Recaro

The company was founded on 1 October 1906 by Wilhelm Reutter as Stuttgarter Carosserie und Radfabrik.^[1][2][3] 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.^[4] On 24 July 1909, the patent for a "folding roof with canopy, especially for motor vehicles" was filed.^[5] This so-called "reform body" was a constructive forerunner of the convertible.^[5] 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.^[5] In 1919, the gradual conversion from individual production to mass production took place. During the 1920s, the company became known for building limousine bodies.^[1] 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.^[1][6][7][8]

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.^[5]

In 1963, Porsche acquired the car body factory.^[1] What remained was renamed to Recaro (REutter-CAROsserie), and focus was shifted to high-end seats.^[1] The company began producing both OEM seats for Porsche, and a separate line of after-market seats.^[1] In 1965, Recaro presented the first Recaro sports seat at the Frankfurt Motor Show.^[3] In 1967, Recaro started the construction of a production facility in Schwäbisch Hall.^[9] 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.^[10] In 1983, Keiper purchased all shares in Recaro and established Keiper Recaro in Kirchheim.^[1][8]

After restructuring in 1997, Recaro became an independent company again.^[11] This resulted in four legally and economically independent companies, including Recaro Aircraft Seating GmbH & Co. KG.^[11] A year later, in 1998, Recaro introduced the first ever-growing child seat.^[11] 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.^[2] 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.^[2] All other brand companies now belong to RECARO Group Stuttgart, which is the brand owner and licensor of RECARO Automotive Seating.^[12][13]

In 2013, after restructuring, Recaro Holding relocated its registered office back to Stuttgart, Germany.^[14] 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),^[15] 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.^[16] 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.^[17] 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.

The Recaro Group comprises the divisions Recaro Aircraft Seating, Recaro eGaming, Recaro Rail and Recaro Holding itself.^[18]

• Frank Jung: Porsche 356 - made by Reutter. Delius Klasing, Bielefeld 2011, ISBN 978-3-7688-3270-0.
• Uta & Helmut Jung: Stuttgarter Karosseriewerk Reutter ‒ von der Reform-Karosserie zum Porsche 356. Delius Klasing, Bielefeld 2006, ISBN 3-7688-1829-2.
• Frank Jung: RECARO: Seating in Motion. Delius Klasing, 2016, ISBN 978-3-667-10313-0.