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Where Does Car Leather Come From?

August 10, 2015 By Nadeem Muaddi 3 Comments

Auto Upholstery - The Hog Ring - Cow Hide Leather

With the exception of some super luxury automakers who upholster their cars’ interiors in bull hides, most car companies and seat cover manufacturers source their genuine leather from cows.

But not any cow will do. In fact, automakers are quite picky about the types of cattle they use — paying particular attention to such things as breed, the environmental conditions in which the cows are raised, and how they’re treated by farmers.

U.K. car website Car Keys sheds light on these factors and more in a recent article titled “Where does the leather in your car seats come from?” Below is an excerpt…

Provided that the leather in your car is genuine, it’ll most likely come from a cow. That said, auto-grade leather is no mere cowhide.

Unlike leather luggage or jackets, the sort of leather used in car interiors has to be durable enough to resist years’ worth of stains, fading and people sliding across it thousands of times.

This is something Mercedes has picked up on, actually fitting the seats from its E-Class saloon in the back of German taxis in an effort to assess the real-world durability of its upholsteries.

Generally, car manufacturers prefer the hides of cows that live in far-northern climates, partly because their skin is thicker and also because they tend to have fewer biting pests, which prevents scarring.

Free from major blemishes, these leathers retain their natural finishes with the end grain exactly how the cow made it. Lower-cost hides usually have more imperfections, which can include scars from barbed-wire fences, but treating and embossing the leather can hide most of it.

Size is also an important factor to carmakers; Mercedes in particular prefers cows from southern Germany, as German bulls tend to be bigger, meaning that their hides cover more space.

On the other end of the scale, cheaper leather is often split in half lengthways in order to make it cover more territory for less money, with the trade-off being that it’ll be thinner and won’t last as long.

So how much leather does it actually take to cover a car? Well, some manufacturers can offer full leather upholstery using relatively few hides, but by contrast a Bentley Mulsanne’s interior takes 14 individual hides for each and every car.

So why do some super luxury automakers chose to upholster cars in bull hides instead? A company rep for Rolls-Royce Motor Cars once told The Hog Ring that it’s because bulls are male, and therefore aren’t prone to the types of stretch marks commonly associated with pregnancy.

To learn more about how automakers choose hides, and why more are turning to faux leather, check out: “Where does the leather in your car seats come from?“

Filed Under: Archive, Interesting Read Tagged With: Auto Trim, Auto Upholstery, Car Interior, Genuine Leather

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Cesar says

    August 11, 2015 at 5:30 am

    It seems that bull hides are larger and stronger…I say this, because I bought some premium leather hides, from a very recognized and largest stockist/supplier in England:
    http://www.wildmanbugby.co.uk/cardinal.htm
    I bought the ‘automotive leather’ cardinal-raven…for sure!, it has a very nice looking, softness, pliability and very resistant to perform any upholstery project.
    The attention was excellent, directly from the owner and director of the company, Mr, Ashley Wildman…the delivery was very fast, and the leather comes well protected in rolls to avoid creases.

    Reply
    • Nadeem Muaddi says

      August 15, 2015 at 1:30 am

      Thanks for the tip Cesar! I’ll check them out!

      Reply
  2. Robert Wyman says

    July 16, 2019 at 1:33 am

    Due to my religious beliefs I want to make sure that the auto makers are not using the hides from swine or other scripturally unclean animals. Is there anyone that can tell me or show me documentation or direct me to a source, that the leather being used in automobiles is cowhide leather without question? I have been trying to contact the auto makers but they either cannot tell me or won’t!

    Reply

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