- Legendary sports seat manufacturer Recaro has filed for bankruptcy.
- The company was acquired by a private equity firm in 2020 and its collapse puts 215 jobs at risk.
- The separate aircraft seat and gaming chair divisions are unaffected by the collapse of the automotive business.
Whether it’s a hot production model for the street or a full on racer, no fast car is complete without a great sports seat. But it looks like workers at the the most famous sports seat firm in the world are about to be kicked out on their asses because Recaro has filed for bankruptcy.
The automotive division was spun off from the rest of the Recaro Group years ago and has been in the hands of investment firm, Raven Acquisitions, since 2020. Which means that the Recaro businesses responsible for making train, plane and gaming seats are unaffected by the problems in the company that supplies buckets to brands like BMW for its M cars, or Ford, for use in the S650 Mustang.
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But 215 workers at the automotive business are very much affected by the bankruptcy news and were apparently unaware that insolvency was on the cards. Those workers are represented by Germany’s IG Metall union, which says Recaro’s management has provided little in the way of updates. Wirtschafts Woche says workers at the Kircheim plant are deeply unhappy, having waived pay rises and benefits in recent years to help keep the company healthy.
Automakers who rely on Recaro will also be panicked by the news, because although they might approve three different tires for a car to safeguard against production shortages, there is no alternative supplier that can be dropped in to replace Recaro at a moment’s notice.
There are many other firms building sports seats, but it would take time for automakers to test new seats and for seat builders to sort production logistics. Until that happens, or Recaro gets back on its feet, many performance cars could only be available with stock sports chairs rather than full-on buckets.
Recaro was born in 1906 when Wilhelm Reutter began building car bodies and interiors, later changing its name to Reutter Karosserie and then being bought out by one of its customers, Porsche. Porsche separated the car body and interior divisions, keeping the bodywork arm for itself, while the remainder became Recaro and started building sports seats for Porsche and the aftermarket community. Recaro then began building aircraft seats in the early 1970s and by the late ’90s the firm had been split into separate companies.
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