Behold the power of marketing. "Vegan leather" is just... plastic.
On the other hand, I don't think I've seen cloth seats advertised by any car manufacturer as "plant-based" or similar, yet.
On the other hand, I don't think I've seen cloth seats advertised by any car manufacturer as "plant-based" or similar, yet.
Mini says this for instance:
> Only leather-free trim options are available for the upholstery and seats of the MINI Cooper (2024). Depending on the trim, you can choose from different fabric and vescin variants or fabric/vescin combinations.
Although elsewhere they say:
> The MINI Favoured Trim in the MINI Aceman (2024) is the most expressive variant of the MINI Aceman in the interior and exterior. Parts of the dashboard are covered with a two-tone knitted textile in Petrol with an orange pattern. The sport seats made of perforated vegan leather (Vescin) are available in a light and a dark colour with coloured accent stitching. The frame of the front grille is finished in Vibrant Silver. The front and rear have a visual underride protection in Vibrant Silver.
Everyone back in the day was clearly aware that pleather meant it was gonna be some shitty inferior product. While the exact same stuff called "vegan leather" manages to be marketed as a premium product and successfully tricks people.
We are starting to pay the price for basic entry level cars that was what a luxury car went for just a decade ago. Yet somehow the materials the car is made out of is universally worse.
So the point of the article you're commenting about is that the pleather in these cars is better than the leather was (but the leather in MINIs wasn't great to begin with).
Personally I hate the feel and smell of leather (or pleather), especially wearing shorts on a hot day. As if yeah that's when I want to sit on a corpse's shell.