The Faurecia Smart Shifting Panel - Forvia bets on modular EV interiors

The Faurecia Smart Shifting Panel sits flush under your fingertips, its matte surface warming slightly as the cabin lights fade and a slim line of LEDs wakes up along the dashboard. This interior module from Forvia (Faurecia) turns otherwise dead trim into a tactile control surface.

Modular panel for EV dashboards

Faurecia Smart Shifting Panel is part of Forvia’s modular cockpit portfolio, designed for electric vehicles and compact SUVs where every centimeter of dashboard space is contested. A thin plastic substrate hides capacitive sensors, touch sliders and haptic feedback elements behind decorative trim.

Product manager Olivier Durand describes it as a “multi-zone interface” that can be reconfigured by software for different models, from volume and HVAC to drive modes, without redesigning the hardware. The panel can host up to 15 touch areas and light signatures, all integrated into one structural piece that clips into the instrument panel carrier.

Ambient light and haptic feedback

Core to the Smart Shifting Panel is the integration of ambient light and tactile response in a single thin module. A light guide and micro-LEDs sit under the surface, allowing animated light signatures that align with the brand’s design language and with driving states such as charging or eco mode.

Underneath, the panel uses automotive-grade haptic actuators that give a small, crisp vibration when a function is triggered, avoiding the “dead glass” feel of pure capacitive touch. In tests on a pre-production EV interior, you feel a precise click under the finger even though the surface does not move visually.

Designed around human machine interface

Forvia positions Smart Shifting Panel within its “Cockpit of the Future” strategy, which combines electronics, displays and interior trim into cohesive human machine interface systems. The panel connects via CAN or LIN to the vehicle domain controller and can be updated over-the-air if the OEM allows.

Engineer Marie Leblanc, who leads HMI ergonomics at Forvia, says the goal is to keep the driver’s gaze on the road while freeing up physical buttons. The team runs simulated driving sessions to measure how quickly users can find and operate controls on the panel based only on tactile and light cues.

Customization for automakers

Smart Shifting Panel is not sold as an off-the-shelf aftermarket part. Instead, Forvia co-develops the shape, finish and graphic layout with individual automakers as part of larger cockpit programs. The same electronics core can sit behind brushed aluminum, soft-touch plastic or even sustainable composites.

For a compact Chinese EV brand referenced in Forvia’s interior portfolio, the panel carries a horizontal light bar that pulses during charging. For a European premium SUV, the light breaks into segmented “blades” that echo the brand’s daytime running lights around the vehicle.

Industrialization and sustainability

Industrialization matters for a module this complex. Forvia uses in-mold decoration and laser etching to create icons and translucent zones on the panel surface, combined with automated placement of electronics on flexible printed circuits. The entire assembly is designed to pass automotive vibration and temperature cycling tests from -30 °C to +85 °C.

In sustainability presentations, Forvia highlights the reduced part count compared with traditional button clusters, which can approach 30 mechanical components for the same functions. Smart Shifting Panel consolidates these into one module, with potential material savings and easier end-of-life disassembly for recycling.

How it fits Forvia’s business and stock

In revenue terms, Smart Shifting Panel sits inside Forvia’s automotive interiors and cockpit electronics business, which the group reports as a core pillar alongside seating and emissions controls. As automakers shift more controls and light into integrated surfaces, modules like this support Forvia’s mid-term sales guidance in advanced interiors.

Forvia (Faurecia) stock is listed in Paris, trading in euro under ISIN FR0000121147.