Editorial: Customisation and Safety Provide New Potential for Automotive Textiles

The demand for enhanced comfort and improved safety in the automotive sector will result in a significant increase in the use of textile materials in a typical mid-size car over the next five years—from less than 21 kg in 2005 to 26 kg in 2010. Furthermore, by 2020 textile usage is predicted to reach 35 kg . These are the findings of a study by the Saxony Textile Research Institute in Germany.

One application offering potential is the customisation of vehicle interiors—a field which has been explored recently in concept cars proposed separately by Volvo in Sweden and the France-based systems supplier Faurecia.

The forerunner for these ideas is arguably the cockpit module of the Smart Forfour car, developed by Johnson Controls and featuring the first textile-covered instrument panel. The purchaser of the Smart vehicle is offered a choice of five interior fabric colours.

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