Vehicle seat assembly and storage panel

1. A seat assembly for a vehicle, comprising:

a seat bottom; and

a seat back foldable between upright and generally horizontal positions relative to the seat bottom, the seat back having a forward facing backrest portion for engaging and supporting a passenger's back and a rear surface opposite the backrest portion, the rear surface having a recessed panel portion including a platform having an outer periphery and at least one sidewall bounding a portion of the platform and pivotally attached adjacent the outer periphery with at least one spring biased hinge for movement between a retracted position wherein the at least one sidewall resides within the recess of the panel portion coplanar and flush with the rear surface of the seatback and an outwardly extended position inclined relative to the platform, wherein said at least one spring biased hinge is arranged to bias said at least one sidewall to its outwardly extended position;

a locking mechanism comprising a latch mounted on said at least one sidewall and a corresponding catch positioned on said platform for releasably locking and maintaining said at least one sidewall in its retracted position; and

an actuator operably associated with said locking mechanism to unlock and release said at least one sidewall whereby said at least one sidewall is biased to its outwardly extended position to facilitate stowing objects on the platform; further including a plurality of sidewalls in operable communication with one another wherein movement of one sidewall causes conjoint movement of the remaining sidewalls between their retracted and extended positions.

2. The seat assembly of claim 1 wherein the platform has a non-skid outer surface.