Front Vehicle Seat helps promote cab space and reduce weight.
Press Release Summary:
With slim backrest and cover carving technology, Lightweight and Roomy seat targets midmarket vehicles. Design reduces amount of foam required in headrest and conserves cabin space to allow more rear seat legroom or reduce overall vehicle length. Curved side members with sculpted light panel increase knee room for second-row passengers; lower cross member and recliner, along with forward-positioned rear tube, increase legroom; and hybrid generic frame is composed of steels and thermoplastics.
Original Press Release:
Faurecia Unveils Lightweight, Slimmer Seat Using New Materials and Designs
Production-ready "Lightweight and Roomy" seat removes more than 5 pounds from weight of midmarket vehicle front seat
DETROIT -- Faurecia, one of the world's leading automotive equipment suppliers, today introduced a significantly lighter-weight, roomier front seat that uses advanced materials and processes and is ready for production for midmarket vehicles.
Faurecia's "Lightweight and Roomy" seat, debuting this week at the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS 2015) in Detroit, weighs 5.07 pounds less than Faurecia's lightest current production seat in the C-car segment. Weight savings are compared to a reference seat being produced in North America by Faurecia: A six-way manual seat, which is already the best-in-class lightweight seat in its segment. Faurecia has worked on all fronts with materials to improve not only cushion and backrest structures but also trimming components.
This seat also expands the roominess of the vehicle cabin, offering 1.2 inches of additional space for rear seat legroom or for reducing the overall vehicle length. Roominess results from fashioning Faurecia's slimmest-ever backrest and cover carving technology that reduces the amount of foam required in the headrest. Curved side members with a sculpted light panel provide more knee room for second-row passengers. A lower cross member and recliner and a more forward-positioned rear tube also provide more legroom.
Inside, the seat features the world's first hybrid generic frame, composed of traditional and high-strength steels as well as thermoplastics. The frame has been designed to be fully compatible with Faurecia's generic process already in place on a large scale across the globe. The frame maintains all safety and comfort requirements and is compatible with all of Faurecia's existing and future seating mechanisms.
The following table details the direct weight savings per seat that Faurecia is proposing to the market.
Component | Technologies | Lightweight vs current best-in class six-way manual driver seat |
Frame | Optimized Mechanisms and components (tracks, spacers, sectors) | 1.54 lbs. per seat |
 | Thinner side-members and risers using high performance steel grades | 1.32 lbs. |
 | Use of hybrid parts: steel + thermoplastics | 0.66 lbs. |
Foam | Premium foam formula allowing density reduction at same comfort level | 0.88 lbs. |
Backrest | Sculpted light panel | 0.66 lbs. |
Total | Â | 5.06 lbs. |
"We are proud to unveil this portfolio of lightweight technologies that are ready for mass production," said Tony Kmeid, vice president of engineering for Faurecia Automotive Seating North America. "Faurecia is on track toward approaching the weight reduction of 8.8 pounds per seat proposed in the Renault EOLAB concept car during the 2014 Paris Motor Show. We continue to work persistently to further reduce the weight of our seats. We put a strong emphasis on proposing solutions that are easy to implement and that offer the expected cost-weight performance."
This latest innovation shows how Faurecia has built on its extensive experience working with automakers on the composite backrest and other lightweight components. That proficiency has led Faurecia engineers toward pragmatic, cost-accessible hybridization, cleverly blending traditional steel, advanced high-strength steel and thermoplastics to fashion its latest frames. Designers incorporate the right material in the right locations to ensure that the frames meet safety standards and, at the same time, enhance seating comfort.
About Faurecia
Faurecia is one of the world's leading automotive equipment suppliers with four Business Groups: Automotive Seating, Emissions Control Technologies, Interior Systems and Automotive Exteriors. In 2013, the Group posted total sales of EUR18 billion. At December 31, 2013, Faurecia employed 97,500 people in 34 countries at 320 sites and 30 R&D centers. Faurecia is listed on the NYSE Euronext Paris stock exchange and trades in the U.S. over-the-counter (OTC) market. For more information, visit: www.faurecia.com
CONTACT:
North America
Tony Sapienza
Communications Director
Faurecia North America
Tel. +1 248 484 3185
Mob. +1 248 606 1775
tony.sapienza@faurecia.com
Jennifer Korail
Airfoil Group, For Faurecia North America
Tel. +1 248 304 1429
Mob. +1 586 202 4392
korail@airfoilgroup.com
International,
Olivier Le Friec
Head of Media Relations
Faurecia Group Communications
Tel: +33 1 72 36 72 58
Mob: +33 6 76 87 30 17
olivier.lefriec@faurecia.com
