GM Wants To Turn Pickup Tailgates Into Proper Seats

A New Take on Tailgating

Pickup trucks are built to be utilitarian, so automakers try to get creative. Rivian, for example, once offered an optional Camp Kitchen that could slide out of the R1T’s Gear Tunnel. General Motors, meanwhile, is exploring a simpler creation: a seat built into the tailgate.

First spotted byGM Authority, the patent application was filed with the United States Patent and Trademark Office on January 13, 2025, and published on July 16, 2026, under publication number US 2026/0200380 A1. For longtime pickup owners, this may sound a little absurd, given that tailgates have long be...