Rolls-Royce now offers vegan leather but nobody wants it

Rolls-Royce boss Torsten Müller-Ötvös has admitted that take-up of leather-free cabins on its Roll-Royce Ghost, Dawn, Wraith, Phantom and Cullinan models has been disappointing as not a single buyer had opted for it.

According to Autocar, the British brand's CEO said that sustainability was important for Rolls-Royce but it was "very important" that it didn't "compromise luxury".

The lack of demand for cruelty-free materials appears to buck a growing trend where car-makers are increasingly keen to offer what's dubbed 'vegan leather'.

Premium brands like Land Rover and Volvo have introduced leather alternatives and are already selling cars that shun animal hides, while mass-market brands are also getting into the act with their top-spec models.

The new all-electric Volvo C40 Recharge is claimed to be the Swedish brand's first-ever leather-free car in the build-up to dropping all leather in its interiors by 2030.

We've already reported that leather interiors could be an endangered species in the future following proposed EU regulations demanding 95 per cent of all cars made should be recyclable, up from today's 85 per cent.

Dropping leather and replacing them with premium cloth and textile seats made of recovered and recycled materials will also help car-makers meet strict CO2 targets and help some brands, like the Volkswagen Group, achieve its aim of becoming completely carbon neutral by 2050.