Americans - unlike their cars - are getting wider every year. Unfortunately, carmakers aren’t keeping up with the nation’s spreading waistline, especially when it comes to their seats, and passengers are starting to feel the pinch. That’s why at this year’s Detroit Auto Show carmakers were showing concepts fitted with seats that are more like chairs rather than the sports-buckets, which dominate most production cars today.

A recent survey comparing the seat widths of several used cars with those of vehicles on display in Detroit revealed that much hasn’t changed over the past decade, reports The Detroit News. Seat widths and the thickness of their padding remains much the same now as it was back in 1999, averaging around 20in in width.

Most carmakers today design seats with outside suppliers, one of the largest of which is Johnson Controls, which has a laboratory dedicated to the study of the human form. One of the most recent innovations developed by the lab is a new foam, which is thinner than previous designs, but provides more support. The seats are “designed both to be more forgiving and comfortable for the larger occupant,” a spokesman explained.

This is all well and good for mainstream models but if you’re in the market for an exotic and your body isn’t in the best shape it could be, you’d better be prepared for a tight squeeze. Most of the cars from makes such as Lamborghini, Maserati and Ferrari do offer varying seats sizes. Unfortunately, the largest of these stretches just 18in across.

OMG

Maybe the Americans should consider shedding a few pounds, instead of the car makers unaccommodating them with wider seats!

Huummmmm isnt that un-safe, I mean if an average sized person drives a car with these bigger seats wont they be thrown out of them alot easyer than the smaller seats????

Or to be sneaky all car manufacturers should make the seats more narrow. This would force the customers to lose some weight.

I heard the same about Boeing, who spent a lot of times and million $ making its seats larger, without reducing the size of the corridors in the plane...

This really is a pity...

We soon will see the bench back in front of our cars!

LOL

Maybe time to loose some dead weight...

This sorta reminds of when Montoya made the transition to F1 from CART...

He told the Williams boys that the cockpit is too small for him...

To which they replied: "No, you're too big, lose weight." Where after that Monty had to hit the gym and lose a few pounds to fit!