Consumers want to drive what they espouse

The global rise in veganism and sales of vegan foods begs an automotive technology question: Why would vegans choose to sit on cowhide car seats? Leather seats help define luxury interiors. But product developers are now hard at work selling the similar traits of what they call "vegan leather." The very name rankles the industry's leather suppliers, because vegan leather isn't leather at all. Japan's Ultrafabrics Holdings Co. has been supplying vegan interior materials to Tesla. Los Angeles materials supplier von Holzhausen produces a non-leather material out of treated bamboo that's as soft as lambskin for use in handbags, shoes and furniture. Now it is preparing for auto applications as vegan seat covers.