Faurecia customizes cockpit experience for Chinese consumers

China has rapidly grown into the world’s largest automotive market, embracing new solutions linked to auto megatrends such as connectivity, shared mobility and electrification, as well as areas like health and wellness.  From 25 years’ presence in China, Faurecia has built up a formidable industrial and innovation ecosystem (17,800 employees at 5 R&D centers and 60 industrial sites) to support international OEMs, Chinese automakers and new entrants in enhancing the onboard experience of Chinese consumers.

At Auto Shanghai Faurecia is demonstrating its intelligent and immersive cockpit of the future tailored for the Chinese market, integrating ready-to-sell technology bricks. It’s designed to provide a personalized versatile, connected onboard journey.

A personalized welcome

Faurecia’s expertise in integrating cockpit electronics and the interior’s functional and aesthetic solutions creates an immersive and more personalized experience from the moment an occupant steps on board. For a ceremonial welcome, dynamic lighting in seating, door panels as well as audio and visual information synchronized on front and rear displays work together.

Embedded within the seating, Faurecia also revealed at the Shanghai Auto Show a new take on lighting in the cockpit. With its LUMi range of seat lighting technologies, Faurecia gives car makers an innovative and stylish way to integrate ambient lighting, alerts, information, control panels or high quality color-lit logos in the seat front, headrest, seat back and side valence.

A connected and immersive onboard experience

In a country where many use ride-hailing services, people expect more entertainment and relaxation services in the rear. Faurecia’s in-vehicle infotainment offer integrates all the technologies that enable a fully connected onboard experience – from telephony, secure internet access, the possibility to share photos, videos or music to a variety of apps from gaming to shopping, including the ability to pay securely over the air.  An XXL display stretching the width of the vehicle adds to the immersive experience in the front.

To make easier for the driver and other occupants to interact with the vehicle, HMI design and intuitive controls across the cabin are been created including a multimodal HMI (voice recognition, gesture recognition, driving behavior detection) developed with Faurecia’s innovation partner HORIZON ROBOTICS in China and a new crystal touch panel which combines luxury design with a multi-functional surface. It’s a good example of Faurecia expertise in combining function and aesthetics to give OEMs more design freedom in creating their onboard brand signature.    

Faurecia’s seating offer provides individual comfort, wellness and relaxation. In the front, occupants can easily adjust headrest, backrest and cushion height and tilt; in the rear, Faurecia’s premium second row seating offers increased cushioning support when in relaxed mode, for example with a side bolster, individual adjustment of backrest and cushion as well as leg rest. To enhance onboard wellness, Faurecia has created a new fragrance headrest to create an individual odor zone for each seat. Fragrance diffusion can be linked to other components in the cockpit – for example relaxed lighting systems or increased ventilation based on data about the driver or passenger. 

An intelligent driving environment

For a smarter and safer driving experience, Faurecia provides driver and occupant monitoring using camera and radar. If the onboard system detects drowsiness or fatigue, it can quickly activate lighting, information alerts on displays and even air flow directed at the driver via Faurecia’s electronic air vent system.  Combining lighting features with safety alerts strengthens the warning and enhances drivers’ peace of mind as shown by consumer research led by Faurecia.

Additional technology to improve driver awareness and safety include e-mirrors which bring into the cabin a more dynamic driving view and alerts (lane change assistance, parking support, bicycle or pedestrian detection) about the surrounding environment.  E-mirrors are an important contributor to sustainable mobility: reducing aerodynamic drag which accounts for 30% of energy consumption in combined city/highway driving, reducing fuel consumption and extending the battery range for Battery Electric Vehicles. 

In China for China innovation

Given the size and specificities of the Chinese market, Faurecia has ramped up its ‘in China’ innovation capability to develop new solutions better adapted to local needs and be faster in bringing market-ready solutions to its customers.  Guided by insights into China regulations, automotive trends, consumer needs and OEM strategies, as well as wider technology trends (digital, connectivity, advanced materials and human factors), innovation at Faurecia is supported by an ecosystem including universities, labs, incubators/start-ups and the Group’s established technology partners.