Vehicle door assemblies with door armrests having fore-aft slotting for improved comfort and reduced complexity

A motor vehicle, comprising:

• a vehicle body including a passenger cabin;
• a plurality of road wheels attached to the vehicle body;
• a prime mover attached to the vehicle body and configured to drive at least one of the road wheels to thereby propel the motor vehicle;
• and
• a vehicle door assembly including a load-bearing door support panel movably attached to the vehicle body, an interior trim panel mounted on an inboard side of the door support panel, and a door armrest assembly mounted onto an armrest base of the interior trim panel inside the passenger cabin, the door armrest assembly including:
• an armrest substrate including an elastic substrate body with an elongated substrate slot defined through the substrate body, the substrate slot extending along a fore-aft length of the armrest substrate such that the armrest substrate elastically deforms when the armrest assembly is subjected to vertical loading conditions;
• a compressible pad adhered to the armrest substrate and covering the substrate body and the substrate slot;
• and
• a flexible outer skin laminated onto and covering the compressible pad.

A method of manufacturing a vehicle armrest assembly for a motor vehicle, the motor vehicle having a passenger cabin with an interior surface, the method comprising:

• forming an armrest substrate configured to attach to the interior surface inside the passenger cabin of the motor vehicle, the armrest substrate including an elastic substrate body with an elongated substrate slot defined through the substrate body and extending along a fore-aft length of the armrest substrate such that the armrest substrate elastically deforms when the vehicle armrest assembly is subjected to vertical loading conditions;
• mounting a compressible pad onto the armrest substrate such that the compressible pad covers the substrate body and the substrate slot;
• and
• mounting a flexible outer skin onto the compressible pad such that the outer skin covers the compressible pad and conceals the armrest substrate.