Seven Dimensions – Flexibility
Maximizing functionality in a limited space
Your customers’ needs sometimes lie beyond the physical dimensions of the vehicle. Lear has the imagination and creative engineering to design elegant solutions to utilize every cubic inch.
One interior, multiple uses
Consumers use vehicles for a variety of purposes — making a daily commute, shuttling kids to sporting events, hauling home improvement materials — and the vehicles need to be flexible enough to meet their spontaneous lifestyle demands. Drivers are increasingly seeking added flexibility with seating systems, particularly with second- and third-row configurations, where ease of movement and efficient, out-of-the-way stowage is a real plus.
Functionality that leads to sales
Owners of vans, SUVs, crossover vehicles, and pickups — with and without children — have identified interior flexibility as their vehicle’s single most important benefit. Manufacturers who provide flexible seating and cargo storage options stand a greater chance of attracting customers in the highly competitive SUV and minivan markets.
Breakthrough reconfigurability
To meet the demand for flexible seating options, Lear is working on numerous flex-and-stow seating systems, including the QuadriFlex™ Thin Profile Bolster, which provides maximum storage space when rear seats are folded flat, and the Stadium Slide Seat. Both are based on Next-Generation Lear Flexible Seat Architecture (LFSA) and are used in minivans, station wagons, SUVs, and crossover vehicles. SmartFold™ Power Seat System technology, which combines seat-sensing and radio-frequency capabilities, can be integrated into second- and third-row seats. Recently, GM recognized Lear for its “breakthrough” technology on power- remote second-row seats. These seats efficiently move out of the way and back into normal seating positions in GM’s new 2007 full-size SUVs.