an apparatus for occupant detection in a vehicle , including a dielectric substrate with a reference plane , and a plurality of electrodes forming a capacitive array on said dielectric substrate and coupled to said reference plane . each of the plurality of electrodes being formed of a conductive polymer thick film ink . the plurality of electrodes and the reference plane are connected to a controller that detects a change in capacitance between the plurality of electrodes and the reference plane , and identifies the presence and type of occupant in the vehicle .