Automotive vehicle with expandable underseat storage compartment

An automotive vehicle having an expandable underseat storage compartment, comprising;

• a floor and at least one row of rear seats;
• an elongated seat support member that extends upwardly from the floor of the vehicle and supports the row of rear seats, the elongated seat support member having a middle portion that extends laterally across the vehicle and right and left end pedestals that extend longitudinally forward from right and left ends of the middle portion;
• right and left bracket plates disposed adjacent outer walls of the right and left end pedestals, the right and left bracket plates fixedly attached to one or both of the vehicle floor and respective ones of the right and left end pedestals of the elongated seat support member;
• a front panel assembly extending laterally across the vehicle in front of the right and left end pedestals and rotatably coupled to the right and left bracket plates;
• the elongated seat support member, the right and left bracket plates and the front panel assembly defining a storage area of the storage compartment wherein the middle portion of the elongated seat support member defines a rear side of the storage compartment, the right and left end pedestals and the right and left bracket plates define right and left sides of the storage compartment and the front panel assembly defines a front side of the storage compartment;
• the front panel assembly movable between an extended position and a retracted position wherein when the front panel assembly is in the extended position the storage area of the storage compartment is larger than when the front panel assembly is in the retracted position, the front panel assembly having a primary panel and a secondary panel hingedly attached to each other along respective lateral edges
• wherein when the front panel assembly is in the retracted position the primary and secondary panels lay against each other in a vertical position with the hingedly attached lateral edges of the primary and secondary panels being upper lateral edges of the primary and secondary panels and the primary and secondary panels are adjacent front edges of the right and left end pedestals of the elongated seat support member and the vertical primary and secondary panels define the front side of the storage compartment with the storage space defined by the primary panel and the elongated seat support member;
• and
• when the front panel assembly is moved to the extended position, the primary panel is rotated forwardly and downwardly and extends forwardly from the right and left end pedestals and the secondary panel is rotated forwardly and upwardly so that it extends vertically upwardly from the primary panel wherein the vertical secondary panel when the front panel assembly is in the extended positioned is spaced forwardly from a position of the vertical primary and second panels when the front panel assembly is in the retracted position and the storage space is defined by the vertical secondary panel, the right and left bracket plates and the elongated seat support member.