Interest in automotive leather is growing, Pangea vice-president insists
The global vice-president for design at automotive leather group Pangea, Laurie Busch, has joined the discussion about leather’s special suitability for use in the interior of increasingly popular electric vehicles (EVs).
In July, industry publication Automotive News published an opinion piece in which the president of the Leather and Hide Council of America (LHCA), Stephen Sothmann, argued that for an EV industry built for the purpose of helping consumers move away from fossil fuels, leather was the most coherent choice of upholstery material for the cars’ interior.
To use, instead, synthetic materials derived from fossil fuels would, he said, risk millions of available hides going to waste and be “problematic, counter-productive and, potentially, toxic to branding”.
The same publication has now published a letter from Laurie Busch in which she says that interest in leather for car interiors was growing “as consumers grow more sensitive to climate change and the impact their purchasing decisions have on the health of our planet”.
She added: “With beef consumption up across the globe, natural materials are the environmentally responsible choice.”
Ms Busch said there were also comfort and performance advantages.“When leather is naturally finished,” she explained, “it looks and feels like no other material. It is soft, warm, inviting and naturally ventilated, and it will withstand time.”
Image: Chevrolet’s Bolt electric vehicle coming off the production line.
