Recaro Automotive GmbH (originally Stuttgarter Karosseriewerk Reutter & Co,) is a German seating manufacturer based in Stuttgart, Germany. Its parent Recaro Holding GmbH owns the Recaro Group, as well as the independently operating companies Recaro Aircraft Seating (aircraft seats) based in Schwäbisch Hall, and Recaro eGaming (gaming seats). The business areas of Recaro Automotive Seating, and Recaro Kids, are operated by licensees.
Recaro's seat competitors are Sparco, Bride, Expliseat, MOMO Motorsports, Corbeau, Scheel-Mann, Racetech, Bruam Racing, OMP, Steelcase, Playseat, Backforce, Cobra, Graco, and Nuna.
History
The company was founded on 1 October 1906 by Wilhelm Reutter as Stuttgarter Carosserie und Radfabrik. In 1909, Wilhelm's brother Albert Reutter joined the company as a partner and commercial manager. There was a change of name to "Stuttgarter Karosseriewerk Reutter & Co.", owner W. & A. Reutter. On 24 July 1909, the patent for a "folding roof with canopy, especially for motor vehicles" was filed. This so-called "reform body" was a constructive forerunner of the convertible. The result was bodies including interior fittings for almost all well-known manufacturers of the time, in particular Daimler-Benz (and predecessor) as well as the Chemnitzer Wanderer-Werke. In 1919, the gradual conversion from individual production to mass production took place. During the 1920s, the company became known for building limousine bodies. 1930, Reutter entered into a partnership with the Porsche design office. From 1931, Reutter manufactured the first bodies for Porsche types 7, 8, 9, 12 and 32. In 1936, after the capacity limit of the main plant in Augustenstraße had been reached, a second plant was built in Zuffenhausen. A year later in 1937, Reutter received the order to produce the Volkswagen prototype pre-series VW 303. A couple years later in 1939, the company had around 900 employees. In 1944, the main factory in Augustenstraße was severely damaged in an air raid. The workforce shrunk to 94 people. In 1949, Porsche began engaging the company to build their Porsche 356 sports car bodies.
In 1953, the company registered a patent for "a hinge fitting for upholstered seats with adjustable backrest", the Reutter reclining seat fitting. Following completion of the 5,000th body for the Porsche 356 in 1954, the "Stuttgarter Karosseriewerk Reutter & Co. GmbH" celebrated its 50th anniversary in 1956. That same year the 10,000th Porsche body left the factory, which by then employed 900 people.
In 1963, Porsche acquired the car body factory. What remained was renamed to Recaro (REutter-CAROsserie), and focus was shifted to high-end seats. The company began producing both OEM seats for Porsche, and a separate line of after-market seats. In 1965, Recaro presented the first Recaro sports seat at the Frankfurt Motor Show. In 1967, Recaro started the construction of a production facility in Schwäbisch Hall. Economic problems led the Reutter family to sell the business in 1969 to three companies, Keiper, Huber & Wagner, and Metzeler. In 1971, Recaro produced the first aircraft seats under the name Recaro Aircomfort under license of the American manufacturer Hardman Aerospace. Shortly afterwards, Recaro launched its first aircraft seat, the so-called Recaro 2020, and sold it to Lufthansa, among others. In 1974, the first motorsport seat was based on the Recaro professional full shell seat. In 1983, Keiper purchased all shares in Recaro and established Keiper Recaro in Kirchheim.
After restructuring in 1997, Recaro became an independent company again. This resulted in four legally and economically independent companies, including Recaro Aircraft Seating GmbH & Co. KG. A year later, in 1998, Recaro introduced the first ever-growing child seat. In 2004, Recaro bought the traditional company "Storchenmühle", which concentrates on the production of child seats. In 2006, the company celebrated its 100th anniversary. In June 2011, Recaro sold the automotive seating division to Johnson Controls, a U.S.-based automotive supplier. The acquisition granted Johnson Controls to be a licensee of the RECARO brand in the automotive industry, as well as the exclusive, unlimited right to market Recaro seats for cars and commercial vehicles. All other brand companies now belong to RECARO Group Stuttgart, which is the brand owner and licensor of RECARO Automotive Seating.www.recaro-automotive.com/us Recaro Automotive Seating.
In 2013, after restructuring, Recaro Holding relocated its registered office back to Stuttgart, Germany. Pressemitteilung After it spun off from Johnson Controls in 2016, Recaro Automotive Seating is now owned by automotive supplier Adient. The Recaro Group continues to act as licensor. In 2018, Recaro Child Safety ceased business operations (including Storchenmühle), and Recaro Holding entered into a global licensing agreement with Artsana Group, which, following the cessation of Recaro Child Safety's operations (including Storchenmühle), will continue to develop, manufacture, and distribute premium child seats and strollers under the Recaro Kids brand name. Also in 2018, Recaro established a division called Recaro eGaming, which markets gaming chairs. In 2019, Recaro Gaming Seats became available for purchase.
In July 2024, news reports surfaced that Recaro Automotive GmbH (Germany) had filed for bankruptcy and was subsequently approved for self-administration by a German court. The insolvency proceedings affect RECARO Automotive GmbH (Germany) exclusively and not any of the other automotive or commercial vehicle units such as RECARO Automotive North America, RECARO Automotive Japan and Joint Ventures in China. The bankruptcy also doesn't affect the aircraft, train and gaming chair divisions.
Recaro Group The Recaro Group comprises the divisions Recaro Aircraft Seating, Recaro eGaming, Recaro Rail and Recaro Holding itself.
Recaro Holding Recaro Holding acts as the holding company of the Recaro Group and comprises the areas of strategy, finance, human resources and law as well as design, brand, communication and innovation management. The headquarter of Recaro Holding has been located in Stuttgart since May 2013.
Recaro Aircraft Seating Recaro Aircraft Seating is a developer and manufacturer of aircraft seats. The Aircraft seat production began in 1971 under license under the name Recaro Aircomfort, initially in Stuttgart. From 1983 the entire production takes place in Schwäbisch Hall. Recaro Aircraft Seating GmbH & Co. KG also has production plants in Poland, South Africa, the USA and China in addition to its headquarter in Schwäbisch Hall. Recaro is the producer of the Recaro CL3710, one of the most renowned and popular long haul economy-class seat used on more than 50 airlines worldwide.
In 2004, Recaro Aircraft Seating took over the majority of AAT Composites in South Africa - a company that manufactures products for the aviation industry from fibre composites.
Recaro Gaming Since the beginning of 2018, Recaro Gaming GmbH & Co. KG, based in Stuttgart, has been part of the Recaro Group. The company presented the first gaming seat prototype at Gamescom 2018 in Cologne.
Recaro as Licensor
Recaro Automotive Seating The Recaro Automotive Seating division, a manufacturer of car seats, was sold to US automotive supplier Johnson Controls in 2011. In 2016, Recaro Automotive Seating evolved to ownership under automotive supplier Adient following the spin-off from Johnson Controls. In 2020, Adient sold RECARO Automotive to Raven Acquisitions LLC and is headquartered in Clinton Township, MI, USA.
Recaro Kids The Recaro Child Safety GmbH & Co. KG, headquartered in Marktleugast, which merged with the long-established Storchenmühle company in 2004, ended its business operations on 31 July 2018. At the end of October 2018, Recaro Holding and Artsana Group signed a global license agreement. The agreement covers the development, production and distribution of premium children's seats and prams under the Recaro Kids brand name.
Products
Long-haul business class seating
R7 First introduced in 2020 as CL6720, it is a fully-flat mini-suite form business class seating designed for long-haul wide-body aircraft.
On January 10, 2023, it entered commercial service with an Airbus A350-900 operated by Air China on the Beijing-Chengdu route.
CL6710 First introduced in 2014, it is a fully-flat business class seating designed for long-haul wide-body aircraft.
It entered commercial service with Boeing 787 Dreamliners of El Al Israel Airlines.
Premium economy class seating
R4 First introduced on the AIX 2023 as PL3810, the R4 is the latest premium economy class seating product. It is 10% lighter compared to its predecessor PL3530 by using composite materials.
In 2026, All Nippon Airways will launch the R4 with their latest batch of Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners.
Long-haul economy class seating
R3
First introduced on the AIX 2022, the RECARO R3 is the latest generation of the company's long-haul economy seating product. It has a 10% or 1.9 kg weight reduction compared to the previous generation product CL3710.
On November 6, 2024, IAG subsidiary Iberia launched the R3 on their A321XLR.
CL3710
Launched in 2014 with KLM Royal Dutch Airlines on their Boeing 777-300ER. It weighs less than 12 kg per seat.
Customers +Low-cost EconomyShort-haul EconomyLong-haul EconomyPremium EconomyShort-haul BusinessLong-haul BusinessR1SL3510R2BL3530BL3520BL3510R3CL3710CL3620CL3520CL3510R4PL3530R5CL5710CL4400R7CL6710AeroflotA320 A321A320 A321AF-KLM GroupA20N A21N B738 E190 E295A318 A320A20N A21N B738 E190 E295A332 B772 B77W B789 B78XairBalticBCS3Air China GroupA320 B38MB738A359A359A320 B38MB38MA359Air EuropaB789Air IndiaA359 A35K B789A35K B77W B788 B789B77W B788 B789Air PremiaB789B789Alaska AirlinesB738 B38M B39MB738 B38M B39MANA HoldingsA320 A20N A21NB789B789Atlantic AirwaysA20NAviancaB788AzulA330A330Cathay GroupA21NB773 B77WCebu PacificA21N A339China Southern HoldingsA359A333 A359A359A359CondorA20N A21NA20N A21NDelta Air LinesA359easyJet HoldingsA319 A320 A20N A21NEl AlB788 B789B788 B789B788 B789EtihadA35KEmiratesA359 A388 B77WFinnairE190E190A321A321flydubaiB38MB738Frontier AirlinesA20N A21NGOLB738 B38MGulf AirA20N A21N B789A320 A321HNA AviationA333 B789IAGA320 A20N A21NA21NA332 A333 A359 A35K B772 B77W B788 B78XA388 B788 B789A359 B789A359IndigoA20N A21NA21NJAL GroupA359JetSMARTA21NJuneyao AirlinesA20N A21NB789A20N A21NLATAMB788 B789B788 B789LOT PolishB38MB788B788B788Lufthansa GroupA319 A320 A321A333 B748A343 A359 B789B744 B748A343 A388LuxairE295Malaysia AirlinesA339MEAA21NA21NPhilippine AirlinesA320QantasA35KB789Qatar AirwaysA21NA359 A35K A388 B77L B77WA333 A359 B788SASA319 A320 A20NSichuan AirlinesA19NSingapore AirlinesA359 A388 B78XSkymarkB738SouthwestB38MSpiceJetB38MStarluxA339TAP Air PortugalA20N A21NA20N A21NA339A339Thai AirwaysA21NTibet AirlinesA19NTigerair TaiwanA20NVolarisA20N A21NWestJetB38MB789B38MWizz AirA21NWow airA20N A21N
Literature Frank Jung: Porsche 356 - made by Reutter. Delius Klasing, Bielefeld 2011, . Uta & Helmut Jung: Stuttgarter Karosseriewerk Reutter ‒ von der Reform-Karosserie zum Porsche 356. Delius Klasing, Bielefeld 2006, . Frank Jung: RECARO: Seating in Motion. Delius Klasing, 2016, .
References