Italian Company Rescues Recaro

Ineos’s Grenadier and Quartermaster hard-core off-road models will continue to be produced with premium Recaro seats thanks to the supplier being taken over by an Italian automotive components provider.

The Proma Group has signed an investment agreement with the German subsidiary of the sports seat manufacturer to take over the business to supply Ineos vehicle production in time for its restart planned for January.

The automaker had to suspend production over autumn following Recaro’s bankruptcy filing in July. Now, Proma expects to close Recaro’s German facilities and relocate production to its plant near Turin, according to a company spokesperson.

The company adds that only a small number of Recaro sales and engineering staff will be retained and union representatives suggest 170 jobs will be lost.

Retained staff will be based in the Stuttgart region to ensure a more seamless transition of support to meet customer needs.

Proma specializes in the production of seat structures, body assemblies and chassis suspensions and has a turnover of €1.1 billion ($911 million).

Until recently, Recaro boasted an annual turnover of €50 million ($53 million) but was forced into administration after the loss of a major order. The company will not disclose details of the client but speculation suggests it’s the troubled Volkswagen Group, which has discontinued several sports brand models which used the company’s products.

Other Recaro companies, in the U.S. and Japan, are unaffected by the takeover and the company says they will continue to function as usual.

Proma’s CEO, Luca Pino, says: “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. 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.”