The Transformative Automotive Industry

Transformation is at the heart of the automotive industry today. Carbon neutrality, autonomous driving, and connectivity converge simultaneously to reshape the automotive industry and vehicles as we know them. These market factors impact vehicle architecture and the market’s expectations of the cockpit experience. This transformation drives innovation and user experience, including the interaction between consumers and the interiors of their vehicles. In a transforming industry, transformative companies are needed. FORVIA, the 7th largest automotive supplier globally, combines the complementary technology and industrial strengths of FAURECIA and HELLA to shape safe, advanced, customized, and sustainable mobility experiences. 

Tell us about yourself 

As Senior Manager of Industrial Design in North America at FORVIA, our team is driven to inspire mobility and ultimately lead interior transformation to enhance user experience.  Within FORVIA, we have a design studio at each Interiors tech center, including one at our North American headquarters in Auburn Hills, MI. Our studio covers everything from styling, color materials and finish (CMF), surface creation and visualization, and HMI development, including design quality and perceived quality. We follow projects from innovation or client collaboration through to design validation for the first component produced. 

Tell us more about FORVIA

FORVIA comprises the complementary technology and industrial strengths of Faurecia and HELLA, creating the seventh-largest global automotive supplier. We bring together expertise in electronics, clean mobility, and lighting, interiors, seating, and lifecycle solutions to drive change in the automotive industry.

How is the role of design evolving within the automotive industry? 

Focusing on Interiors, these products are the most visible elements in the cockpit, so design and styling are critical. Our design team brings a user-experience perspective to innovation projects as well as provides vision and creativity to the organization based on user and client insights and trend monitoring from the industry. Because every vehicle occupant is different, it is important to focus on designing a versatile and customized environment that adapts to each occupant’s needs - whether for individual comfort or for shared onboard activities. Additionally, with electrification as a fundamental shift for the automotive industry, consumers prioritize sustainable mobility. 

This goes beyond providing solutions for lower or zero emissions during the vehicle’s use phase – it also includes the design and manufacturing of our products and the materials used across product lines. 

How is the market evolving within the automotive industry?

Some of the key market trends we see in the automotive industry are: 

- Electrification and Energy management 

- Smart & Automated driving 

- Personalized experiences in a digitalized and sustainable cockpit 

We have also seen the impact of raw material volatility, vehicle sales decrease, and the COVID pandemic. 

In your role, how would you define the future of innovation within the vehicle interior?

As the demand grows for electrification and autonomous driving, the vehicle architecture will undergo a complete overhaul moving away from a conventional design. The driver and passenger are looking for a safe and comfortable ride and an experience while they are on the move, a third place. This third place could be a workspace, a living space, or an entertainment space; the options are endless. From simplifying the cockpit and decreasing distractions for driver and passenger to allowing increased functionality, HMI on-demand is key to a zen interior with hidden-to-lit technology and transitioning away from the ‘bigger the better’ display functions of the past. To support automakers' objectives and end-users' desire for more sustainable vehicles and materials as well as our own net-zero roadmap, we not only have to consider the architecture and functionality, but we also need to revamp the surface material and traditional components to sustainable options. 

Although these opportunities may be endless, the innovation and execution of the vehicle must be purposeful. We are not simply adding technology for the sake of having it; it is about creating the experience the end user wants and making it cost-effective and scalable for our customers.  And last but not least, innovation in the field of vehicle interiors will only be made possible if innovation in the field of industrial processes leads the way. As a processing company, we are also leveraging innovative technologies in the field of automation and digitalization to create a manufacturing best-in-class ecosystem for our operations and our customers’ satisfaction. 

With Faurecia and Hella coming together to create the combined group FORVIA, describe the synergies between the two groups in the interior space.

FORVIA’s mission is to pioneer technology for mobility experiences that matter to people. As technological innovation and the need for sustainability transform the automotive industry, we are ideally positioned to deliver solutions that will enhance the lives of road users everywhere. 

This joint vision for the future is built on four pillars: safety, sustainability, advanced solutions, and customized experiences. In the interior space, as FORVIA, we enhance our interior lighting expertise by providing interior lighting solutions that can be applied to any interior surface, in which the lighting, sensors, and surface elements will combine to enable new opportunities for HMI. Aside from the cost synergies and optimal user experience, the full integration of Interiors and Lighting will create a homogenous lighting solution and surface activation that is designed with intent. 

Demand for more sustainable automotive mobility is increasing worldwide. How is FORVIA responding to this trend?

At FORVIA, we frame everything through the lens of sustainability. The company is engaged in a CO2 neutrality plan and is the first global automotive group to be certified with the new SBTI Net-Zero Standard. We have committed to reaching CO2 Net Zero by no later than 2045 by using less, using better, and using longer. Regarding our products, we develop market-leading sustainable solutions: using less lightweight architectures and using better with low CO2 footprint materials. We have launched MATERI’ACT, a division dedicated to sustainable materials, to industrialize breakthrough materials made of biomass and recycled materials, replacing traditional plastics and skins in the automotive industry. We also design our products considering their entire lifecycle with modularity front-of-mind to make it easier to reconfigure instrument panels, door panels, and center consoles for better vehicle lifecycle management and customization. This brings three key advantages for automakers and consumers. Firstly, a common architecture to facilitate OEM’s car platform management through modular design, such as a standard instrument panel structure. Next, the flexibility to customize or upgrade onboard features, like enhanced HMI controls or personalized lighting within FORVIA smart surfaces. Finally, a circular approach to refurbish or renew the appearance of materials or surfaces and ensure that parts that have been replaced can be recycled and materials reused. 

How are Forvia's vision of the interior and its innovations aligning with one another?  

By bringing together Faurecia and HELLA to form FORVIA, we have created a new global leader in automotive technology with the expertise and passion for shaping the future of mobility in line with the trends transforming the automotive industry: electrification, automated and autonomous driving and customized onboard experiences. Focusing on interiors, we are leading the transformation and elevating the traditional interior commodities, including door panels, instrument panels, consoles, etc., to integrate functionality and sustainability. This includes continuity technology, advanced interior lighting solutions for brand customization, and our eco-design and sustainable materials activity, which is on track to deliver automotive interiors made from 30% recycled content by 2025.