Ford’s front seats highlight shift toward modular architecture

Most automakers focus on chassis designs as success stories in the shift toward modular product architecture. Ford has instead highlighted the many advantages of a common structure for its front seats, which are now shared between the Focus, F-150 and most other models.

The Blue Oval first implemented a global front-seat architecture in the 2013 Escape and Fusion. The company’s North American lineup contained no less than 26 different seat systems at the time, a number that has since been pared down to just four.

Taking inspiration from office furniture and airliners, the modular seat design is based on a common skeleton that can be clad in various ‘top hat’ leather or cloth seat covers. Designers aimed to make the seat snug near the hips, preventing sliding while driving, but with freedom of movement for the arms and legs.

The universal skeleton supports a “plug and play” system with more than 30 different individual configurations. Add-ons include inflatable lumbar, bolster and massage bladders, adjustable lumbar supports, heating and cooling systems, cushion extensions and independent thigh supports, among other components.

“There was skepticism as to whether building a seat structure to fit all vehicle sizes could be done,” said Ford’s seats expert, Johnathan Line. “The trick was to turn our focus away from the vehicles, and concentrate instead on our customers.”

The seat structure is mounted using rails of various heights, accommodating the range of interior volumes from small cars to large SUVs. The steel frame is also said to bring weight benefits, eliminating more than 50 components and consequently reducing heft by approximately 30 percent.

The structure is now used in 90 percent of Ford’s North American vehicles, most recently the 2016 Ford Explorer. It will continue to be expanded gradually to global markets in the coming years.