The end of an era for Renault. Like other manufacturers, the French brand has decided to stop the leather aboard its vehicles. And this will concern all models in the catalog. At a time when we write these lines, it is no longer possible to order a leather upholstery on any of the cars available for sale. Instead, there will be synthetic textiles, or partially “bio -based”.
It is an approach that is both ecological and ideological: to end the leather in the cars. A fight waged by the PETA association for many months already. Which had also tried to list the cars sold in France with a “false” leather instead of animal material. Some have abandoned it discreetly, and others have communicated on the subject. This is not necessarily the case of Renault which has unofficially put an end to the order of new cars equipped with leather for a few weeks already, if we believe the lifts of customers that we have been able to consult.
The end of leather at Renault
The fact is that animal leather poses moral problems for some people who are in a bad eye for the presence of this material on a vehicle, on shoes or leather goods. But car manufacturers did not wait for the fight of ideals to find other supports. The imitation leather or even more recently the TEP (plastic coated fabric or other polymer material) have made their way and they indeed offer the appearance and touch of leather without the disadvantage of coming from a dead animal.
To this, leather enthusiasts will retort that the animal has been shot down anyway for its meat and that it would be a shame not to take advantage of all the “organic” matter. But for others, it is also and precisely continue to encourage intensive farming and the slaughter of animals.
The more ecological false leather?
Without getting into these debates, let us remain on the fact that Renault has indeed put an end to the leather. Information relayed by our colleagues from Liberation that we are able to confirm. If you try to find something other than fabric upholstery on vehicles sold today, you will make white cabbage. Including, moreover, on the highest -end finishes of Austral or Espace. The leather will no longer live in the steering wheel, the gear lever or any monopolization aboard the Renault present in the catalog. Instead, fabrics that Renault calls “biosourced”. Like Volvo or others, they are materials made from plants such as hemp. But only in part …
If it is not the most virtuous of materials on the environmental level, is the leather more disastrous than the synthetic on the ecological level? Not sure. The raw materials such as PET or classic fabric are actually plastics from crude oil, tinged in the mass.
Automobile journalist (and a little bicycle too). As much passionate about novelty as the industry or the environment, but also everything that will advance mobility.
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Published on 07/04/2025 at 5:00 PM
