Adient showcases passenger protection for autonomous-driving vehicles

Global seat supplier's solutions keep passengers safe regardless of seat position

News provided by

Jan 16, 2018, 08:00 ET

DETROIT, Jan. 16, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- As seat systems become more flexible to address the rise of autonomous vehicles, they will change occupant seating positions, creating new safety challenges. Adient (NYSE: ADNT), the world's largest automotive seating supplier, is showcasing its advanced passive and active safety solutions for occupants, property and data at the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS).

"One major change to vehicle seating on the way to autonomous driving is the change from a pure driver's seat to an active safety system," said Dr. Detlef Juerss, vice president engineering and CTO for Adient. "The seat will become a passenger protection component linked to all of the vehicle's safety systems. If the seats are flexibly arranged in the interior, both the airbag and the safety belt system will have to be fundamentally changed."

At NAIAS, Adient is displaying seat solutions that improve passenger safety in these new positions. For example, the company has developed a unique safety belt that is integrated into the seat.

"With the integrated restraint system, we offer automakers a solution to ensure a high level of passenger safety even with changed seating layouts," said Juerss. "In current vehicle models, the integrated seat belt system is used primarily for free-standing business seats in the premium segment. However, with this technology, we are prepared to meet new safety requirements for autonomous driving."

Adient recently announced a strategic partnership with Autoliv, one of the world's leading suppliers of automotive safety systems. This partnership allows Adient and Autoliv to work together to develop solutions that ensure and improve passenger safety in spite of new seat positions.

Adient's AI18 concept vehicle for autonomous driving being shown at NAIAS has front seats that include an integrated seatbelt concept to hold the safety belt in the right position in different seating positions.

For the interior's 180-degree rotatable passenger seat, Adient engineers have developed an integrated airbag concept that can be triggered both forwards and backwards, depending on the seat position. In the case of a collision, the seats will have an automatic fast-adjustment system that can be coupled to predictive assistance systems.

Adient – which became an independent company in 2016 after a successful spinoff from Johnson Controls – is a NAIAS event sponsor and exhibitor. Its exhibit will be open to the media and invited guests in Cobo Center's Room 310B Jan. 15-18.

NAIAS, one of the world's premier automotive exhibitions, open to the media and industry officials on Jan. 15. It will open to the public on Jan. 20. For more information, visit www.naias.com.

About Adient:

Adient is a global leader in automotive seating. With 85,000 employees operating 238 manufacturing/assembly plants in 34 countries worldwide, we produce and deliver automotive seating for all vehicle classes and all major OEMs. From complete seating systems to individual components, our expertise spans every step of the automotive seat making process. Our integrated, in-house skills allow us to take our products from research and design all the way to engineering and manufacturing – and into more than 25 million vehicles every year. For more information on Adient, please visit adient.com.

SOURCE Adient