Today, vehicles are being used in many different ways, not only for driving. In China, occupants are using their cars as living-spaces, to have alone time, take a break or watch television. In most parts of the world, while electric vehicles are charging, occupants are doing different tasks in different positions. There has never been a greater need to reconsider existing approaches to seat development, focusing more on how customers are interacting with the vehicle and developing seats that can adapt to different tasks and postures.

With autonomous vehicles on the horizon, this number is only going to increase. Self-driving and automated driving is presenting new, previously unknown possibilities (and challenges). The industry is witnessing a change and automated driving functionalities accelerate the transition from a seat being just a safety feature to being more of a comfort feature. Anthropometric design and finding adaptive forms that satisfy a range of customers is becoming more and more challenging. This, coupled with sustainability goals is an even bigger task. If companies wanted to make a fully sustainable seat tomorrow, they could. However, it will cost them 4-5 times as much as it does today.

Currently, production needs are driving current seating developments. Cost is defining design and detailing (unless we talk about the luxury segment). Soon, the majority of seating development will not be driven by cost alone. Weight, sustainability, safety, ergonomics and customer interactions will make significant, visible differences to automotive seats. And while today’s seats are providing various levels of comfort, ergonomics and safety, there is a lot of room to integrate comfort, safety, sustainability, appearance and interior interactions into smart seat designs.

Automotive Seating Innovation 2025 is returning to Germany at a time when there are numerous areas requiring further investigation, investment and customer/ market requirements are changing. Automotive IQ invites you to the Automotive Seating Innovation 2025 as seating experts delve into the latest use cases, address real-time challenges, and take a look at capabilities of next-generation innovative seating.

Here’s a snapshot of companies that attended Automotive Seating Innovation 2024; Tesla, Mercedes-Benz, JLR, Hyundai Motor, Toyota Boshoku Europe, Suzuki Motor Corporation, Nissan Technical Centre Europe, McLaren Automotive, Tata Motors, Arrival, Bugatti Rimac, Subaru Corporation, Forvia Faurecia Automotive Seating, Lear Corporation, Fraunhofer, Italdesign, Indorama, J.H. Ziegler and others. We'd love to see you there in February 2025!