In a push towards sustainability and, for some, a more humanitarian lifestyle, a number of manufacturers have started offering vegan leather options for cabin upholstery. Rolls-Royce is one of these manufacturers but the luxury British marque has noted that just one consumer has ordered the special trim thus far.
Speaking to Autocar, “Nobody has ever asked us for a vegan interior,” said Rolls-Royce boss Torsten Müller-Ötvös, on whether his firm will ditch leather. “Sustainability is very important to us but it should not compromise luxury.” He called Rolls’ Goodwood factory a leader in sustainable production and said the firm is ready to respond to customer requests if there is a switch away from leather.
Two months ago, BMW revealed an array of sustainable upholstery options with its i Vision Circular concept car. This car demonstrated that climate protection and individual mobility do not necessarily contradict each other. On the contrary, the brand showed that using new technologies and innovation, the BMW Group is able to fulfill the planet’s requirements for greater sustainability without customers having to forgo individual mobility.
BMW says that the decision behind this shift is to fight against climate change with a unique sustainability strategy and clearly defined CO2 targets, as announced by Oliver Zipse, Chairman of the Board of Management of BMW AG at a media event in Munich.
The main focus of the company’s pioneering strategy is, on the one hand, to drastically reduce CO2 per vehicle by 2030. On the other, with the introduction of the “Neue Klasse”, the BMW Group will be massively promoting the use of secondary material and the forward-looking principles of the circular economy.