Chevrolet Impala and Monte Carlo rear-seat development.

Objective

Common architecture under different package conditions

Owned the design, development, and release of new 60/40 split-folding rear-seat systems for two General Motors (GM) vehicles with substantially different package conditions. A central program objective was to preserve a common mechanical architecture while meeting each vehicle's unique geometry, comfort, appearance, validation, and fold-flat requirements.

• Approximately 250,000 vehicles annually combined.
• Preserved Lear's business case for a common structural and mechanical architecture.
• Fold-flat objectives achieved.
• Seat-comfort targets achieved for both vehicle platforms.
• Successful launch with no major issues.
• Basic frame design remained in production on later W-body vehicles.

Package differences

Different vehicles, shared mechanical intent

• Different vehicle widths.
• Different body-side and C-pillar contours.
• Different foam and trim packages.
• Approximately 45 millimeters of H-point difference in the Z direction.
• Approximately 15 millimeters of H-point difference in the X direction.
• Thicker Monte Carlo seatback foam.
• Different bite-line interfaces.

Beauty-bar engineering

Appearance, structure, and attachment in one component

The beauty bar covered exposed body-in-white structure when the seatbacks were folded, controlled the top of the U-shaped tubular seatback frame, and carried the seatback strikers.

• Managed long-part dimensional control.
• Avoided sink marks and cosmetic defects on an appearance surface.
• Maintained structural function.
• The strikers served as the vehicle mounting features and were sonically welded to the beauty bar for retention.
• Passed upper seat-frame attachments through the striker assemblies into the body-in-white.