We are going to talk about the everyday driving experience and its connection to fragrance. The audience is not expert racing drivers or owners of expensive car models but typical car users all around the world. In case you missed it, a 2025 forecast by Forbes expects the market for car fragrances to reach $3.2 billion by 2032. We are rapidly getting rid of unappealing synthetic fresheners, and overpowering citrus and pine smells due to a growing interest in new perfumed products. The ‘car scent’ is no longer motivated by the idea to remove a bad smell, as the new automobile fragrance is meant to enhance our lifestyle. Our cars now display refined scents, developed under the same principles of fine perfumery. By the way, for the first time, at Exsence this year, I spotted a stand of a niche brand specialized in car scents. As an everyday luxury, fragrance is taking over a new space: our car.

There is a new car accessory. It is fine perfumery.

There is something odd happening in the car space. One can notice two opposite directions being taken by luxury car producers on the one hand and by perfume houses on the other. One movement is stepping ‘out’ while the other is going ‘in’.

Most of the prestige car companies are stepping outside of the car and are creating personal fragrances with the idea of capturing the essence of their brand while making it affordable to a wider audience. The signature fragrances of Bentley, Porsche, and Jaguar with their prominent notes of amber, leather and woods give an accessible experience of owning a dream prestige vehicle. They proceed in the same way as fashion designer houses did to launch their mainstream perfumes before their most recent high-end ‘private collections’ releases. As an illustration, ‘Momentum Unbreakable’ launched by Bentley in 2021 features a powerful sandalwood and a smoky vetiver as an adaptation of the car brand’s elegance. With perfume, the idea of the car company is to step into the personal life dimension and no longer be constrained to the space behind the wheel.

At the beginning of 2024, Mercedes-Benz launched a perfume trilogy, Land, Sea and Air. The perfumes are a perfect demonstration of the company strategy. They act as a translation of the sustainability story; Land embodies the company vision of building passenger cars with 40% recycled materials by 2030. Sea is about repurposing waste from land or marine debris. Air conveys the message ‘all electric by 2030'. The three scents come in recycled glass bottles with aluminium caps, and their outer packaging is made of algae-derived biodegradable paper.

“This collection fills a gap for rising [consumer] consciousness about sustainability and fragrance,” says Crystal Wood, CMO and COO of The PCA Group of Companies.

The licensing company of Mercedes-Benz scents, INCC Parfums, has a high ambition; 12'000 retail stores, 1st year sales of 25M euros, 234'000 bottles sold in three key market zones:

“Our top market is the U.S., then Korea and then Europe” tells us Magalie Chauvin, International marketing director at INCC Parfums.

It is interesting to point out that Mercedes-Benz has also launched a ‘perfume flacon atomiser’ with a new perfume release system to be placed inside the car. It acts as a mood ‘enhancer’ for the driver. The four moods, ‘Sports,’ ‘Gingerly,’ ‘Night Life,’ and ‘Freeside’ have different top-heart-base notes, but all the scents keep the main idea of ‘step inside and feel an instant affinity to the vehicle's character.’ In spite of the fact that they ‘hold on tight’ to the passenger compartment, those scents are not ‘personal’ fragrances as such; they do not take the individual or home scent preference into the car. They do not therefore belong to the approach taken by perfume houses to adapt their current personal perfume collection for the car as we will see later on.

In October 2024, BMW exhibited its first perfume collection at the TFWA exhibition in Cannes.

Developed by the BMW global licensing partner Mavive, the two fragrances, ‘Amberness’ and ‘Bergamood’ are tapping into the EmotiWaves™ technology, designed to trigger positive emotional responses and developed by Firmenich’s Conscious Perfumery program.

A Fragrance Wellness Break. A Neuroscience Pit Stop.

Here, I must pause and stop the car for a brief moment. I have a basic question: can a fragrance have a positive impact on my driving, and make me feel calmer, oblivious to the stress of the traffic? It is important to tackle the neuroscience topic albeit in a succinct way. For that, I decided to ask Anna D’Errico, a well-known neuroscientist*, a published author, specialized in smell, and olfaction. She is a neurobiologist by training, with a PhD in neuroscience, and has worked at the SISSA-ISAS (Trieste, Italy) and at the Max-Planck Institute of Biophysics in Frankfurt. The fact that she conducts regular master classes at the Art & Olfaction in Los Angeles was an additional reason to choose Anna as the ‘KOL’ for the article. She explains that after twenty years of research, science is not yet able to fully explain how the brain turns a given perfumed molecule into the actual perception of it as a “perfume”. AI has increased the capacity to calculate but has not solved the challenging question.

‘Olfaction is such a complex matter that the scientific community still has not solved the mystery of codes carrying scent’ explains Anna D’Errico, PhD in neuroscience.

Instead, customer research data can confirm the physiological impact of a scent. The positive influence of fragrances one likes, taps into his emotional feeling. Perfumery can create a soothing or energising feeling depending on one’s specific experience and associations. Returning to my question, if by instance, vanilla usually calms me down and I choose to smell it while driving, the scent can help generate a peaceful feeling. It can certainly do no harm.

*her website is called ‘the neurosmellist’.

My Car. My own personal fragrance experience.

In contrast, most of the major perfume houses are stepping inside the car and launching car scents. In opposition to the car makers, the direction taken by the perfume producers is a daring ‘out of home’ and an exciting ‘into the car’. Here, the fragrance serves the purpose of a sophisticated interior design experience, the only difference being it resides in the smaller and enclosed space of the vehicle. Our desire of a lifestyle experience has engulfed our everyday driving time and car space. Perfume brands have been quick to respond to our craving and adapt their personal perfume collections for the automobile; thereby leaving the individual free to expand his own personal fragrance experience.

The new generation of car scents is not functional, purely delectable, sustainable and affordable to some extent. Both large commercial names as well as luxury houses have ventured into this new car space with diverse sleek designs, product options and price points.

The experience of fine fragrances in the car space.

Jo Malone, Rituals, MEMO, Diptyque, and Acqua di Parma are examples of brands which have developed car fragrances for the driving experience.

As a first ‘driving’ racer, Jo Malone launched a collection of car diffusers just before Christmas back in 2020. The brand chose three of its iconic signature scents, namely, Wood Sage & Sea Salt, Lime Basil & Mandarin, and Peony & Blush Suede. Since then, the choice of car perfumes has greatly expanded given their popularity.

Rituals named its collection launched in 2021 ‘life is a journey’ and took its main Rituals scents into Car rituals; Sakura, Karma, Mehr, Hammam, and ‘Homme’ (Man is even belonging to the SAS airline eurobonus programme). Today, the car range also features scents from the home scent collection and in addition to the cartridge and its holder, there is a car perfume spray, and even car wipes.

With its concept of travelling experiences, the high-end MEMO brand naturally embraced the car fragrance space. The brand designed and launched three car scents, Irish Leather, African Leather, and Marfa. Best selling perfumes, with a driving design for an exciting experience.

A Beautiful Car Fragrance. A Delightful Indulgence.

Diptyque’s origins and know how lie in perfuming the home beautifully. Evidently, the brand stepped into a new great habitat, the car. It has developed six of its scents into car fragrances; Mimosa, Baies, Roses, Fleur d’Oranger, 34 Boulevard Saint Germain, and Figuier. The design of the diffuser is very much the style of ‘Diptyque.’

Car Fragrance At a Far Distance. Performance by Acqua di Parma.

As an objective observer, I cannot help but highlight Acqua di Parma’s position. To place oneself at the top of the ‘car fragrance’ market for an affluent target, that is the decision made by the luxury house. ‘Andiamo’ (let us go), the name of the collection, is about being relentlessly consistent in all the brand ‘ingredients’ for the creation of an element of ‘beauty.’ Innovation is a key component as the circular cover case is by the award-winning designer duo GamFratesi. Beyond such an innovative design, Acqua di Parma tapped into the best Italian craftsmanship and selected the finest Pelle Frau® leather fabrics and colours. From the initial scents, the car collection now has nine fragrances; Luce di Colonia, Buongiorno, Aperitivo in Terrazza, La Casa Sul Lago, Oh l’Amor, Mirto di Panarea, Fico di Amalfi, Arancia di Capri, and Milano. The Acqua di Parma fragrance ‘Milano’ is exclusively made for Poltrona Frau. The collection comes in twenty-two permanent shades but also features, like fashion, spring, or winter limited editions.

Opulence, elegance, and persistence, in a car fragrance.

Acqua di Parma took an ‘elevation’ position compared to the other brands, with a price range between twenty euro for the most affordable reference up to around 150 euros. Opulence is the word that comes to mind when checking the price of the Acqua di Parma car-set diffuser fragrance; depending on the choice of calve leather or ostrich, the price range starts at around two hundred euro up to seven hundred euro. Well, sales data prove how numerous we are to indulge in such car extravagance; the car fragrance is the most sold item on the Acqua di Parma online platform. Elegance is taken for granted given the brand DNA and then comes the challenge of persistence. This is a key point out of my discussion with Laszlo Etro, Account Manager Fine Fragrance at dsm-firmenich, who has overseen the development of multiple car scents for Acqua di Parma. Laszlo explains sharply the technical challenge of the new solid formulas; less solvents, no alcohol ingredients, a silicon base to best capture essential oils for when the scent is released via the car air ventilation. The dsm-firmenich Centre of excellence in London is continuously studying how to improve the fragrance performance of such polymer-based “pearls”, while the in-house evaluators will strive to achieve the closest result of the car scent to the personal fragrance. Laszlo tells me how he frequently conducts his own ‘test and drive’ sessions in his own car until he thinks that the conclusion of the fragrance is reached.

Laszlo expects major technological innovation in the future on the car scent capabilities front, this is like a new ‘car frontier’. There will also be an increased lifestyle range in the perfume collections with limited-edition, scent collaborations…

Driving is no Longer About Going Places. Taking the car for a spin is for smelling a fragrance, not igniting the engine.

That is a funny line but seriously this is how it works: the solid perfume cartridge (original and refill) is placed into the car diffuser case before clicking or attaching it to the air ventilation system. The diffuser uses then the car natural air flow to release fragrance; for a higher diffusion, the air conditioning can be activated. Scents last around three months once opened. The perfume cartridges are interchangeable at any time so depending on one’s mood, choice of personal fragrance that day, the trip destination, and composition of passengers, one can choose the favourite car scent from the collection.

So Many New Car Models. Automobile and Scented.

Now we know that gone are the days of unappealing synthetic fresheners to remove bad smells from the car; new ‘car model scents’ are released at a fast pace given our great interest for a refined and perfumed lifestyle experience. No longer motivated by the idea to remove a bad smell, the new automobile fragrance is meant to enhance our lifestyle. Will this ‘out of home’ and ‘in my car’ movement be permanent? Or will it take a turn, and drive away? I am tempted to bet that this current trend will be persistent. Perfume brands will have a scent designed for the car as a staple item in their collection.

Meanwhile the car companies will continue to step out of the car just as fashion houses are designing fragrance collections. Car models and car fragrances will follow two separate design racing tracks with a common racing performance objective. To be the best.

In My Car, Fragrance is a Star.

I assume that Ringo Starr (the Beatles’ former drummer) was inspired when writing this single ‘in my car’ in 1983 by the positive vibes of driving. The theme is freedom, a feeling of liberation and exhilaration. I have decided to shuffle the lyrics of the song and write a piece with fragrance as the theme:

Fragrance does make a difference
Whatever the distance
I don't care how far.

A beautiful fragrance

is a delightful indulgence

Doesn't matter where we are.

I enjoy a free place.

With the perfume I want to experience

In my driving space

When I'm in my car.