Famous Car Seat Maker Recaro Files For Bankruptcy: Report

Recaro Automotive, the renowned car seat manufacturer, has filed for bankruptcy, according to a new report by Autocar UK. The German manufacturer supplies seats to major brands like BMW, Ford, Volkswagen and more.

The Recaro brand is also known for aircraft, train, gaming, and child seats. These products are manufactured by Recaro Holding, which only licenses its brand to Recaro Automotive. American seat manufacturer Adient previously held this license, but sold Recaro Automotive to private investment firm Raven Acquisitions four years ago.

The car seat manufacturer, Recaro Automotive, has received approval for self-administration from Esslingen District Court in Germany, near Recaro’s headquarters. This means that Recaro will remain in charge of the bankruptcy. The British publication also reports, citing local sources, that employees were not informed about the bankruptcy filing. 

Furthermore, the German metalworker’s trade union, IG Metall, has said that there is no clarity on what will happen to the 215 employees at Recaro’s factory in Germany. The union has also reportedly demanded transparency from Recaro.

Recaro was originally established in 1906 as Stuttgarter Carosserie und Radfabrik and was known for building bodies for manufacturers like Daimler-Benz, Volkswagen and Porsche. Notably, Recaro built the body for the iconic Porsche 356. 

More recently, Recaro’s seats can be seen in high-performance cars like Aston Martin Valkyrie, Volkswagen Golf GTI Clubsport and even not-so-high-performance cars like the Ineos Grenadier.