What Is Nappa Leather in a Car?

Few automotive upholstery options can top this material for softness and durability.

Kyle Edward | 

Jun 26, 2023 | 2 min read

Genesis

Nappa leather is an upscale option in many luxury-car interiors — it's relatively easy to dye, shape, and clean, and it's also exceptionally soft. It has a reputation for being resilient while showing minimal wear. But what is nappa leather? And how is it different from other kinds of leather?

BMW

What it means to call a material nappa leather

Nappa is a type of full-grain leather made from the hides of various herd animals. Oftentimes, manufacturers prefer to use the hides of animals yet to reach maturity, such as calves and kid goats, when making this material, as younger animals tend to have finer-grained skin than older animals.

What sets nappa apart, however, is its tanning process, which was perfected in the 19th century by an enterprising leatherworker named Emanuel Manasse while he was working for the Sawyer Tanning Company in Napa, California — whence the leather gets its name. The process involves using chromium or aluminum sulfate (both salts) to treat the hide for production, leaving the material very soft.

BMW

What makes full-grain leather desirable?

A full-grain leather consists of the outermost part of an animal's skin — the bit that provides protection against the elements as well as scratches. Once divested of its thin layer of hair, this cut shows off the animal's natural skin texture, and its densely packed fibers make it resistant to wear and tear.

In leather production, manufacturers cut the full grain away from the corium — an underlayer of skin that provides cushioning between the grain and flesh. The corium also becomes leather, called split grain, but it's not as prized as its full-grain counterpart. Sliced as it is from the top layer of hide, split-grain leather doesn't show the animal's natural texture — manufacturers have to add that after the fact. The split grain of corium leather is also thinner and weaker than full-grain leather, lacking its abrasion resistance and moisture-retaining qualities.

BMW

Which vehicles offer nappa leather?

In terms of automobiles, you can often find nappa leather wrapping the seats, steering wheels, and dashboards of high-end models from luxury brands such as BMW, Cadillac, Genesis, and more. It's the top seat-material choice on the BMW 5 Series, for instance, costing about $1,000 more than the automaker's Dakota leather option and about $2,500 more than the base SensaTec (leatherette) interior.

In recent years, nappa leather has made its way into more mainstream vehicles, such as the Kia Telluride and Mazda CX-9. You may have to choose the top interior level to get it, though.

Kyle Edward

Kyle Edward has written about the auto industry since 2018 and got his start through an automotive YouTube channel. Today, Kyle writes for popular online magazines and covers everything from news to reviews and tech. He has a love for everything Porsche and spends his free time filming car reviews and traveling to exciting driving destinations.