Automotive Seating in Future Mobility

Mark Sutton, VP Engineering – APAC, Adient

As future mobility moves toward fully autonomous modes of transportation and with the increased relevance of mobility, digitalization, cost consciousness and sustainable products, numerous advances in technology are driving progress of the mobility experience.

There are clear key trends that continue to drive automotive seating evolution to exceed customers’ and end-consumers’ expectations.

Briefly, some of these key items are:

Sustainability - at Adient, we are acutely aware of global climate targets and the need for carbon neutrality, and we are proactively developing solutions that align with these goals

Cost and complexity reduction - with the relentless cost pressures and the clear leap forward from China OEMs in global markets, we’re striving to streamline processes and find innovative solutions to optimize efficiency

Appearance and comfort - we see legislation evolving that allows for new, relaxed positions while driving or taking advantage of autonomous transportation. We are actively involved in the relevant legislation workgroups, and developing solutions that provide both comfort and safety for passengers at any moment

Design differentiation - consumers have a growing appetite for new features and exciting designs. It is our goal to meet these expectations by offering innovative solutions that captivate and delight

With these priorities in mind, Adient is focused on the “Triple E,” which encompasses our three new seat concepts. Each of the concepts addresses the seat trends that we have just looked at in a unique way. Each of them has been engineered with a distinct focus in mind and offers a specific set of solutions within that area.

Smart Efficiency 2.0 – This seat includes many interesting product innovations, e.g., Shell Foam™, Soft Back Panel, Soft Side Valance, and Slim Airbag. Shell Foam™ is an innovative foam solution that offers a slimmer profile, but still provides extremely high comfort levels. Adient’s Soft Back Panel and Soft Side Valance enable significant weight savings and sustainability improvement at an affordable cost. Our integrated slim side airbag module guarantees occupants’ safety. Moreover, because we can reduce the overall seat width, the seat allows multiple seating positions. In summary, these innovations deliver significant interior package improvements, and still ensure optimal comfort in our seat. These innovations are incredibly attractive for cars with new body architectures, which have elevated floor heights due to battery packaging, and where space is a premium.

Autonomous Elegance – This seat concept highlights a range of integrated features that have been specifically developed for ADAS but at the same time are highly elegant in appearance and operation. The seat primarily targets premium vehicles but can be applied both in high and medium segments. 

With the Autonomous Elegance seat, we have taken a major leap forward in terms of ergonomics, comfort, package and weight.

Pure Essential - This concept is guided by a single question: “How do we take a real leap forward in sustainability?” When benchmarking automotive seats, and in particular front seats, even across seat generations, it becomes apparent that they all share a common product architecture. Without a doubt, traditional seat architecture has witnessed remarkable advancements in safety, comfort, cost and craftsmanship over the years. However, aspects such as material separation and recycling or design for disassembly are not yet firmly embedded as design principles in today’s seat architecture. In this visionary concept from Adient, we have focused on sustainable design principles that go beyond conventional seat architecture. We design a seat that achieves enormous reductions in carbon footprint, weight and considers circular economy objectives, including the drastic reduction of materials and components. In addition, this seat is built using two unique material types - "green" steel for the structure and recyclable polyester for the comfort features and all covers.

Future mobility will continue its evolution as innovative technologies such as autonomous driving emerge and mature. As one of the leading automotive seating suppliers with an in-depth understanding of market trends and customer expectations, Adient leads in the transformation of seating with its “Triple E” concepts, and endeavors to provide customers and end consumers with products and experiences that exceed their expectations consistently.