Last July, we learned that Recaro Automotive GmbH had filed for bankruptcy. It was concerning to hear, but thankfully, Recaro has been rescued by an Italian firm called Proma Group.
Proma manufactures various car components including stamped vehicle body parts and seat structures. It’s saved Recaro thanks to a newly signed investment agreement, which has kicked off a “transition period”. This “Will allow for operations to continue and relaunch across Europe in January 2025,” the company states.
The plan is to keep “several employees” from Recaro’s current sales and technology departments, which will be based in Stuttgart, Germany. The manufacturing will be shifted over to Italy.
Proma Group CEO Luca Pino said: “Our investment in Recaro Automotive will strengthen our ability to deliver a premium seating product, while embracing the most cutting-edge innovations in the automotive sector.”
He added: “The Recaro name is renowned throughout the world as a benchmark of German industrial technology, and Proma Group, a symbol of Italian manufacturing excellence, is excited about the future and the quality that will be expressed in the automotive market thanks to the union of two first-class companies”.
Recaro Automotive operations over in North America and Japan “are continuing to function as usual,” Proma confirms.
Recaro seats in the Mk1 Volkswagen Golf Cabriolet
When it first filed for insolvency, Recaro Automotive blamed “significant financial difficulties due to extreme price increases in recent crisis years and the loss of a major contract,” without making clear which contract it was referring to.
Recaro was established in 1906 as a coachbuilder, in which guise it constructed bodies for various Mercedes, VW and Porsche models, including the 356. The 1960s saw it switch focus to seating, beginning to supply the Porsche 911 in 1965.
Recaro Podium seats in a Porsche 911
Its innovations include the first road-legal single-piece bucket seat, an early seat with speakers integrated into the headrest, and the first seat with side airbags able to be retrofitted to older cars. Through separate companies and licensing deals, Recaro also produces aircraft seats, gaming chairs and child car seats. These aspects of the business were unaffected by the insolvency proceedings.
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