Striker concealment mechanism and method

A method of selectively concealing a striker on a vehicle, comprising:

• providing a closure in a closed position and a latched configuration relative to a vehicle opening;
• unlatching the closure and opening the closure relative to the vehicle opening;
• and
• actuating a striker cover to move into a first position substantially concealing the striker in response to the opening of the closure, wherein during movement of the closure towards the vehicle opening, the striker cover moves towards an open position prior to the arrival of a latch assembly.

A vehicle closure assembly comprising:

• a closure movable relative to a vehicle opening between a closed position substantially preventing passage into the vehicle opening and an open position substantially allowing passage into the vehicle opening;
• a latching assembly including a latch coupled to one of a threshold of the vehicle opening and the closure, and a striker coupled to the other of the threshold of the vehicle opening and the closure, the striker and the latch being engageable to secure the closure in the closed position;
• a striker cover movable relative to the striker between a concealing position in which the striker is substantially concealed from the latch, and an exposing position in which the striker is substantially exposed to the latch;
• an actuator coupled to the striker cover and operable to move the striker cover to at least one of the concealing position and the exposing position from the other of the concealing position and the exposing position in response to movement of the closure relative to the vehicle opening,
• wherein the actuator includes at least one cable coupled to the striker cover.