Audi has plans to react to growing demand for vegan and environmentally-friendly products by rolling out animal-free, recyclable car interiors.

The car manufacturer recently developed the first-ever electric SUV named the e-tron, which was designed to appeal to customers who are likely to be conscious of their carbon footprint.

And the manufacturer has explained that as it develops new vehicles, the use of sustainable, recycled or upcycled materials is becoming a priority – along with ditching animal products.

Audi e-tron product manager Matt Mostafaei told Motor1.com: “We’ve had some customer requests for that [vegan interiors]. And definitely moving forward, we’re looking at all sorts of new materials, both for inlays, and trims, seats, and things like that are more environmentally friendly.

“If you remember our e-tron GT debut, it had a fully recycled, fully vegan interior.

“We used fish nets and things like that in the car. So that kind of shows where we’re looking and where we’re headed in terms of sustainability in the interior.”

Mostafaei explained that using upcycled materials such as fishnet would not compromise on style and design.

“If we ever offered a material like that, I think it would be safe to say it would meet customer demand,” he added.

Bentley

Audi isn’t the first company to pay attention to the growing vegan marketplace. Bentley revealed in 2017 that the company was looking at producing more vegan interiors.

The company’s Director of Design, Stefan Sielaff, said at the Financial Times Future of the Car Summit: “You can’t sell an animal-containing product like a Bentley, with 20 leather hides, to someone with a vegan lifestyle.

“We’ve been talking to these customers, in California especially, and they’re asking us what can we give them.

“We do a lot of custom-made and coach-built solutions, in conjunction with our colleagues at Mulliner, and therefore we want to satisfy these customers because they are the peak of a trend.”

What do you think of Audi’s plans to roll out vegan interiors? Tell us in the comments section below!

Oli Gross

Oli’s career and personal ethical values both help shape his reporting of the diverse world of veganism. His background is in local newspaper and magazine journalism, and his work has included reporting court cases, celebrity interviews, business analysis, food and drink features and government legislation.

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