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The primary function of the seating system is to accommodate and provide comfort for the passengers.
Drivers feel fatigue after long tiring trips and thus the comfort of seats while driving becomes paramount. Over the years OEMs have addressed these issues by introducing various features such as automatic seat adjustment, seat adjustments in multiple ways, seat ventilation and massage seats.
Currently, ventilated seats are not just limited to luxury cars which was the case a few years back. OEMs around the world have started to include this feature in their budget models too.
To know more about Global Automotive Seats Market, read our report
US is the leader in the adoption of ventilated seats. More than 50% of the cars sold in 2020 were equipped with driver heated seats. This was followed by Japan which had approximately 46% penetration in the segment.
Position wise, Driver seats are the first-choice position where the seat warmers and ventilators are adopted. The adoption of ventilated seats in rear position has increased in the last 2-3 years. US followed by Europe has the higher penetration of rear seat warmers.
However, in markets such as India, Latin America and Indonesia the seat ventilation technology has still not been accepted gleefully, as the penetration in these regions have been negligible.
Out of the top 10 selling OEMs Ford had one of the highest penetrations for driver heated seats in the world. This was followed by FCA vehicles (now Stellantis) with about 48% penetration.
Ventilated seats may be available on the top-end models of the Tata Harrier and Tata Nexon compact SUVs, respectively. This action by Tata Motors is expected given how useful the function has been in the hot, tropical climate.
The manuals for the Model 3 and Model Y now indicate that the vehicles will not only come standard with heated seats, as they have since their introduction, but also with cooled seats. Prior to now, Tesla has only supplied ventilated seats in their highest models.
The seat has three levels, ranging from 3 (the highest) to 1. (lowest). The seat icon features wavy lines that change colour to indicate the set level by turning red (heated) or blue (cooling). The front seats are warmed or cooled depending on the interior temperature when the climate control system is set to Auto, which is displayed.
The most recent version of the Maruti Suzuki XL6 MPV is ready for its official release. The installation of ventilated seats for the driver and front passenger is one among the many feature enhancements in the new XL6, Maruti has revealed a day before its launch. On the lineup of vehicles from Maruti Suzuki, ventilated seats are debuting.
All the top 30 selling vehicles in US were equipped with driver heated seats in at least one of its variants. Most of the top selling cars in the region were equipped with the passenger heated seats in the front along with the driver heated seats.
Ventilated and heated seats features were equipped in most of the variants in SUVs. and were less popular in Pick-up trucks. The climate-controlled seats for the 2nd row were common in SUVs and was found in few of the variants of pick-up trucks but was not to be seen in top selling sedans. In the premium segment, almost every variant of the top sellers had the feature of driver and passenger seat ventilation.
The top selling EV models in the country Tesla Model 3, Model X and Chevrolet Bolt all have been equipped with the heated seats. In Model X, all 3 rows have been equipped with this feature.
In Europe, except for some of the budget models of Dacia and Fiat, rest of the top sellers were equipped with driver seat ventilation. Due to the geographical conditions, the percentage of heated seats are much higher than that of ventilated seats. Among the major 4 markets, China had the least penetration of heated seats among its top sellers.
In China, cars of the foreign OEMs had the seat ventilation feature whereas the domestic OEMs like Wuling, Changan, Baojun and Geely had included this feature only for its high-end models.
1 out of every 2 Toyota’s cars in Japan featured the driver heated seats. The penetration of heated driver seats was more or less the same among other OEMs like Honda and Nissan in the country.
In India, there were just 2 models equipped with the driver seat ventilation feature. Hyundai’s Verna and Kia Seltos had just a couple of variants in its line-up with the feature.
Latin America, very much like India had very few models among top sellers equipped with this feature. Vehicles like Toyota Hilux and Hyundai Crete were the only 2 models equipped with driver heated seats.
The Automotive Ventilated Seats Market is estimated at $XX Billion in 2024. It is estimated to grow at XX% CAGR in the period 2024-2030.
The Ventilated seats are extensively used in Electric cars. The rise in Electric cars numbers will boost this segment.
Unlike a few years ago, almost every brand has a couple of affordable models equipped with rear seat warmers today. The trend is expected to grow further. In Japan, where MUVs are present in significant numbers, this will drive the feature. The presence of more vehicles with 3rd row seats in the country will boost the adoption of this feature.
Due to the shortage of microchip, some of the vehicles of GM wont have heated seats and ventilated seats. The vehicles were not sold due to the shortage of chips. After a few months the availability issue was resolved and the first car implemented with heated and ventilated front seats was the Chevy Silverado HD.
Ford has received a patent for moisture-sensing seat technology, which uses liquid-permeable seat covers to detect moisture in the seat and adjusts the climate control appropriately. When the moisture sensor embedded within the seat detects fluids, the ventilation system automatically adjusts the seat to a comfortable dryness.
Liquid can seep through the sensor through the many liquid-permeable openings in the seat cover, indicating the presence of a wet-seat condition. So, if the occupant is hot and bothered on a particularly hot day, the seat will detect this and activate the seat’s ventilation system. If you open the door on a snowy day and some snow falls on the seat, the heating system will activate the ventilation system to keep the seat dry.
Tesla has applied for a patent for liquid-infused chairs that might deliver heating and cooling without the usage of electricity. Tesla envisions a liquid that cools and heats seats, which may save a lot of power in electric cars because vented seats require power to run fans that push air out to provide the cooling effect.
The new design includes multiple layers in the driver’s seat, with the driver sitting on the top layer and an intermediate fluid circulated through pump to effectively distribute air across the seat bottom and back for even heating and cooling.
Tesla plans to incorporate supports and conduits throughout the system to prevent seats from bursting the intermediate layer and causing leaks. Not only would the new technology improve passenger comfort, but it would also allow the cooling systems to run more silently. Furthermore, the new technology’s significant energy-saving benefit is a significant plus.
Because massaging seats are more of a luxury feature, they are only found in high-end car models like the Mercedes-Benz S-Class and the Ford F-150. During extended travels, the innovative automobile seat feature can assist the driver or other occupants in reducing fatigue and soreness. Every year, manufacturers such as Honda, Toyota, and Ford install massage chairs in tens of thousands of commuter cars.
The increase can be ascribed to rising demand for comfortable and opulent seating characteristics, as well as increased awareness of vehicular pollution, which has led to the development of novel automotive technologies.
In the future years, the global automotive seats market is predicted to be fueled by rising demand for lighter, more efficient automobiles as well as a flourishing automotive sector.
According to a study conducted by the US Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory, ventilated automotive seats can increase passenger comfort as well as a vehicle’s fuel economy by reducing the electricity required for air conditioning (NREL).
Drivers and passengers will be more comfortable locally (near the body) with ventilated seats, minimising the need to cool the entire cabin. The Vehicle Ancillary Loads Reduction (VALR) team at NREL has been working with industry to minimise fuel usage in automobiles and trucks due to air conditioning.
NREL received ComfortCools seats from W.E.T. Automotive Systems Ltd. for testing. Each seat has two fans that extract air from beneath the seat and from the seat surface.
This ventilated seat is now available as an option for the Cadillac STS. The thermal comfort tools developed by NREL were created to assist the automobile industry in designing smaller and more efficient climate-control systems in vehicles. A one-of-a-kind thermal comfort manikin called ADAM (Advanced Automotive Manikin), as well as a physiological and psychological model, are among the instruments.
US based Lear Corporation and Adient PLC are the market leaders in the automotive seating sector.
Gentherm is a leader in thermal technology as they develop heating, cooling, and ventilating seats for various other tier-1 suppliers. US companies Lear, Adient and Gentherm cumulatively accounted for ~XX% of the market share.
In 2020, sales for Lear Corporation dropped by ~14% mostly due to 20% drop in vehicle production in North America.
Adient’s FY ended in September 2020 with ~24% drop in sales compared to 2019.
Japanese supplier Tachi-S is the first-choice supplier for Japanese OEMs Honda and Nissan.
Bharat Seats from India primarily focuses on Maruti Suzuki cars in India which are low cost vehicles often equipped without ventilated seats.
