditional leather trims. Some examples are:
- Bentley was one of the first to jump on this eco-friendly trend. It started offering vegan leathers in 2017, selling leather alternatives made of mushrooms and grape skins.
- BMW made a commitment to rolling out vegan leather interiors last year. The company now offers its ‘Veganza’ upholstery as standard in its new 5 Series and 7 Series model lines.
- Ford offers the electric Mustang Mach-E as standard with a faux leather interior, which won an award from animal-rights charity PETA for being ‘cow-friendly’.
- Mercedes-Benz has offered ‘Artico’ (quite literally a portmanteau of ‘artifical cow’) upholstery across its range for many years, and has trialled mushroom- and cactus-based vegan leathers in a recent concept car.
- Mini, like its parent company BMW, has made a commitment to selling 100% sustainable vehicles in the near future, and vegan leather plays a part in this.
- Tesla‘s most popular models, the Model 3 and Model Y, both come as standard with synthetic leather seats and a vegan leather steering wheel.
- Toyota has its own brand of faux leather called ‘Softex’, which it says is as durable as real leather. Unfortunately it’s not currently available on the brand’s new car range in the UK.
- Volvo has made a commitment to stop using traditional leather altogether by 2030. Its ‘Nordico’ leather alternative is made from recycled bottles and corks from the wine industry, and organic materials sourced from forests in Finland and Sweden.
Read more:
