{"id":3204,"date":"2026-04-17T03:22:20","date_gmt":"2026-04-17T03:22:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/netherlands\/3204\/"},"modified":"2026-04-17T03:22:20","modified_gmt":"2026-04-17T03:22:20","slug":"a-car-company-just-designed-airline-seats-heres-what-they-came-up-with","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/netherlands\/3204\/","title":{"rendered":"A Car Company Just Designed Airline Seats. Here’s What They Came Up With"},"content":{"rendered":"

Car seat design and aircraft seat design tend to stay in their own lanes. Plane seats are usually built to be as lightweight as possible<\/a> without compromising air safety, while your car seat tends to be a bit more comfortable and engineered to withstand car crashes. But what if a car design studio designed a plane seat? This is the Stellantis Design Studio and Geven eForma Business Class Recliner seat. It\u2019s a seat that\u2019s designed like a car, and one of its highlights is smaller panel gaps.<\/p>\n

I recently got to enjoy a free upgrade to first class on a United Airlines flight. It was my first time ever flying first class on a domestic flight and my second time flying first class<\/a>, period. Honestly, it was awesome. It blew my mind to get an actual hot meal, a hot towel, and bottomless alcohol on a flight that never left America. The seat was great, too. I felt like I was sitting in a recliner, and I had ample space in all directions. If it weren\u2019t for the cost of plane tickets, I\u2019d never fly economy again.<\/p>\n

\"Vidframe<\/p>\n

\"Vidframe<\/p>\n

For how great the whole experience was, it was fascinating to observe how even first-class airline seats can have design gaps, literally. In both of my first-class experiences thus far, I noticed that it\u2019s technically possible to lose my phone in weird gaps and spaces, and some edges were a bit rough when I looked closely enough. But it was fine. The comfy seat, the food, the booze, and the space alone are totally worth it. I suppose I\u2019ve never had this question before, but what would happen if car designers made a plane seat? The Stellantis Design Studio has collaborated with airplane seat maker Geven, and now we have the answer.<\/p>\n

\"ImageStellantisCar Designers Penning Other Things<\/p>\n

Back in 2021, Stellantis launched the Stellantis Design Studio. According to Car Design News<\/a>, the studio was born out of the Peugeot Design Lab and is intended to carry out design work and projects across the Stellantis car portfolio, but also outside of Stellantis. The studio isn\u2019t one place, but has branches in Paris, Turin, Shanghai, S\u00e3o Paulo, Casablanca, and Detroit. The head of the Stellantis studio is Klaus Busse, who also oversaw design for Alfa Romeo, Jeep, and Maserati in Europe.<\/p>\n

The Peugeot Design Lab was a bit of a skunkworks. It worked on cars, yes, but it also had design collaborations with Airbus Helicopter, Alstom, B\u00e9n\u00e9teau Groupe, Bombardier, the F.I.A., Gillardeau Oysters, Haier Group, Pleyel, Whirlpool, and Zodiac. The Stellantis Design Studio<\/a> continues that tradition, and it has resulted in some weird and fun designs. Do you really like Batman? Well, the Stellantis Design Studio and Formitalia designed a furniture set that\u2019s supposed to make you feel like you\u2019re in one of those dark and gritty Batman movies.<\/p>\n

\"ImageStellantis<\/p>\n

The Stellantis Design Studio has also made its mark<\/a> on the Maserati MSG Racing Formula E team, Peugeot\u2019s new logo and brand identity, Citro\u00ebn\u2019s new brand identity, a Pecqueur watch, the Strasbourg Tram for Alstom, the Tofinou 9.7 sailboat, a Peugeot bicycle, and more.<\/p>\n

The studio has been quite obsessed with aviation, penning the designs of the Airbus Helicopter H160 and the concept of the Auro Aero.<\/p>\n

\"HelicopterStellantis<\/p>\n

Most recently, the Stellantis Design Studio has gotten into designing aircraft interiors. The studio first teased its concept for a sort of first-class or business-class cabin (below). This one is sort of weird because it envisions an airplane cabin as a social space.<\/p>\n

Each seat would have a privacy panel that comes down so you can converse with the passengers around you.<\/p>\n

\"SdsStellantisCar-Inspired Plane Interiors<\/p>\n

What\u2019s more interesting, I think, are the two interiors that Stellantis designed with actual aircraft interior equipment companies. Both were announced on the same day, and both are on display at the Aircraft Interiors Expo<\/a> in Hamburg, Germany.<\/p>\n

The first collaboration was with Italy\u2019s Geven<\/a>, a qualified seat supplier for Airbus, ATR, and Boeing commercial aircraft, plus a seat provider for Leonardo defense.<\/p>\n

\"StellantisdesignstudioxgevenStellantis<\/p>\n

Unlike the above concept cabin, the Stellantis Design Studio and Geven collaboration is an upgrade for an existing product, Geven\u2019s Forma seats. Introduced in 2022, the Forma seats (below) are fairly standard business class seats. Apparently, they\u2019re also used for premium economy class on widebody jets. The seats have a fixed shell and recline inside that shell. It looks nice, like many other modern business class seats.<\/p>\n

You\u2019ll find Geven seats in the planes of 25 airlines, including Frontier Airlines first class, Lufthansa Group airlines, Wizz Air, Turkish Airlines, Icelandair, and others.<\/p>\n

\"ImageThe original Geven Forma. Credit: Geven<\/p>\n

Stellantis Design Studio says that this new generation of Forma seat is now electrified and features touches carried over from car design. Apparently, the studio\u2019s designers, which include car designers, worked to reduce the seat\u2019s panel gaps, among other things.<\/p>\n

Actually, I\u2019m just going to directly quote the press release, because it reads like a marketing copy for a car, and that makes me smile:<\/p>\n

Drawing on Stellantis Design Studio\u2019s automotive heritage, the new eForma prioritizes precision and durability through carefully controlled details.<\/p>\n

Each enhancement is thoughtfully designed around the user experience while preserving visual purity, ensuring the seat remains both highly functional and elegantly understated. Hidden or minimized shutlines create a cleaner, more refined interaction between body panels and adjacent surfaces, while fewer visual breaks and consistently tight gaps enhance perceived quality throughout.<\/p>\n

\"StellantisdesignstudioxgevenStellantis<\/p>\n

Also, like a proper car press release, there are a lot of flashy words. Check it out:<\/p>\n

Stellantis Design Studio strengthens the design language of Geven\u2019s new eForma, bringing greater clarity and consistency to its overall identity. Unified surfaces, volumes, and interfaces reflect Geven\u2019s Italian elegance, creating a calm, balanced presence and a more coherent silhouette from every angle. The result is improved visual continuity across all components, with design choices deliberately focused on long\u2011term value rather than unnecessary complexity.<\/p>\n

\"StellantisdesignstudioxgevenStellantis<\/p>\n

You know what? I like it. Obviously, I haven\u2019t seen it in person, but it looks like something that can be bolted into a plane tomorrow. If the real product is anything like the pictures, the seats could have that little extra attention to detail that I thought the seats in the planes I\u2019ve been in didn\u2019t have.<\/p>\n

How much do people care about that? I have no idea. But I admit that I spend quite a lot of time staring at different surfaces inside planes. I also know that I am weird.<\/p>\n

\"StellantisdesignstudioxgevenStellantis<\/p>\n

Still, I can\u2019t stop giggling at the idea of car designers reducing panel gaps in airplane seats. I hope they had some great fun penning this work. Hey, Stellantis, when are we getting Hellcat plane seats?<\/p>\n

One More Stellantis Plane Interior<\/p>\n

On the same day that Stellantis announced the new Geven seats, it also announced a new concept aircraft cabin interior with Sogeclair<\/a>. This latter company is not specifically focused on aircraft interiors, but on industrial engineering. Sogeclair makes a little bit of everything, from driving simulator rigs and train driver simulators to aerospace systems and naval architecture.<\/p>\n

\"StellantisdesignstudioxsogeclairunveilStellantis<\/p>\n

This concept interior, called Vista, doesn\u2019t have any car inspiration. Instead, it\u2019s supposed to be a bit of a pod suite with its own private door, walls, and a living room inside. The pod has a full-height wardrobe, a built-in minibar, and lots of nooks and crannies so your carry-on luggage can be tucked away.<\/p>\n

Stellantis says that this interior would utilize natural wood finishes and leather, among other surfaces that would be pleasing to the touch. The tech was also minimized where possible for more of a living room touch.<\/p>\n

\"StellantisdesignstudioxsogeclairunveilStellantis<\/p>\n

This interior is far more of a futuristic designer dream than the eForma seats above. However, Stellantis and Sogeclair contracted TailWind Airline Consulting to ensure the design would meet certification standards in case an airline wanted to implement this interior. Apparently, this interior was designed to work with existing layouts, and it\u2019s feasible to produce it. But, since it\u2019s a concept, who knows?<\/p>\n

Either way, it\u2019s just pretty awesome that a bunch of designers at Stellantis seem to be having fun designing things that aren\u2019t cars. I must admit, I did not have \u201cStellantis airplane seats\u201d on my Bingo sheet. But I love it. There\u2019s a chance I\u2019ll never fly on a plane with one of these seats, but it\u2019s still neat that at least some of what these folks are designing will exist.<\/p>\n

So, the next time you\u2019re flying international, or heck, if you\u2019re one of our lovely readers in Europe, take a gander at your airplane seat. Maybe, one day, you\u2019ll see a Stellantis logo somewhere on it.<\/p>\n

Top graphic images: Stellantis; Pentel<\/p>\n

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