Ford Uses Soy in 2008 Mustang Seats
July 16, 2007

Ford said the 2008 Mustang will be outfitted with soybean-based foam cushions, as part of an effort to cut the use of petroleum in its auto manufacturing. Other models may get the foam as well.

Developed by Ford researchers with seat supplier Lear Corp., the foam is 40 percent soy and 60 percent oil-based. Most manufacturers use an average of 30 pounds of petroleum-based foam per vehicle, with 9 billion pounds of foam sold a year to the auto industry.

Ford said the environmental advantages are reduced carbon dioxide emissions in manufacturing, lower energy use to produce the soy foam and reduced dependence on foreign oil. Currently, the soy-foam costs about the same as conventional foam that is fully oil-based but Ford, which is applying for patents on the technology, hopes with increased volume the cost will drop.

Soy has played a role throughout Ford history. Henry Ford incorporated soy- based materials into products as far back as the Model T, which contained 60 pounds of soybeans in its paint and molded plastic parts. The automaker used soy-based seat cushions and a soy-based resin composite tailgate on its 2003 Model U concept.

For the 2008 Mustang seats, Ford and Lear collaborated with the United Soybean Board -- New Uses Committee which includes a group of 64 farmers and agriculture industry leaders, Urethane Soy Systems Co., Bayer Corp. and Renosol Corp. on soy-foam development.

Posted by Michelle Krebs at 6:03 AM under Ford , News , Technology | Comments (0) | digg this | Seed Newsvine