The market for the long-popular seat heater that used to be primarily part of the aftermarket luxury upsell, appears poised for a rebound -- and for cars and trucks and SUVS and Jeeps of all kinds.

The question is timely because it's the middle of winter -- and, it's a question that was just asked and will appear in February's Restyling magazine "Interiors" article. Following, is what some manufacturers shared. 

“Many more car buyers and owners are interested in adding seat heaters to their vehicles than ever before,” according to Nathan Mades, product manager for Troy, Mich.-based Check Corp.Heated Seats, who is “forecasting strong growth [for seat heating units] for 2012.”

Mades, among a number of representatives of other major seat heater suppliers to the aftermarket, notes that pent up demand for high-quality and more broadly featured products than in recent years is driving activity in this changing market.

Scott Wolin, business development/marketing/sales for Pecca Leather Inc., of Downey, Calif., is another who is feeling notably more optimistic heading into 2012.

“I see good growth for seat heaters in 2012 for a number of reasons,” he says. “The market for car sales will be vastly improved and seat heaters are a must-have feature for most customers.”

Additionally, Wolin notes that rear-seat installations are catching on and sales of new vehicles with factory cloth upholstery is on the rise in the marketplace.

Steven Koyama, president and CEO of Vancouver, B.C.-based Pacific Restyling Products, also feels a growing optimism about the market for aftermarket seat heating systems, if for a slightly more calculated reason. Despite his belief that consumer confidence will continue to struggle this year, “auto manufacturers are currently driving sales with incentive-laden pricing,” he says. That demand, as manufactured as it may be, will continue to prop up sales of new vehicles and create opportunities for restylers to up-sell vehicles on new-car lots.

“We expect sales for new vehicles to mirror that of 2011, but we are seeing comfort accessories such as seat heaters being purchased to provide that touch of luxury until the economy turns around,” he adds, drawing a comparison to the housing market. Similar to that other struggling market, where new housing starts are slow but renovations to existing homes and sales of new appliances are increasing, so too are upgrades to used vehicles on the rise.