From Vineyard to Vehicle

July 22, 2026

For decades, vine branches left behind after vineyard pruning were considered waste and eventually burned or discarded. Today, some of those branches are beginning a completely different journey inside the Citroën C5 Aircross, contributing to increase the use of renewable resources. 

This approach supports Stellantis’ voluntary target of reaching 35% green materials in its new vehicles by 2030, reflecting the direction we have set for ourselves to advance circularity, resource efficiency, and the broader integration of sustainable materials across our product portfolio.

Instead of disappearing into the atmosphere in a puff of smoke, natural fibers from the vines are integrated into the interior of the Citroën C5 Aircross via a bio-sourced material that drivers and passengers can see, touch and experience every day. 

But turning vine branches from France’s Burgundy wine region into a material suitable for vehicle interior applications was never simply about recycling waste. It was about making nature compatible with one of the world’s most technically demanding industrial environments. 

While automotive interiors require precision, durability, consistency, and compliance with strict certification standards, nature, by contrast, is inherently unpredictable. Natural materials are imperfect. Every vine branch is different. That contrast became the heart of the project.

What began as a design ambition quickly evolved into a collaborative journey across multiple teams inside Stellantis. Designers, engineers, researchers, purchasing specialists, product teams, and external partners worked together to transform an unconventional idea into an automotive reality.

Throughout the project, the team created an agile and local ecosystem that simplifies logistics, strengthens industrial coordination, and reinforces the connection between local resources and automotive suppliers.

The project reflects Stellantis’ broader culture of ‘intrapreneurship’, which encourages experimentation, cross-functional collaboration, and the exploration of unconventional solutions capable of redefining how future vehicles are designed and experienced. Bringing vine branches into a vehicle interior required teams to rethink traditional processes, challenge industrial norms, and build entirely new connections between agricultural sustainability and mobility.

For Citroën’s design and innovation teams, this is both a step forward and culturally symbolic. Unlike conventional interior materials designed for perfect uniformity, each component has subtle variations. These are created during the mechanical grinding process – a method that breaks down vine branches into very fine natural fibers known as micronized fibers.

Beyond visual identity, it reflects a broader ambition within Stellantis: rethinking how materials are sourced, designed, and experienced through a more circular approach to mobility. Each part is unique; no two parts are exactly alike. The visible imperfection becomes part of the design language.  

The result is a surface that feels alive – organic, textured, and unique – contributing to the future of mobility from France to the world.

The journey of vine-branch fibers inside the Citroën C5 Aircross began with a simple yet ambitious question from the design team in 2017: could a more natural and sustainable material become part of the automotive experience? 

From there, Stellantis Research & Development teams helped transform an unconventional idea into an industrial reality. Working alongside a startup specialized in vineyard fibers, engineers explored how agricultural waste, traditionally burned after pruning, could be integrated into a vehicle while still meeting the automotive industry’s strict technical and safety requirements. The project became a collaborative dialogue between design and engineering teams, combining technical expertise with creative experimentation to make sustainability both visible and emotionally engaging.

Developing a new composite material based on natural fibers presented major challenges in durability, appearance, and production consistency, but the project reflected Stellantis’ culture of experimentation and innovation. 

Supported by programs that encourage intrapreneurship thinking and unconventional solutions, teams embraced the opportunity to create a new sensory experience for drivers and passengers while advancing more circular approaches to mobility. 

For Citroën’s Colors & Materials design team, the challenge was to integrate a green material into a vehicle interior while making it visible and uniquely desirable. 

From the beginning, designers saw vine branches not as waste, but as a creative resource capable of bringing texture and authenticity into the passenger experience. Working alongside engineers, the team carefully developed the material’s color, grain, and visible fibers so the natural origin remained intentionally perceptible inside the Citroën C5 Aircross. Rather than hiding imperfections, the design embraces them, allowing each component to have subtle variations that make the material feel alive and unique. 

The project reflects a broader evolution in automotive interior design, in which sustainability becomes part of the vehicle’s emotional and sensory experience. For Citroën, the material becomes more than a sustainable solution. It is a way to express a design identity shaped by creativity, accessibility, and evolving customer expectations around responsible mobility.

The ambition is to make sustainability an accessible and meaningful experience for everyone.

For the Purchasing team, the challenge went far beyond sourcing a new material. It meant building confidence around an entirely new value chain connecting vineyards, startups, suppliers, and automotive production. 

Vine branches are not a conventional industrial resource, and transforming them into a reliable automotive material required close collaboration across multiple partners, from quality control and logistics to long-term production consistency. Purchasing teams worked alongside suppliers, finance teams, and technical experts to align expectations and develop shared standards for an unfamiliar material ecosystem. The project required an intrapreneurial approach across internal and external teams and partners, creating new ways of working between agriculture, suppliers, and automotive production.

In a project like this, purchasing serves as a strategic bridge across sustainability, innovation, and industrial reality. The project also reflects a broader shift inside Stellantis toward rethinking how future materials are sourced, developed, and scaled through long-term partnerships built on trust and shared commitment.

For Citroën’s Product Management teams, the vine fiber material becomes a visible expression of the brand’s identity and vision for future mobility. 

Unlike many sustainable solutions hidden beneath the surface, natural fibers remain intentionally visible inside the vehicle, allowing customers to immediately recognize the material’s origin and story. The project reflects Citroën’s approach to accessible, human-centered design, in which sustainability is integrated directly into the customer experience. The subtle variations created by natural fibers also introduce a new interpretation of value in automotive interiors: one where authenticity, recyclability, and uniqueness become desirable qualities in themselves.

By transforming an agricultural byproduct into a recognizable design element, the project demonstrates how materials can be one of the most powerful ways for brands to tangibly communicate innovation and sustainability.