Lear, Ford Expand Use Of Soy Seating In Explorer

Southfield-based Lear Corp. said Wednesday it had expanded its "first to market" SoyFoam, a soybean oil-based flexible foam material, to the 2011 Ford Explorer seats.

The advantages of SoyFoam include a lower environmental impact to produce, the soy-based foam material is up to 24 percent renewable as opposed to traditional non-renewable petroleum-based foam, and offers up to 67 percent reduction in volatile organic compounds emissions.

Ford was the first automaker to express an interest in soy foam for auto applications and the first to demonstrate that soy-based polyols could be used at high levels, roughly 40 percent, to make foams capable of meeting or exceeding automotive requirements.

In 2004, a partnership was formed between Ford and Lear for the purpose of commercializing SoyFoam applications, with initial work concentrated on the molding of headrest and armrest components. Today, Lear and Ford lead the industry with market ready applications for this renewable resource and others including the introduction of Dynamic Environmental Comfort System, Lear's patent-protected, multi-layer advanced seat comfort system that is currently on the 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid. DECS provides up to a 50 percent weight savings and reduces VOCs by up to 70 percent.

"We are building significant momentum in our advancements in creating environmentally friendly automotive seating foam," said Lou Salvatore, senior vice president of Lear's Global Seating Operations. "The Lear-Ford partnership has enabled us to lead the industry in innovating seating components, such as SoyFoam, that benefit the environment without sacrificing performance and cost."

Lear's SoyFoam is currently on the Ford Taurus and Mustang platforms and will launch in three additional Ford programs later this year.

More at www.lear.com.

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