In case you haven’t noticed, a number of car manufacturers are moving away from offering leather upholstery for their interiors. This is done in an effort to cut down on emissions and make the cars more sustainable. Yet, a lot of people are wondering if the vegan leather will be able to successfully replace “regular” leather. Some brands, like Rolls-Royce, apparently has vegan leather hidden in its huge options list but nobody asked for it yet. That’s not just speculation, it came from the CEO of the company himself. “Nobody has ever asked us for a vegan interior,” said Rolls-Royce boss Torsten Müller-Ötvös, on whether his firm will ditch leather, according to Autocar. “Sustainability is very important to us but it should not compromise luxury.”
That last bit is essential for the Rolls-Royce brand. Of course, the British luxury maker has to keep up with the times and be as sustainable as possible, but, at the end of the day, customers are expecting a certain level of luxury from these cars and the leather used in double-R branded cars is the best in the world. According to the Rolls-Royce CEO, the Goodwood plant is a leader in sustainable production but even so, if the customers want vegan leather, they have to oblige.
It would definitely be a strange feeling to hop in a Rolls-Royce and feel anything but leather under your buttocks. However, it would definitely be an interesting shift for the luxury brand. There are, of course, so many materials available right now and even textile ones could be used, for unique projects. Maybe that’s something we will see happening once the new electric vehicles era rolls in.
