Luxury Carmakers Plan New Features for Obese Drivers
Luxury cars couldn’t have been far behind the obesity problem. Luxury carmakers have been forced to upsize their vehicles as a result of drivers and passengers becoming more overweight, it has emerged.
Porsche, Mercedes and BMW are just a few of the carmakers who have begun implementing features in their luxury model cars to account for their, ahem, growing clientele.
Luxury car manufacturers are reportedly joining the ranks of their more affordable counterparts in terms of size. It seems that in the past few years, many car companies have been expanding seat sizes to accommodate for the steady rise of obesity in consumers. And now high-end manufacturers are looking at ways to make their cars more comfortable for heavier drivers as well.
The Telegraph reports that Mercedes is planning on manufacturing sturdier door handles to compensate for heavier passengers lifting themselves out of their vehicles. Porsche is installing steering columns that automatically rise up and, presumably, out of the way of big bellies when the engine is off.
“People are getting more obese and we want to find out how that limits their range of motion and how our vehicles can adapt to the changing needs of our customers,” said Ralf Kaiser, a member of BMW’s ergonomics team.
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