Don't care for your personal opinion about killing animals for leather. Just to came to learn why materials are superior over the other based on your title. Wasnt looking for a lecture. I got turned off half way thru the video by all the comments about killing animals and how its aquired. Dont care. Ill worry about ethical things on my own time thank you very much.
I appreciate someone adding more to a car review than what's under the hood. I recently got a rental and thought it was leather and found out it wasnt. It felt great, smelled good and I would have been none the wiser. So now I have no problem with a synthetic seat. I think we are just recently turning the corner on this and in the future I expect these new fibers will fully replace leather as people learn from the practical position that its cheaper and better.
Also please check out this great documentary: cowspiracy.vhx.tv/packages/cowspiracy-the-sustainability-secret-1/videos/cowspiracy-the-sustainability-secret
I’m glad you offered this personal aside and commentary, Thomas...it’s made me think carefully about my next car (Audi) purchase, and how all such decisions are important in the marketplace...and beyond. Sometimes habits and customs are things we cling to without thought or reconsideration. You’ve respectfully asked me to reflect, and I will. This is the essence of what we owe one another even though we may never meet - you’ve engaged my mind! Bravo, and thank you! Greg
+YM M As automotive journalism is surely not the most noble thing to do on earth, I feel like I can do something good if I spread those information here indeed. If just one life was spared, all worth the effort
Hey bro, this is the first video of yours I've seen. I'm vegan, I have been for a little over a year, but I just graduated from college and got to buy my first car with some help from my parents about 3 weeks ago. I got a VW Jetta with the V-Tex instead of leather. My old car that I got almost 8 years ago had leather seats that were just like you described, uncomfortable and very hard to maintain... I knew some of the points about leather being bad for workers and the environment but I actually thought it was like a byproduct of meat, too. You are right! From a pragmatic view, leather is not really a luxury item, even simple cloth is better in many respects, and I think we are slowly updating our definition of luxury to understand that. It's really cool that you take this kind of stuff into consideration, thank you! Take care.
Keep up the good work. Informing how consumers can make small choices for compassion that can make a big difference is noble work. A conversation like this made me choose cloth for my latest car... I think the more the public is informed - the more change we will see.
Thomas, this is really nice that you let it out and expose what really happens behind the scenes in that industry and explain thoroughly why you are against it. Regardless if people agree with you or not, this video will serve as a good discussion to people's different perspective about the issue. Thank you for sharing your thoughts with us!
Thank you for this great video! I'm fully agree with you. The real leather seats are non-sense for luxury as well as they are very uncomfortable at summer & winter.
I’m a 1st time buyer of a leather seats car. I was dicouraged by lot’s of my friends & family when found out that lot’s luxury cars are faux leather now days. However after this video I will no longer hesitate to buy a faux leather car:)Very educational and helpful video! Thank you!
Thanks for speaking out for the animals. This makes a big difference. I bought a Mercedes e400 wagon because of your review and because the seats are not leather!
For me it depends on the feel. Leather can be soft, hard so it depends. Fake leather can look or feel like plastic. No good. So both can be right if they feel right.
Outstanding presentation. Thank you for helping to educate the public on how the animals are tortured and maned in the name of human comfort. The public in all cultures needs to know! Thank you! Judy in Virginia Beach
This is really great..your presentation has inspired me to learn more about leather and how it affects animals. Thanks for standing up and sharing your passion about this topic Thomas!
Regardless if someone agrees or disagrees, I have to give respect to him for sharing his views! It's a strange world, because I still do eat meat (I'm American, we don't have much else, lol), but I do agree with most of what you said. Keep it up, Autogefühl! A bit of personal interjection is NOT a bad thing!
Nice to see your separate video dedicated to this Thomas. I think whether your fans agree with you or not they should be accepting of your personal choice and be supportive. I know this subject is important to you. You laid out your position with passion using some convincing points of why not to buy your next car with real leather. Perhaps you changed the minds of a few of your viewers. At the very least you made them start to think about this more.
If it makes you feel better here in Texas we EAT a lot of beef so they are not only killed for leather . BUT to torture an animal is totally UNacceptable . For some of these animals dieing is a a relief .
Thank you very much for your interest in this topic. As a start, please tune in to what the animal leather industry tried to do here with our channel: th-cam.com/video/nP_CvLlaFlI/w-d-xo.html In general, depending on the animal skin grade, the animals are specifically raised for this matter. However even if meat would be the reason no.1 in other cases, the hide remains one of the most profitable body parts. That means: If manufacturers put animal leather in a car and you accept it as a customer, you give your money to an industry that earns money by oppressing humans, animals and destroys the environment, you make them more profitable. Also, if you turn the argument around "meat is the waste of the leather industry" you realize how biased the argument is. After all, would you care for which body part you would murdered? Or imagine someone robs you on the street and beats you to death - would it matter to you if it was for your Smartphone or for your purse? The animal agriculture industry occupies 2/3 of all farm land on this planet which cannot be used for direct human nutrition then. That is extremely inefficient. The no.1 cause for deforestation is the animal industry. It is also one of the biggest contributor to climate change. The amount of land, resources, energy and water being used is beyond imagination. If you are interested in how the animals are being treated and transported in the global leather industry, watch this footage: th-cam.com/video/tkjCAmq1_8E/w-d-xo.html Note that the footage is genuine and was recorded by a highly decorated investigative journalist in Germany I know myself personally. For the alternative, you can either use artificial fabrics which can be made from recyclables (we have already shown a lot of vehicles that use great fabric seats from PET-bottles etc.) or more and more also from plant-based materials (like Pinatex). And even if you would create a seat completely with petroleum without a recycling share, the amount of oil being used for that is nothing in comparing just to once fueling up your car. In practical reasons, fabric or microfibre seats are just more useful. You do not sweat in summer and it is not cold in winter. And there are also new leatherette materials available which are superior in every aspect: th-cam.com/video/u94YXJ72UTA/w-d-xo.html Not using animal skin on seats is a major issue of animal rights, human rights - and after all just of common sense what is better both for the environment and just more practical and more luxurious for the customer. We cannot change what we have bought in the past (that also counts for ourselves of course!), but with more information and compassion we can change how we decide in the future.
I agree completely and loved the video. I appreciate you sharing your enlightened perspective. I am amazed by how much better faux leather is. I have a Subaru with full leather (all Subaru's leather = faux since 1998). Material science is amazing.
Hey brother. Today time has changed. You can see major changes in car industry. Genuine leather, nappa, merino is extremely rare. Alcantara, SensaTec and leatherette are dominating the market. I am from India. I don't consume meat, not eggs since my birth. I have stopped consuming milk but occasionally consume milk products. I do have black coffee. Your video is extremely insightful. We are surrounded by products that are painted by blood of animals. In india we have cars made by tata, mahindra, hyundai. All of those never ever gave an option of real animal leather. They have gone up to leatherette and stopped there. Your efforts are bearing fruits.
thanks so much my friend ! If you want to know even more about this topic: I also bought cars with animal skin leather seats before I did my research and got to know the industry. The most important thing is: With today's modern materials, you have nothing to lose, just to gain. You achieve the same kind of luxury and comfort or even better while having the same or better durability with less impact on humans, animals and the environment. You can use fabric/cloth, microfibre or leatherette. The classic approach is using oil/plastic as source material. Overall, a vehicle contains about 300 kg plastic. A car seat needs about 5 kg plastic. So the overall plastic share for the seats is very low and it is at this moment the most efficient way to produce a car seat. A couple of litres of fuel equals a car seat basically. So if you want to save oil/plastic, rather look at consumption for energy, fuel and heating and to other car parts than the seat. Note that animal skin leather also always contains a plastic coating for durability. However, long-term we should of course find raw oil alternatives. So going further, seats can be made from recyclables (e.g. from PET-bottles or old fishing nets) or even increased share of plant-based materials (like pine oil, canola oil or start-up materials like Pinatex from pineapple leaves or Desertex from cactus fibre or the mixed-plant-based Mirum, so be seen at th-cam.com/video/S1aNZeoatmE/w-d-xo.html). On a calculation base, by ditching animal skin leather from car interiors, the amount of emissions (CO2e) is reduced by 85 (!) % (www.press.bmwgroup.com/africa-dom-easteurope/article/detail/T0403389EN/on-the-market-from-2023:-bmw-and-mini-models-with-vegan-interiors?language=en) - and that is a very conservative calculation. So it is at this moment the most important thing you can do to make car interiors more sustainable. A good example for high-end luxury with ventilated animal free seats is the BMW X7 with Sensafin: th-cam.com/video/1pRNkW9nrrw/w-d-xo.html And the Kia EV9 with plant-based oil share: th-cam.com/video/6vXePQi_MAk/w-d-xo.html New leatherette materials can be superior in every aspect, even for cleaning: th-cam.com/video/u94YXJ72UTA/w-d-xo.html More and more natural materials are rising: th-cam.com/video/nRSsXEnwHDo/w-d-xo.html Also check out what the animal skin leather industry tried to with our channel: th-cam.com/video/nP_CvLlaFlI/w-d-xo.html For seeing how the animals are being treated and transported in the global leather industry, watch this footage: th-cam.com/video/tkjCAmq1_8E/w-d-xo.html Note that the footage is genuine and was recorded by a highly decorated investigative journalist in Germany I know myself personally. Also a group of researchers and German journalists from public media could recent directly trace the connection between car animal leather production and illegal burning down Amazon rain forest: www.daserste.de/information/reportage-dokumentation/ard-story/videos/illegales-leder-video-100.html In a high animal skin grade, the animals are specifically raised for this matter. However even if meat is the "first" misuse case, the hide remains a profitable body part. That means: If manufacturers put animal leather in a car and you demand it as a customer, you give your money to an industry that earns money by oppressing humans, animals and harms the environment, you make them more profitable. Alternatively, you could support industries with your wallet which try to improve the sustainability of materials. Also, if you turn the argument around to "meat is the waste of the leather industry" you realize that it doesn't make sense (and is ethically doubtful) to discuss the primary use of individual body parts of mammals. Mind experiment: You are getting slain down on the street; would it matter to you if it was for your smartphone or for your purse? Remember that animal skin leather is no different to fur, fur is just leather where the hair is still on. And fur is widely not accepted for clothing anymore, and of course not for cars. We cannot change what we have bought in the past, but with more information and compassion we can change how we decide in the future. For a great insight into sustainability in the automotive industry, you can also check out our extensive documentary: th-cam.com/video/-8gNXlRGngA/w-d-xo.html
I have been a lifelong vegetarian but I can really appreciate someone who resolved to becoming a vegetarian. I wish that every automaker would give us an option of getting alternatives to animal hide. Keep up the great work Thomas!
Found this video in April, 2019. Thank you for creating this. I am shopping for a car, and I'm finding that as one wants more out in a car, one finds dead skin. Perhaps the majority of society wants that. Perhaps the majority of car manufacturers believes that. I don't need that.
I've always felt the same way and stopped buying genuine leather goods years ago. I also find synthetic or faux leather to be much more durable. Thank you for taking the time to make this video!
I was already sold when you told in every car review that alcantara is actualy better in the winter (not that cold) and summer (not that warm and more cooling). I choose the leather seat option instead of alcantare, while alcantara was cheaper. I now know better and in the future will choose the alcantara option.
Nice video. I like that you make this kind of videos, because a channel about cars doesn't needs to be only reviews, there's a lot of things to say about this industry, some of them good, some of them bad ;-). A few points about what you say: 1- I agree that leather is not the best option for seats, and I wouldn't pick never, even if I had the means to buy luxury cars. For my taste, the combination of alcantara and faux leather is the best choice, both in terms of comfort and looks. 2- While I don't doubt that very horrible things happen in some countries, the argument that leather used in the cars we buy is produced on such conditions is a stretch. I don't know exactly from where it comes, but car makers could simply certificate that leather in their cars is a by-product and solve this point. 3- I don't mind your personal stand on being vegetarian or vegan, but just remember that is not unethical to eat meat. I think is perfectly coherent to eat meat but to be against unnecessary suffering of animals. That is, is ethical to kill animals for human consumption, but not more than what's strictly necessary. Still, I know we eat too much meat, and without becoming vegetarians, in general people should reduce his weekly meat consumption, for health reasons. So while I understand the you always make a comment against the use of real leather on cars on almost every review, because there are objective drawbacks, I would suggest to not try to push too much on other issues, because then you would be going off-topic and maybe make people get tired.
Thomas , well said ! Its your Channel so you can say what ever you want . You have to start somewhere , for choosing interior options .if enough people start to choose non-Leather all the Manufactures will give more options . Thanks Joe
+Autogefühl You need more Subscribers I mean what a quality you get from this kinda channel. You should have like 400,000 subscribers. Greatings from Sweden😀
Excellent video Thomas!! Educating consumers about leather is so important. Leather alternatives are no doubt the way forward. I'm shopping for a car now and it is very hard in most cars to find a mid to high level trim package(especially to get all the new high tech safety features) without leather. Keep putting out the message!!
Thank you, Thomas, for this episode. I have one time bought a car with real leather interior but have since then only had faux leather interior. My current car is a 2016 GLC 300 4Matic and after taking delivery I had questioned myself if I should have gotten the real leather interior. I am now very happy I did not and will not again get real leather in a car. I had been thinking about it back and forth until seeing you bring this topic up in some of your reviews and then especially in this episode. Thank you again.
I prefer Alcantara over leather, its kind of gross to sit on dead animal skin. Thank you Thomas for bringing this subject to light. If the auto manufacturers know we want alternative interior options we will eventually get them!
I was never a friend of leather seats caused by the really bad user comfort. As you said in summer you are sweat and glue at the seat. In winter it is too cold and you are slick and slide. But the Main item in parallel to the Animal handling is the chemical contamination with Chrome VI !!! But this is a big problem for all leather products like shoes, jackets and for sure watch straps. The car industry has NOT the overview of all sub sub suppliers. They don't know where the leather come from and if it was in contact with the poison chrome 6!!! Thus I fully agree with you to decline leather in cars. But for other leather products please ask the salesman for much more Details to protect your life and the of the animals. Cheers DrDuu
Nice video agree with it. I've chosen alcantara for my new car instead of leather no sweat during summer and don't need seat warming + saved a few animals
Thank You for taking a stand and sharing your opinion on this issue :) In Canada MB, BMW and Audi typically give you the choice of leatherette (base) or real leather, but cloth seats are almost non existent at the "luxury" level. I drive a MINI Cooper S with leather as finding a cloth car with manual transmission was difficult, and I hated the smell (!) of the vinyl. I'm thinking my next MINI will be a JCW, and I noticed there is a JCW cloth available. As you said, it's much cooler in the summer, and warmer in the winter ! Anyway, keep up the great work!
Well done, Thomas. I agree with you, of course, but I think that even for the viewers who might not agree with your reasons for this preference, they have to respect the moral courage you display in taking a stand such as this. Too many TH-cam auto reviewers try to focus solely on getting subscribers and minimizing negative or opposing comments, that they have become very robotic and frankly, pretty boring. I've always appreciated your honesty in your reviews, but this video underscores this fact even more. You really care about your own humanity and this earns you my respect.
+astrogen1960 Thank you very much. Indeed that is what Autogefuehl ist about. We are not focussing on just stating the most popular opinions and we are not afraid of not getting manufacturers support because we point out the negatives sides of a car. We stand for authenticity and honesty - that's what we are obliged to - for you!
Weiter so! Sehr sympathisch :-) I love how you express your thoughts without over-excitement but not without compassion. This video is very good and so true, it deserves much more views and likes :-)
Great video! These days its possible to buy synthetic leather (no animals involved what so ever), which looks and feels very very similar to leather. So there should be no reason for an animal to die, just for a car seat.
Jesse, you're disgusting. Don't use your religion to justify the mistreatment of non-human animals. You're an awful speciescist. And you have to realize that we're animals too.
Thank you so much for this video. I dunno why I found it so hard after I searched on google on differences between them. Btw you don't look very changed compared to how you were 8 years ago. Keep up the good work!
If u re interested, here are more resources: I also bought cars with animal skin leather seats before I did my research and got to know the industry. The most important thing is: With today's modern materials, you have nothing to lose, just to gain. You achieve the same kind of luxury and comfort or even better while having the same or better durability with less impact on humans, animals and the environment. You can use fabric/cloth, microfibre or leatherette. The classic approach is using oil/plastic as source material. Overall, a vehicle contains about 300 kg plastic. A car seat needs about 5 kg plastic. So the overall plastic share for the seats is very low and it is at this moment the most efficient way to produce a car seat. A couple of litres of fuel equals a car seat basically. So if you want to save oil/plastic, rather look at consumption for energy, fuel and heating and to other car parts than the seat. Note that animal skin leather also always contains a plastic coating for durability. However, long-term we should of course find raw oil alternatives. So going further, seats can be made from recyclables (e.g. from PET-bottles or old fishing nets) or even increased share of plant-based materials (like pine oil, canola oil or start-up materials like Pinatex from pineapple leaves or Desertex from cactus fibre or the mixed-plant-based Mirum, so be seen at th-cam.com/video/S1aNZeoatmE/w-d-xo.html). On a calculation base, by ditching animal skin leather from car interiors, the amount of emissions (CO2e) is reduced by 85 (!) % (www.press.bmwgroup.com/africa-dom-easteurope/article/detail/T0403389EN/on-the-market-from-2023:-bmw-and-mini-models-with-vegan-interiors?language=en) - and that is a very conservative calculation. So it is at this moment the most important thing you can do to make car interiors more sustainable. A good example for high-end luxury with ventilated animal free seats is the BMW X7 with Sensafin: th-cam.com/video/1pRNkW9nrrw/w-d-xo.html And the Kia EV9 with plant-based oil share: th-cam.com/video/6vXePQi_MAk/w-d-xo.html New leatherette materials can be superior in every aspect, even for cleaning: th-cam.com/video/u94YXJ72UTA/w-d-xo.html More and more natural materials are rising: th-cam.com/video/nRSsXEnwHDo/w-d-xo.html Also check out what the animal skin leather industry tried to with our channel: th-cam.com/video/nP_CvLlaFlI/w-d-xo.html For seeing how the animals are being treated and transported in the global leather industry, watch this footage: th-cam.com/video/tkjCAmq1_8E/w-d-xo.html Note that the footage is genuine and was recorded by a highly decorated investigative journalist in Germany I know myself personally. Also a group of researchers and German journalists from public media could recent directly trace the connection between car animal leather production and illegal burning down Amazon rain forest: www.daserste.de/information/reportage-dokumentation/ard-story/videos/illegales-leder-video-100.html In a high animal skin grade, the animals are specifically raised for this matter. However even if meat is the "first" misuse case, the hide remains a profitable body part. That means: If manufacturers put animal leather in a car and you demand it as a customer, you give your money to an industry that earns money by oppressing humans, animals and harms the environment, you make them more profitable. Alternatively, you could support industries with your wallet which try to improve the sustainability of materials. Also, if you turn the argument around to "meat is the waste of the leather industry" you realize that it doesn't make sense (and is ethically doubtful) to discuss the primary use of individual body parts of mammals. Mind experiment: You are getting slain down on the street; would it matter to you if it was for your smartphone or for your purse? Remember that animal skin leather is no different to fur, fur is just leather where the hair is still on. And fur is widely not accepted for clothing anymore, and of course not for cars. We cannot change what we have bought in the past, but with more information and compassion we can change how we decide in the future. For a great insight into sustainability in the automotive industry, you can also check out our extensive documentary: th-cam.com/video/-8gNXlRGngA/w-d-xo.html
Excellent video. I watch your reviews because they're really interesting, completes and pro. But you also seems to be a really nice and concerned person. I can only agree with you. Keep up the good work Thomas ! and thank you , great channel !
This really got me thinking about the implications of buying leather products, and certainly made me appreciate my M-sport Alcantara upholstery in my BMW.
you do realize that there is alcantara made out of real leather? as far as im informed the alcantar used in newer bmw´s is no real leather but especially the alcantara in old porsches and amg models where real leather.
Im getting a new car in a couple months, and I 100% will not be getting leather seats. I probably would have bought the leather seat option if I never started watching your videos.
Great Thomas! I really liked your candid view about not promoting or buying leather products due to harm to animals. Being a vegetarian myself I appreciate you too don't eat meat and that would have been precisely my argument had you been non-vegetarian. Nonetheless, next time I will definitely think twice before going for leather option seats when buying a car. Keep up the great work you are doing!
Thank you so much for this video! Needing to replace our 18 year old car, we couldn't find anything where leather wasn't a part of a premium package. Then one night I did an online search of vegan + cars and Mercedes came up. We now have a new GLC on order with a beautiful faux leather interior ( which led me to finding your video channel). Now if the US could just adopt Holland's bicycle culture...
+Diana Hall Wow cool, thanks for the note Diana - and great that you took the right decision. It shows that the industry has to react on such customer demands. Take care!
+Torrey B Actually if you look at the big picture, in faux leather A LOT less chemicals are used. That's why allergy proof interiors are _never_ with real animal skin. The reason is that leather is not a natural product because it is chemically process very strongly.
+Xplosion51 Well, in my country beef is not very sought after type of meat, so its skin as a byproduct is not being wasted since we dont even slaughter cattle for meat. I take dairy products over beef any/every day!
***** No I am not joking. We do eat some beef dishes but that is nowhere near to the levels that I saw in Argentina, for examples. We make burgers from pork or pork/lamb combo, google "pljeskavica" or "ćevapi". I'm from Serbia btw. However its not only on Balkans but most of Europe doesn't consume much beef, unlike Americas (all of them: North, Central and South).
Great video spreading some good awareness. I hope this reaches out to a wider audience. I am sure many like me would have thought that leather on the car seats was generally a byproduct!
How about an update video on leather, Thomas? This video was posted in 2015 and I haven't found a newer one on your channel (let me know if I've missed something). In particular, I would appreciate an overview on using plant-based materials in car seats, e.g. Pinatex, etc. Also, what is your take on lab-grown leather? Would it be a sustainable and an ethical alternative to animal skin? Look forward to your comments/videos and glad to help if needed. Cheers, Govind
Thanks so much for your interest! Did you see this one? th-cam.com/video/nP_CvLlaFlI/w-d-xo.html And product wise, this is new and very interesting: th-cam.com/video/u94YXJ72UTA/w-d-xo.html
@@autogefuehl Yes, I have seen these, thanks for sharing. So far, the animal-free leather products in cars all seem to be petroleum-based (Leatherette, Alcantara, etc.), which is fine if they do not release toxic substances like dioxin (which is released by PVC). However, I am keen on seeing if plant-based materials can be incorporated in cars, such as Pinatex, Mylo, Kombucha, etc. These new materials seem to have a far lower environmental impact than even PE/PU/PVC materials, are mostly biodegradable, and can be very quick and cheap to scale up. Lab-grown leather is probably the best candidate to replace animal skin in cars as it looks and feels just like animal leather and therefore might easily convince those who associate animal skin with high class and quality (although there is no denying the durability of well-made animal leather, a good pair of animal leather boots can last 10-20 years if maintained well). The PE/PU/PVC alternatives are usually not as durable as animal leather, which discourages their use and increases waste production. Looking forward to more discussion from your team on this topic. Cheers, Govind
Thank you so much for this, Thomas! I have moved away from leather products! I appreciate the car I drive for not using leather! It feels better than leather and lasts long! It is so sad what is happening to animals and the workers that are forced to be subjected to such evil! Luxury ≠ Leather!
Respect you for speaking your mind even though we don't always agree. I don't have full leather interiors in my cars anymore because Volkswagen rarely offers them across the board even on some top trim models (Golf TDI/TSi, Jetta TDI/TSi) in the US. That being said, leather is more of maintenance issue so it's simpler not having to treat them with conditioner every so many weeks. Man has been killing man for thousands of years now and I don't think that's ever going to stop. If he'll kill another man, an cow, lamb, or pig doesn't stand a chance.
You do not need to treat automotive leather every few weeks, only give it a clean with warm soapy water weith a soft cloth then dry it, again with a soft cloth. There is an impervious clear coating on leather which protects the hide, no need for any treatment. Many car exporters to the US do not ship cars with anything but leather because the domestic demand for luxury/premium cars without leather is practically zero. When a few luxury/premium cars were sold without leather, and they came back for trade a few years later, the dealers could not sell them on, as no one wanted them, they ended up retrimming them in leather to shift the cars off their forecourts.
I always prefer cloth seats. Leather seats are so uncomfortable. As you said, they get hot in the summer and cold in the winter. Bare skin sticks to them in the summer when you want to wear shorts. Also they crack more quicky than cloth seats wear. And the ethical issues... It's a no-brainer really.
Yes i´m definitely mor against leather now, thx for opening my eyes but what do you think about leather steringweal ? the same opinion there as well ? And also it would be nice if you could do a video about alcantara and false letter, how it feels and how its made for exampel, i think it could be very interesting to watch. keep up the grate work
+Hundra14Kronor Thanks buddy. Yeah indeed, if I had the chance, I would always go for alcantara steering wheel which we have seen in some racing cars - it really rocks in grip and feeling. Seen for example in the F-TYPE R !
This is my thought exactly towards using leather in cars. I don't really think it makes the car feel more luxurious because, like you said the seats get very hot during summer and very cold during winter. Also the seats can sometimes produce some not so nice noises when something rubs up against them maybe even when you sit on them and I just think the overall feel is not worth it. My personal favorite is the alcantara surface option and something which is similar to that I just think it feels fantastic and looks great too. I also think that in coming years as the man made faux leather gets better and better that we will see greater usage of those materials in more cars, even the high end luxury cars. Personally I think the best option is to get a blend of faux leather and alcantara in a way so the areas which need strong materials are covered in faux leather and the seating part is then covered in alcantara, a bit like Audi does with their sport seats which are optional, they just look and feel awesome. Good video Thomas!
Thanks. Was deciding between accepting a vehicle with bmw sensatec/alcantara vs waiting for real leather, I'll just go with the sensatec/alcantara and just do a repair if needed.
Ciao, Thomas. Thanks for sharing again your "passion" for being compassionate to our animal friends. Funny as earlier today I was watching a video on photosynthesis chemical reactions in plant life and the presenter made the point that we need plants more than they need us, so have respect for them! Same applies to animals I thought. BMW NAmer only offers faux leather and genuine leather. I'm happy to say I chose leatherette (faux) and no one can really tell the difference. After seven years it looks like new! Zero emissions vehicles with excellent driving dynamics will be nice to see soon too for all our sakes on this fragile planet, eh?!? Less conflict would be a bonus also, no? 👍🏻
I think it's true, that the perception is leather = luxury. I think it's also outdated, impractical and a tragedy that animals lose their lives for misconception and vanity. Good on you Thomas, for explaining your reasoning. I've noticed you mention in several videos that you wouldn't go for the leather, and now I know why.
I love my car leather seats and eating a big piece of steak!! All you vegans can keep avoiding eating meat, and there is more meat to be eaten for regular people.
As a start, please tune in to what the animal leather industry tried to do here with our channel: th-cam.com/video/nP_CvLlaFlI/w-d-xo.html In general, depending on the animal skin grade, the animals are specifically raised for this matter. However even if meat would be the reason no.1 in other cases, the hide remains one of the most profitable body parts. That means: If manufacturers put animal leather in a car and you accept it as a customer, you give your money to an industry that earns money by oppressing humans, animals and destroys the environment, you make them more profitable. Also, if you turn the argument around "meat is the waste of the leather industry" you realize how biased the argument is. After all, would you care for which body part you would murdered? Or imagine someone robs you on the street and beats you to death - would it matter to you if it was for your Smartphone or for your purse? The animal agriculture industry occupies 2/3 of all farm land on this planet which cannot be used for direct human nutrition then. That is extremely inefficient. The no.1 cause for deforestation is the animal industry. It is also one of the biggest contributor to climate change. The amount of land, resources, energy and water being used is beyond imagination. If you are interested in how the animals are being treated and transported in the global leather industry, watch this footage: th-cam.com/video/tkjCAmq1_8E/w-d-xo.html Note that the footage is genuine and was recorded by a highly decorated investigative journalist in Germany I know myself personally. For the alternative, you can either use artificial fabrics which can be made from recyclables (we have already shown a lot of vehicles that use great fabric seats from PET-bottles etc.) or more and more also from plant-based materials (like Pinatex). And even if you would create a seat completely with petroleum without a recycling share, the amount of oil being used for that is nothing in comparing just to once fueling up your car. In practical reasons, fabric or microfibre seats are just more useful. You do not sweat in summer and it is not cold in winter. And there are also new leatherette materials available which are superior in every aspect: th-cam.com/video/u94YXJ72UTA/w-d-xo.html Not using animal skin on seats is a major issue of animal rights, human rights - and after all just of common sense what is better both for the environment and just more practical and more luxurious for the customer. We cannot change what we have bought in the past (that also counts for ourselves of course!), but with more information and compassion we can change how we decide in the future.
Totally agree with you. I had the same thoughts when I bought my new car. Hadn't even seen your videos yet. What are your views on poultry and seafood?
Great to have more people that care! I've been vegetarian for 15 years, vegan for about three/four years now. Best thing you can do to yourself, your fellow animals and the planet. Cant solve every problems at once, but this is the easiest thing you can do to have maximum impact
@@autogefuehl being vegatrian? Its not about being vegan or not. The subject here is meant that they need to stop killing animals for useless things. We dont need to stop eating meat so they kill less animals. Nothing will change if u stop eat meat or not. We are humans and we need meat, its very important for our budies.
Interesting point. I never ordered leather in my cars because I thought of it as "luxury" but because I prefer the feeling how you sit on it. My last encounters with faux leather always have been bad, they did not breath well and you're starting to sweat immediately. Has that changed with newer products? A very good combination of the two worlds and better for animals is Alcantara. I drove the first Lexus IS 200 with Alcantara seats and still remember how well the seats were.
![สาวเมืองเพชร - ธีเดช ทองอภิชาติ [Official MV]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/kEt7F9PvO3I/mqdefault.jpg)
This is our follow-up episode on this topic with more information: th-cam.com/video/LNSUzZXzpdc/w-d-xo.html
YES Thomas! I'm ordering my 120i m sport, textile seats for the win!
Don't care for your personal opinion about killing animals for leather. Just to came to learn why materials are superior over the other based on your title. Wasnt looking for a lecture. I got turned off half way thru the video by all the comments about killing animals and how its aquired. Dont care. Ill worry about ethical things on my own time thank you very much.
@@TexanWolverine I don't care you don't care. Autogefuhl can choose to make the content how he chooses to, thank you very much.
@@ahmedkhan1962 just letting him know why his video is shit. take it or leave it.
I appreciate someone adding more to a car review than what's under the hood. I recently got a rental and thought it was leather and found out it wasnt. It felt great, smelled good and I would have been none the wiser. So now I have no problem with a synthetic seat. I think we are just recently turning the corner on this and in the future I expect these new fibers will fully replace leather as people learn from the practical position that its cheaper and better.
I’m with you brother. I am also an animal lover.
Thanks Josh, that really means a lot, to me, but even more for our fellow beings!
Also please check out this great documentary: cowspiracy.vhx.tv/packages/cowspiracy-the-sustainability-secret-1/videos/cowspiracy-the-sustainability-secret
I highly recommend this ^ and the Earthlings documentary.
I’m glad you offered this personal aside and commentary, Thomas...it’s made me think carefully about my next car (Audi) purchase, and how all such decisions are important in the marketplace...and beyond. Sometimes habits and customs are things we cling to without thought or reconsideration. You’ve respectfully asked me to reflect, and I will. This is the essence of what we owe one another even though we may never meet - you’ve engaged my mind! Bravo, and thank you! Greg
Greg, thats really amazing. Sometimes the workload is really hard on me, but when I read that people really do care, thats really fantastic
We should boycott buying cars made from real leather
true
This is one of the best videos in your channel.
+mrtherm thanks! keep spreading the word and of course our videos :)
I love that you use your channel to educate people to become better humans!
+YM M As automotive journalism is surely not the most noble thing to do on earth, I feel like I can do something good if I spread those information here indeed. If just one life was spared, all worth the effort
Hey bro, this is the first video of yours I've seen. I'm vegan, I have been for a little over a year, but I just graduated from college and got to buy my first car with some help from my parents about 3 weeks ago. I got a VW Jetta with the V-Tex instead of leather. My old car that I got almost 8 years ago had leather seats that were just like you described, uncomfortable and very hard to maintain... I knew some of the points about leather being bad for workers and the environment but I actually thought it was like a byproduct of meat, too. You are right! From a pragmatic view, leather is not really a luxury item, even simple cloth is better in many respects, and I think we are slowly updating our definition of luxury to understand that. It's really cool that you take this kind of stuff into consideration, thank you! Take care.
+lalem91 great to hear that thanks !
I'm 100% with you Thomas on this matter! Great job! People should love the animals and play with them, not wear or sit on them (Leather sits).
+Goran Stepanovic way to go!
I agree with animal rights but in this case no coz we can still use the leather without killing them and simply wait for them to die😉
@@nadjibe Car companies will never do that because they don't like the 'quality' of old animal skins.
Keep up the good work. Informing how consumers can make small choices for compassion that can make a big difference is noble work. A conversation like this made me choose cloth for my latest car... I think the more the public is informed - the more change we will see.
Thank you Shawn! Please spread the Message to your surrounding :)
Thomas, this is really nice that you let it out and expose what really happens behind the scenes in that industry and explain thoroughly why you are against it. Regardless if people agree with you or not, this video will serve as a good discussion to people's different perspective about the issue. Thank you for sharing your thoughts with us!
+Ivan Delos Santos really appreciate your feedback
Thank you for this great video! I'm fully agree with you. The real leather seats are non-sense for luxury as well as they are very uncomfortable at summer & winter.
+Leskylor appreciating your support
I’m a 1st time buyer of a leather seats car. I was dicouraged by lot’s of my friends & family when found out that lot’s luxury cars are faux leather now days. However after this video I will no longer hesitate to buy a faux leather car:)Very educational and helpful video! Thank you!
Great!
I learn a lot from this small video . I don’t want 100% leather products anymore, we love our animals and environment thanks for your kind effort
Thanks for caring!!
Thanks for speaking out for the animals. This makes a big difference. I bought a Mercedes e400 wagon because of your review and because the seats are not leather!
love to hear that, great Michael that you take the right decisions as a customer!
For me it depends on the feel. Leather can be soft, hard so it depends. Fake leather can look or feel like plastic. No good. So both can be right if they feel right.
Outstanding presentation. Thank you for helping to educate the public on how the animals are tortured and maned in the name of human comfort. The public in all cultures needs to know! Thank you! Judy in Virginia Beach
This is really great..your presentation has inspired me to learn more about leather and how it affects animals. Thanks for standing up and sharing your passion about this topic Thomas!
+Steven Sanchez so great to hear that!
Hi Thomas, thanks for sharing your compassion with the world.
thanks for the support!
Regardless if someone agrees or disagrees, I have to give respect to him for sharing his views!
It's a strange world, because I still do eat meat (I'm American, we don't have much else, lol), but I do agree with most of what you said. Keep it up, Autogefühl! A bit of personal interjection is NOT a bad thing!
+Godly Object thanks for your recognition!
+Xplosion51 yes, animals are much better than humans.
+indash.eu you got a point there :)
+Xplosion51 Wait, what? I didn't make that comparison...
+Xplosion51 twisted logic? A life is a life, what an uninformed comment
My deepest respect for you, Thomas. Thank you.
+Till Samenström tak Till !
It is so nice to see such reviews..animals have no less right to live than human.
Thank u
thanks, keep supporting us!
As always, a very comprehensive explanation. Well done Thomas.
Awesome video! Thank you very much for making this video and this message! ✨❤️🌟
your points were very well stated, without being argumentative.
Nice to see your separate video dedicated to this Thomas. I think whether your fans agree with you or not they should be accepting of your personal choice and be supportive. I know this subject is important to you. You laid out your position with passion using some convincing points of why not to buy your next car with real leather. Perhaps you changed the minds of a few of your viewers. At the very least you made them start to think about this more.
If it makes you feel better here in Texas we EAT a lot of beef so they are not only killed for leather . BUT to torture an animal is totally UNacceptable . For some of these animals dieing is a a relief .
Thank you very much for your interest in this topic. As a start, please tune in to what the animal leather industry tried to do here with our channel: th-cam.com/video/nP_CvLlaFlI/w-d-xo.html
In general, depending on the animal skin grade, the animals are specifically raised for this matter. However even if meat would be the reason no.1 in other cases, the hide remains one of the most profitable body parts. That means: If manufacturers put animal leather in a car and you accept it as a customer, you give your money to an industry that earns money by oppressing humans, animals and destroys the environment, you make them more profitable. Also, if you turn the argument around "meat is the waste of the leather industry" you realize how biased the argument is. After all, would you care for which body part you would murdered? Or imagine someone robs you on the street and beats you to death - would it matter to you if it was for your Smartphone or for your purse?
The animal agriculture industry occupies 2/3 of all farm land on this planet which cannot be used for direct human nutrition then. That is extremely inefficient. The no.1 cause for deforestation is the animal industry. It is also one of the biggest contributor to climate change. The amount of land, resources, energy and water being used is beyond imagination. If you are interested in how the animals are being treated and transported in the global leather industry, watch this footage: th-cam.com/video/tkjCAmq1_8E/w-d-xo.html
Note that the footage is genuine and was recorded by a highly decorated investigative journalist in Germany I know myself personally.
For the alternative, you can either use artificial fabrics which can be made from recyclables (we have already shown a lot of vehicles that use great fabric seats from PET-bottles etc.) or more and more also from plant-based materials (like Pinatex). And even if you would create a seat completely with petroleum without a recycling share, the amount of oil being used for that is nothing in comparing just to once fueling up your car.
In practical reasons, fabric or microfibre seats are just more useful. You do not sweat in summer and it is not cold in winter. And there are also new leatherette materials available which are superior in every aspect: th-cam.com/video/u94YXJ72UTA/w-d-xo.html
Not using animal skin on seats is a major issue of animal rights, human rights - and after all just of common sense what is better both for the environment and just more practical and more luxurious for the customer. We cannot change what we have bought in the past (that also counts for ourselves of course!), but with more information and compassion we can change how we decide in the future.
I agree completely and loved the video. I appreciate you sharing your enlightened perspective.
I am amazed by how much better faux leather is. I have a Subaru with full leather (all Subaru's leather = faux since 1998).
Material science is amazing.
+eksster Great to have your support on this
A lot of top points there Thomas. So many great choices nowadays honestly besides real animal skin.
thanks for the support !
Hey brother.
Today time has changed. You can see major changes in car industry. Genuine leather, nappa, merino is extremely rare. Alcantara, SensaTec and leatherette are dominating the market.
I am from India. I don't consume meat, not eggs since my birth. I have stopped consuming milk but occasionally consume milk products. I do have black coffee. Your video is extremely insightful. We are surrounded by products that are painted by blood of animals.
In india we have cars made by tata, mahindra, hyundai. All of those never ever gave an option of real animal leather. They have gone up to leatherette and stopped there.
Your efforts are bearing fruits.
thanks so much my friend ! If you want to know even more about this topic:
I also bought cars with animal skin leather seats before I did my research and got to know the industry. The most important thing is: With today's modern materials, you have nothing to lose, just to gain. You achieve the same kind of luxury and comfort or even better while having the same or better durability with less impact on humans, animals and the environment.
You can use fabric/cloth, microfibre or leatherette. The classic approach is using oil/plastic as source material. Overall, a vehicle contains about 300 kg plastic. A car seat needs about 5 kg plastic. So the overall plastic share for the seats is very low and it is at this moment the most efficient way to produce a car seat. A couple of litres of fuel equals a car seat basically. So if you want to save oil/plastic, rather look at consumption for energy, fuel and heating and to other car parts than the seat. Note that animal skin leather also always contains a plastic coating for durability. However, long-term we should of course find raw oil alternatives. So going further, seats can be made from recyclables (e.g. from PET-bottles or old fishing nets) or even increased share of plant-based materials (like pine oil, canola oil or start-up materials like Pinatex from pineapple leaves or Desertex from cactus fibre or the mixed-plant-based Mirum, so be seen at th-cam.com/video/S1aNZeoatmE/w-d-xo.html). On a calculation base, by ditching animal skin leather from car interiors, the amount of emissions (CO2e) is reduced by 85 (!) % (www.press.bmwgroup.com/africa-dom-easteurope/article/detail/T0403389EN/on-the-market-from-2023:-bmw-and-mini-models-with-vegan-interiors?language=en) - and that is a very conservative calculation. So it is at this moment the most important thing you can do to make car interiors more sustainable.
A good example for high-end luxury with ventilated animal free seats is the BMW X7 with Sensafin: th-cam.com/video/1pRNkW9nrrw/w-d-xo.html
And the Kia EV9 with plant-based oil share: th-cam.com/video/6vXePQi_MAk/w-d-xo.html
New leatherette materials can be superior in every aspect, even for cleaning: th-cam.com/video/u94YXJ72UTA/w-d-xo.html
More and more natural materials are rising: th-cam.com/video/nRSsXEnwHDo/w-d-xo.html
Also check out what the animal skin leather industry tried to with our channel: th-cam.com/video/nP_CvLlaFlI/w-d-xo.html
For seeing how the animals are being treated and transported in the global leather industry, watch this footage: th-cam.com/video/tkjCAmq1_8E/w-d-xo.html
Note that the footage is genuine and was recorded by a highly decorated investigative journalist in Germany I know myself personally.
Also a group of researchers and German journalists from public media could recent directly trace the connection between car animal leather production and illegal burning down Amazon rain forest:
www.daserste.de/information/reportage-dokumentation/ard-story/videos/illegales-leder-video-100.html
In a high animal skin grade, the animals are specifically raised for this matter. However even if meat is the "first" misuse case, the hide remains a profitable body part. That means: If manufacturers put animal leather in a car and you demand it as a customer, you give your money to an industry that earns money by oppressing humans, animals and harms the environment, you make them more profitable. Alternatively, you could support industries with your wallet which try to improve the sustainability of materials. Also, if you turn the argument around to "meat is the waste of the leather industry" you realize that it doesn't make sense (and is ethically doubtful) to discuss the primary use of individual body parts of mammals. Mind experiment: You are getting slain down on the street; would it matter to you if it was for your smartphone or for your purse? Remember that animal skin leather is no different to fur, fur is just leather where the hair is still on. And fur is widely not accepted for clothing anymore, and of course not for cars.
We cannot change what we have bought in the past, but with more information and compassion we can change how we decide in the future.
For a great insight into sustainability in the automotive industry, you can also check out our extensive documentary:
th-cam.com/video/-8gNXlRGngA/w-d-xo.html
I have been a lifelong vegetarian but I can really appreciate someone who resolved to becoming a vegetarian. I wish that every automaker would give us an option of getting alternatives to animal hide. Keep up the great work Thomas!
+Rahul Verma great to hear that Rahul!
You've changed my view on luxury and for that I thank you, you gave a new meaning to animal harm when it comes to vehicles.
Appreciating your concern!
Found this video in April, 2019. Thank you for creating this. I am shopping for a car, and I'm finding that as one wants more out in a car, one finds dead skin. Perhaps the majority of society wants that. Perhaps the majority of car manufacturers believes that. I don't need that.
Great that you also take interest in that!
This is also helpful: moneywisedriver.com/do-vegan-cars-exist-a-guide-to-non-leather-interiors/
Aw, I like this video. I have always felt a similar way, and wondered why leather was such a popular material.
I've always felt the same way and stopped buying genuine leather goods years ago. I also find synthetic or faux leather to be much more durable. Thank you for taking the time to make this video!
+Peter Torres thanks Peter and appreciate that you see it this way as well!
I was already sold when you told in every car review that alcantara is actualy better in the winter (not that cold) and summer (not that warm and more cooling). I choose the leather seat option instead of alcantare, while alcantara was cheaper. I now know better and in the future will choose the alcantara option.
+Joel C way to go Joel!
Very thoughtful of you. Thank you very much, Thomas! The times are changing and we all have to make choices.
+deanarel thanks for the support!
Walrus foreskin is the latest craze in Russia. Putin himself says it's the most luxurious skin on the face of the earth.
crazy shit ..
Nice video. I like that you make this kind of videos, because a channel about cars doesn't needs to be only reviews, there's a lot of things to say about this industry, some of them good, some of them bad ;-). A few points about what you say:
1- I agree that leather is not the best option for seats, and I wouldn't pick never, even if I had the means to buy luxury cars. For my taste, the combination of alcantara and faux leather is the best choice, both in terms of comfort and looks.
2- While I don't doubt that very horrible things happen in some countries, the argument that leather used in the cars we buy is produced on such conditions is a stretch. I don't know exactly from where it comes, but car makers could simply certificate that leather in their cars is a by-product and solve this point.
3- I don't mind your personal stand on being vegetarian or vegan, but just remember that is not unethical to eat meat. I think is perfectly coherent to eat meat but to be against unnecessary suffering of animals. That is, is ethical to kill animals for human consumption, but not more than what's strictly necessary. Still, I know we eat too much meat, and without becoming vegetarians, in general people should reduce his weekly meat consumption, for health reasons. So while I understand the you always make a comment against the use of real leather on cars on almost every review, because there are objective drawbacks, I would suggest to not try to push too much on other issues, because then you would be going off-topic and maybe make people get tired.
Thomas , well said ! Its your Channel so you can say what ever you want . You have to start somewhere , for choosing interior options .if enough people start to choose non-Leather all the Manufactures will give more options .
Thanks
Joe
+TechExplorer thanks Joe for the support!
+Autogefühl You need more Subscribers I mean what a quality you get from this kinda channel. You should have like 400,000 subscribers. Greatings from Sweden😀
+Love Richardson thanks man =)
+Autogefühl No problem man appreciate it and also thanks for reply 👍
I appreciate your agenda! Everyone else may not. Thank you for your information and comparison of the two materials.
Thanks and help spreading the word!
Excellent video Thomas!! Educating consumers about leather is so important. Leather alternatives are no doubt the way forward. I'm shopping for a car now and it is very hard in most cars to find a mid to high level trim package(especially to get all the new high tech safety features) without leather. Keep putting out the message!!
thanks, keep spreading the word as a customer!
Thank you, Thomas, for this episode. I have one time bought a car with real leather interior but have since then only had faux leather interior. My current car is a 2016 GLC 300 4Matic and after taking delivery I had questioned myself if I should have gotten the real leather interior. I am now very happy I did not and will not again get real leather in a car. I had been thinking about it back and forth until seeing you bring this topic up in some of your reviews and then especially in this episode. Thank you again.
+Stephen Arnold Great to hear!
I prefer Alcantara over leather, its kind of gross to sit on dead animal skin. Thank you Thomas for bringing this subject to light. If the auto manufacturers know we want alternative interior options we will eventually get them!
thanks so much chad, glad you care!
The video we've all been waiting for. Cloth person myself, haven't had microfiber
+Jared Berg thanks jared!
Thank you for that insightful information! I didn't know how cruel it was to obtain real leather.
(Y)
Totally agree. The vegan seats are great.
I was never a friend of leather seats caused by the really bad user comfort. As you said in summer you are sweat and glue at the seat. In winter it is too cold and you are slick and slide. But the Main item in parallel to the Animal handling is the chemical contamination with Chrome VI !!! But this is a big problem for all leather products like shoes, jackets and for sure watch straps. The car industry has NOT the overview of all sub sub suppliers. They don't know where the leather come from and if it was in contact with the poison chrome 6!!! Thus I fully agree with you to decline leather in cars. But for other leather products please ask the salesman for much more Details to protect your life and the of the animals. Cheers DrDuu
+DrDuu So right they do not follow the supply chain!
Nice video agree with it. I've chosen alcantara for my new car instead of leather no sweat during summer and don't need seat warming + saved a few animals
great !!
No you didn’t, you just used more oil!
Thank You for taking a stand and sharing your opinion on this issue :) In Canada MB, BMW and Audi typically give you the choice of leatherette (base) or real leather, but cloth seats are almost non existent at the "luxury" level. I drive a MINI Cooper S with leather as finding a cloth car with manual transmission was difficult, and I hated the smell (!) of the vinyl. I'm thinking my next MINI will be a JCW, and I noticed there is a JCW cloth available. As you said, it's much cooler in the summer, and warmer in the winter ! Anyway, keep up the great work!
Well done, Thomas. I agree with you, of course, but I think that even for the viewers who might not agree with your reasons for this preference, they have to respect the moral courage you display in taking a stand such as this. Too many TH-cam auto reviewers try to focus solely on getting subscribers and minimizing negative or opposing comments, that they have become very robotic and frankly, pretty boring. I've always appreciated your honesty in your reviews, but this video underscores this fact even more. You really care about your own humanity and this earns you my respect.
+astrogen1960 Thank you very much. Indeed that is what Autogefuehl ist about. We are not focussing on just stating the most popular opinions and we are not afraid of not getting manufacturers support because we point out the negatives sides of a car. We stand for authenticity and honesty - that's what we are obliged to - for you!
Weiter so! Sehr sympathisch :-)
I love how you express your thoughts without over-excitement but not without compassion. This video is very good and so true, it deserves much more views and likes :-)
Vielen Dank !!
we are on your side
thanks pal !
Great video! These days its possible to buy synthetic leather (no animals involved what so ever), which looks and feels very very similar to leather. So there should be no reason for an animal to die, just for a car seat.
thanks daniel! so true
And to use it skin as by Product .
Jesse, you're disgusting. Don't use your religion to justify the mistreatment of non-human animals. You're an awful speciescist. And you have to realize that we're animals too.
LOL you really think I'm going to think about the cow that you probably just had a Burger from?
I dont eat cows 🐄
What about peanut butter?
peanut butter rocks
put peace in your body instead of torture and killing :-)
Thank you so much for this video. I dunno why I found it so hard after I searched on google on differences between them. Btw you don't look very changed compared to how you were 8 years ago. Keep up the good work!
Highly appreciated!!
If u re interested, here are more resources: I also bought cars with animal skin leather seats before I did my research and got to know the industry. The most important thing is: With today's modern materials, you have nothing to lose, just to gain. You achieve the same kind of luxury and comfort or even better while having the same or better durability with less impact on humans, animals and the environment.
You can use fabric/cloth, microfibre or leatherette. The classic approach is using oil/plastic as source material. Overall, a vehicle contains about 300 kg plastic. A car seat needs about 5 kg plastic. So the overall plastic share for the seats is very low and it is at this moment the most efficient way to produce a car seat. A couple of litres of fuel equals a car seat basically. So if you want to save oil/plastic, rather look at consumption for energy, fuel and heating and to other car parts than the seat. Note that animal skin leather also always contains a plastic coating for durability. However, long-term we should of course find raw oil alternatives. So going further, seats can be made from recyclables (e.g. from PET-bottles or old fishing nets) or even increased share of plant-based materials (like pine oil, canola oil or start-up materials like Pinatex from pineapple leaves or Desertex from cactus fibre or the mixed-plant-based Mirum, so be seen at th-cam.com/video/S1aNZeoatmE/w-d-xo.html). On a calculation base, by ditching animal skin leather from car interiors, the amount of emissions (CO2e) is reduced by 85 (!) % (www.press.bmwgroup.com/africa-dom-easteurope/article/detail/T0403389EN/on-the-market-from-2023:-bmw-and-mini-models-with-vegan-interiors?language=en) - and that is a very conservative calculation. So it is at this moment the most important thing you can do to make car interiors more sustainable.
A good example for high-end luxury with ventilated animal free seats is the BMW X7 with Sensafin: th-cam.com/video/1pRNkW9nrrw/w-d-xo.html
And the Kia EV9 with plant-based oil share: th-cam.com/video/6vXePQi_MAk/w-d-xo.html
New leatherette materials can be superior in every aspect, even for cleaning: th-cam.com/video/u94YXJ72UTA/w-d-xo.html
More and more natural materials are rising: th-cam.com/video/nRSsXEnwHDo/w-d-xo.html
Also check out what the animal skin leather industry tried to with our channel: th-cam.com/video/nP_CvLlaFlI/w-d-xo.html
For seeing how the animals are being treated and transported in the global leather industry, watch this footage: th-cam.com/video/tkjCAmq1_8E/w-d-xo.html
Note that the footage is genuine and was recorded by a highly decorated investigative journalist in Germany I know myself personally.
Also a group of researchers and German journalists from public media could recent directly trace the connection between car animal leather production and illegal burning down Amazon rain forest:
www.daserste.de/information/reportage-dokumentation/ard-story/videos/illegales-leder-video-100.html
In a high animal skin grade, the animals are specifically raised for this matter. However even if meat is the "first" misuse case, the hide remains a profitable body part. That means: If manufacturers put animal leather in a car and you demand it as a customer, you give your money to an industry that earns money by oppressing humans, animals and harms the environment, you make them more profitable. Alternatively, you could support industries with your wallet which try to improve the sustainability of materials. Also, if you turn the argument around to "meat is the waste of the leather industry" you realize that it doesn't make sense (and is ethically doubtful) to discuss the primary use of individual body parts of mammals. Mind experiment: You are getting slain down on the street; would it matter to you if it was for your smartphone or for your purse? Remember that animal skin leather is no different to fur, fur is just leather where the hair is still on. And fur is widely not accepted for clothing anymore, and of course not for cars.
We cannot change what we have bought in the past, but with more information and compassion we can change how we decide in the future.
For a great insight into sustainability in the automotive industry, you can also check out our extensive documentary:
th-cam.com/video/-8gNXlRGngA/w-d-xo.html
Great food for thought. And something to fuel an honest, discussion regarding material selection, ethics, and sustainability. Thanks!
+Joshua Junker thanks josh!
Excellent video. I watch your reviews because they're really interesting, completes and pro. But you also seems to be a really nice and concerned person. I can only agree with you. Keep up the good work Thomas ! and thank you , great channel !
+Gildas Gautier thanks, spread the word for us!
Very good video Thomas! Love your reviews, and your thinking!
+Sam McDonnell thanks for caring!
This really got me thinking about the implications of buying leather products, and certainly made me appreciate my M-sport Alcantara upholstery in my BMW.
+MyRandomReviews thanks! And great pick :)
this is now my new favorite car review Channel! The Vegan car Reviews!
+Event Horizon way to go m8!
100% agree with you. You're a good person, heaven awaits you.
Alcantara for the win!
oh yeah!
you do realize that there is alcantara made out of real leather? as far as im informed the alcantar used in newer bmw´s is no real leather but especially the alcantara in old porsches and amg models where real leather.
Thanks for putting that out there, I wasn't aware and now my future decisions will be better informed!
+Muhlewethu Maluleka thanks for your interest!
In Malaysia, very few car manufacturers state if its real animal or synthetic. When you ask their sales, they have no clue
yeah often they have no clue !
Good for you for sticking up for what you believe in!
Best car show there is! Keep up the compassion :)
Great to have your support!
Wow, I didn't expect such a message from a car channel. Good job! Go vegan! :)
+Arturs Krastiņš great, thanks :)
Im getting a new car in a couple months, and I 100% will not be getting leather seats. I probably would have bought the leather seat option if I never started watching your videos.
+Panthers1521 Very nice! Thanks a lot!
Great Thomas! I really liked your candid view about not promoting or buying leather products due to harm to animals. Being a vegetarian myself I appreciate you too don't eat meat and that would have been precisely my argument had you been non-vegetarian. Nonetheless, next time I will definitely think twice before going for leather option seats when buying a car.
Keep up the great work you are doing!
+Umang Goel great thanks !
Really good video, well done Thomas :)
+OwnedByNemz thx m8 !
you're awesome, cool little video!
Thank you, young man!!! You make perfect sense and have a good heart, too! xoxo
+Susan Estrella thank you Susan - great to hear that there are more thinking like that out there!
My favorite auto reviewer. Great job!
+josh. (y)
Thank you so much for this video! Needing to replace our 18 year old car, we couldn't find anything where leather wasn't a part of a premium package.
Then one night I did an online search of vegan + cars and Mercedes came up. We now have a new GLC on order with a beautiful faux leather interior ( which led me to finding your video channel).
Now if the US could just adopt Holland's bicycle culture...
+Diana Hall Wow cool, thanks for the note Diana - and great that you took the right decision. It shows that the industry has to react on such customer demands. Take care!
I wish everyone went to faux leather, always cruelty-free and doesn't look like crap after 5 years.
+ThatKiDwiththeDrums only problem is, it is often laden with chemicals and release VOCs like crazy
+Torrey B Actually if you look at the big picture, in faux leather A LOT less chemicals are used. That's why allergy proof interiors are _never_ with real animal skin. The reason is that leather is not a natural product because it is chemically process very strongly.
+Xplosion51 Dont turn it into a steak in the first place :)
+Xplosion51 Well, in my country beef is not very sought after type of meat, so its skin as a byproduct is not being wasted since we dont even slaughter cattle for meat. I take dairy products over beef any/every day!
***** No I am not joking. We do eat some beef dishes but that is nowhere near to the levels that I saw in Argentina, for examples. We make burgers from pork or pork/lamb combo, google "pljeskavica" or "ćevapi". I'm from Serbia btw. However its not only on Balkans but most of Europe doesn't consume much beef, unlike Americas (all of them: North, Central and South).
That is the only agenda that matters. Compassion👏👏👏
Great video spreading some good awareness. I hope this reaches out to a wider audience. I am sure many like me would have thought that leather on the car seats was generally a byproduct!
How about an update video on leather, Thomas? This video was posted in 2015 and I haven't found a newer one on your channel (let me know if I've missed something). In particular, I would appreciate an overview on using plant-based materials in car seats, e.g. Pinatex, etc. Also, what is your take on lab-grown leather? Would it be a sustainable and an ethical alternative to animal skin? Look forward to your comments/videos and glad to help if needed. Cheers, Govind
Thanks so much for your interest!
Did you see this one?
th-cam.com/video/nP_CvLlaFlI/w-d-xo.html
And product wise, this is new and very interesting:
th-cam.com/video/u94YXJ72UTA/w-d-xo.html
@@autogefuehl Yes, I have seen these, thanks for sharing. So far, the animal-free leather products in cars all seem to be petroleum-based (Leatherette, Alcantara, etc.), which is fine if they do not release toxic substances like dioxin (which is released by PVC). However, I am keen on seeing if plant-based materials can be incorporated in cars, such as Pinatex, Mylo, Kombucha, etc. These new materials seem to have a far lower environmental impact than even PE/PU/PVC materials, are mostly biodegradable, and can be very quick and cheap to scale up. Lab-grown leather is probably the best candidate to replace animal skin in cars as it looks and feels just like animal leather and therefore might easily convince those who associate animal skin with high class and quality (although there is no denying the durability of well-made animal leather, a good pair of animal leather boots can last 10-20 years if maintained well). The PE/PU/PVC alternatives are usually not as durable as animal leather, which discourages their use and increases waste production. Looking forward to more discussion from your team on this topic. Cheers, Govind
cheers!
Yes there are news on that:
th-cam.com/video/nRSsXEnwHDo/w-d-xo.html
Thank you so much for this, Thomas! I have moved away from leather products! I appreciate the car I drive for not using leather! It feels better than leather and lasts long! It is so sad what is happening to animals and the workers that are forced to be subjected to such evil! Luxury ≠ Leather!
Awesome thanks!!
Respect you for speaking your mind even though we don't always agree. I don't have full leather interiors in my cars anymore because Volkswagen rarely offers them across the board even on some top trim models (Golf TDI/TSi, Jetta TDI/TSi) in the US. That being said, leather is more of maintenance issue so it's simpler not having to treat them with conditioner every so many weeks.
Man has been killing man for thousands of years now and I don't think that's ever going to stop. If he'll kill another man, an cow, lamb, or pig doesn't stand a chance.
You do not need to treat automotive leather every few weeks, only give it a clean with warm soapy water weith a soft cloth then dry it, again with a soft cloth.
There is an impervious clear coating on leather which protects the hide, no need for any treatment.
Many car exporters to the US do not ship cars with anything but leather because the domestic demand for luxury/premium cars without leather is practically zero.
When a few luxury/premium cars were sold without leather, and they came back for trade a few years later, the dealers could not sell them on, as no one wanted them, they ended up retrimming them in leather to shift the cars off their forecourts.
Agree with you completely Thomas. Thanks for sharing your insights.
love to hear that, spread the word !
I always prefer cloth seats. Leather seats are so uncomfortable. As you said, they get hot in the summer and cold in the winter. Bare skin sticks to them in the summer when you want to wear shorts. Also they crack more quicky than cloth seats wear. And the ethical issues... It's a no-brainer really.
+Argantonis so true!
Yes i´m definitely mor against leather now, thx for opening my eyes but what do you think about leather steringweal ? the same opinion there as well ? And also it would be nice if you could do a video about alcantara and false letter, how it feels and how its made for exampel, i think it could be very interesting to watch. keep up the grate work
+Hundra14Kronor Thanks buddy. Yeah indeed, if I had the chance, I would always go for alcantara steering wheel which we have seen in some racing cars - it really rocks in grip and feeling. Seen for example in the F-TYPE R !
This video is the only reason what made me aware of what i was actually doing. Thanks a lot for this video. Iam changed forever. No leather💪💪💪💪
Thanks so much for caring! All the best to u !
Thanks! in the cons too : we have to take care of leather more than others surfaces, and it go old pretty quick n bad! sorry for my english lol
+1111italia1111 that too!
This is my thought exactly towards using leather in cars. I don't really think it makes the car feel more luxurious because, like you said the seats get very hot during summer and very cold during winter. Also the seats can sometimes produce some not so nice noises when something rubs up against them maybe even when you sit on them and I just think the overall feel is not worth it. My personal favorite is the alcantara surface option and something which is similar to that I just think it feels fantastic and looks great too. I also think that in coming years as the man made faux leather gets better and better that we will see greater usage of those materials in more cars, even the high end luxury cars. Personally I think the best option is to get a blend of faux leather and alcantara in a way so the areas which need strong materials are covered in faux leather and the seating part is then covered in alcantara, a bit like Audi does with their sport seats which are optional, they just look and feel awesome. Good video Thomas!
+jonnybk so true - thank you!
Thanks. Was deciding between accepting a vehicle with bmw sensatec/alcantara vs waiting for real leather, I'll just go with the sensatec/alcantara and just do a repair if needed.
Of course! Great!
@3:40 Your mother's skin analogy really hit home. Some people use their parents' ashes as fertiliser to grow a tree or some other memorable plant 🪴
big respect for people like you.
+Srdjan Vujosevic thanks man!!
Ciao, Thomas.
Thanks for sharing again your "passion" for being compassionate to our animal friends.
Funny as earlier today I was watching a video on photosynthesis chemical reactions in plant life and the presenter made the point that we need plants more than they need us, so have respect for them!
Same applies to animals I thought.
BMW NAmer only offers faux leather and genuine leather. I'm happy to say I chose leatherette (faux) and no one can really tell the difference. After seven years it looks like new!
Zero emissions vehicles with excellent driving dynamics will be nice to see soon too for all our sakes on this fragile planet, eh?!?
Less conflict would be a bonus also, no? 👍🏻
+Mario Dalla Riva Sure thing m8. Great that you also chose compassion!
Compassion is hard to argue with. Textile seats are fine with me. They are more practical anyway and are much more advanced these days.
way to go!
I think it's true, that the perception is leather = luxury. I think it's also outdated, impractical and a tragedy that animals lose their lives for misconception and vanity.
Good on you Thomas, for explaining your reasoning. I've noticed you mention in several videos that you wouldn't go for the leather, and now I know why.
+Jason Mi thanks, appreciated!
I love my car leather seats and eating a big piece of steak!! All you vegans can keep avoiding eating meat, and there is more meat to be eaten for regular people.
As a start, please tune in to what the animal leather industry tried to do here with our channel: th-cam.com/video/nP_CvLlaFlI/w-d-xo.html
In general, depending on the animal skin grade, the animals are specifically raised for this matter. However even if meat would be the reason no.1 in other cases, the hide remains one of the most profitable body parts. That means: If manufacturers put animal leather in a car and you accept it as a customer, you give your money to an industry that earns money by oppressing humans, animals and destroys the environment, you make them more profitable. Also, if you turn the argument around "meat is the waste of the leather industry" you realize how biased the argument is. After all, would you care for which body part you would murdered? Or imagine someone robs you on the street and beats you to death - would it matter to you if it was for your Smartphone or for your purse?
The animal agriculture industry occupies 2/3 of all farm land on this planet which cannot be used for direct human nutrition then. That is extremely inefficient. The no.1 cause for deforestation is the animal industry. It is also one of the biggest contributor to climate change. The amount of land, resources, energy and water being used is beyond imagination. If you are interested in how the animals are being treated and transported in the global leather industry, watch this footage: th-cam.com/video/tkjCAmq1_8E/w-d-xo.html
Note that the footage is genuine and was recorded by a highly decorated investigative journalist in Germany I know myself personally.
For the alternative, you can either use artificial fabrics which can be made from recyclables (we have already shown a lot of vehicles that use great fabric seats from PET-bottles etc.) or more and more also from plant-based materials (like Pinatex). And even if you would create a seat completely with petroleum without a recycling share, the amount of oil being used for that is nothing in comparing just to once fueling up your car.
In practical reasons, fabric or microfibre seats are just more useful. You do not sweat in summer and it is not cold in winter. And there are also new leatherette materials available which are superior in every aspect: th-cam.com/video/u94YXJ72UTA/w-d-xo.html
Not using animal skin on seats is a major issue of animal rights, human rights - and after all just of common sense what is better both for the environment and just more practical and more luxurious for the customer. We cannot change what we have bought in the past (that also counts for ourselves of course!), but with more information and compassion we can change how we decide in the future.
Totally agree with you. I had the same thoughts when I bought my new car. Hadn't even seen your videos yet. What are your views on poultry and seafood?
Great to have more people that care! I've been vegetarian for 15 years, vegan for about three/four years now. Best thing you can do to yourself, your fellow animals and the planet. Cant solve every problems at once, but this is the easiest thing you can do to have maximum impact
@@autogefuehl being vegatrian? Its not about being vegan or not. The subject here is meant that they need to stop killing animals for useless things. We dont need to stop eating meat so they kill less animals. Nothing will change if u stop eat meat or not. We are humans and we need meat, its very important for our budies.
Interesting point. I never ordered leather in my cars because I thought of it as "luxury" but because I prefer the feeling how you sit on it. My last encounters with faux leather always have been bad, they did not breath well and you're starting to sweat immediately. Has that changed with newer products? A very good combination of the two worlds and better for animals is Alcantara. I drove the first Lexus IS 200 with Alcantara seats and still remember how well the seats were.
Bravo Thomas!!! I share your thoughts as well.
+Yonas Mekuria great to hear that!
You're awesome! Keep up the good work
thx so much :)
Loved the video on real leather vs faux leather!!;)
👍
i just found your channel, this is great, good work!
+Trilok Ram thanks and spread the word for us!
+Trilok Ram thanks and spread the word for us!