Well I guess some marketing materials and configurations have it and others don’t. Plenty of it out there does refer to it as bench seats, even if this particular one doesn’t. Maybe it’s a regional thing.

Look up the 2026 Suburban. They refer to 1st, 2nd, and 3rd row “bench”. Also used for other GM vehicles.

Ford uses it for some of their vehicles (e.g. Explorer) but oddly not for others.

Interesting, because in vehicles that offer (e.g. 2nd row) captains and these, manufacturers consistently refer to this option as “bench”. And I think they would pass as “bench” for most people, and most of the things that they would want out of it, even if they aren’t the same as the older style.

Irrespective of nomenclature, these type of seats should be OK in the front row then, yes? Yet I can’t think of any new vehicles that have them.

So they have bucket / captain seats in the back?

They are common (if not standard) in 2nd and 3rd row seating.

I get a difference in frontal impacts, but a number of people have specifically cited side impacts.