Ask any furniture upholstery repair shop and you’re sure to hear the same thing: The cheaper it gets for folks to buy replacement sofas and dining seats, the less business they see.
Until now, auto upholsterers have been relatively protected from such wasteful, throw-away consumerism. But that may soon change – as French automaker Renault is slated to release a car this summer that features quality, zip-off seat covers costing only $375 to replace.
Scotland’s Daily Record reports:
As a supermini-sized crossover, the Captur features some bright two-tone paint jobs and plenty of scope for personal touches, which appear to be a must in this type of vehicle.
It’s also the only car on the market with factory-fitted zip-off upholstery that can be popped into a washing machine for a handy spruce-up. […]
The zip-off seat covers take about five minutes to remove front and back, and can be machine washed at 40C.
However, Renault recommend washing the fabric no more than five times and the material itself looks durable enough for most blemishes to come off with sponging.
A new set costs £247, which gives the option of changing them during the life of the car for another pattern (there are three), or replacing them when it’s time to sell.
Velcro strips help align the covers and anchor them neatly. It’s a handy feature and one that adds to the overall appeal of the Captur, which has a top-class and very modern interior style. [more]
So where does that leave auto upholstery shops? We’re safe for now. Let’s just hope that this idea of easy zip-off seat covers doesn’t catch on to become a full-blown trend with affordable cars.
Also worth noting that Renault is not sold in the US, minimizing the impact here.
But this may start a trend, which would be unfortunate.
Retired… Gee You May Have To Change The Name To The Zipper!
To all the new bees better start sewing then the playing field will be level
I find the internet to be the upholsterers biggest competor .I get more and more calls to install somebody’s top or seat kit
The best way out is to start building and selling cars