Alcantara®, the Italian-made luxury material, was featured on the interiors of several of the most significant new cars and crossovers shown at this year's Geneva International Auto Show (March 9-19).
Arguably the most anticipated reveal was Ferrari's 812 Superfast. Ferrari's 789-horsepower supercar promises 0-60 mph times of 2.9 seconds thanks to direct injection, variable intake, and its hybrid system. Its interior featured black perforated Alcantara Starlite material teamed with silver fabric. Alcantara also is used for the car's backrest central and lateral supports.
For its new AMR (Aston Martin Racing) high-performance brand, Aston Martin chose Alcantara to echo a race-inspired exterior color scheme by using contrasting lime-green topstitching over dark blue Alcantara on the car's interior. The Aston Martin Rapide AMR delivers "enhanced performance, sharper dynamics and a more powerful design language," according to the company. The 600 PS (592 horsepower) 6.0-liter naturally aspirated V12 takes three passengers to a top speed of 210 mph.
Peugeot won the highly coveted title of European Car of the Year for its 3008 crossover, now in its second generation. Fifty-eight European journalists gave a convincing win to this upscale SUV with a high technology "i-Cockpit" providing improved driving ergonomics. Alcantara stays true to the vehicle's contemporary styling with seating that features golden-yellow topstitching in a lozenge pattern against a darker neutral background.
Other car makers showcasing vehicle interiors with Alcantara at the 2017 Geneva show included:
The light-weight, 100 percent carbon-neutral material is a preferred choice for many of the world's luxury and high-performance vehicles. Alcantara is headquartered in Milan with research and production facilities in Nera Montoro, Umbria. More information is available on the internet at www.alcantara.com.
Alcantara is a unique Italian-made material that combines functional, aesthetic and emotional qualities and offers designers a variety of benefits, including the fact that it is soft, durable, resilient, breathable and washable.