man made leather.

Worked for GM for many yrs and we used to have leather seats that were a sort of leather with a plastic sprayed and bonded onto it.
Would this be the same sort of thing merc are using with their man made leather.
In the old days seats were vinyl,leather or velour.
Mercedes seem to have real leather or man made leather, i asked the dealer in chester and he didnt have a clue as to what or how its made or how they get away with it being called leather if its man made.
Any clues