Recaro

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RECARO GmbH & Co. KG
Type GmbH
Founded 1906
Founder Wilhelm Reutter
Headquarters Flag of Germany Kirchheim unter Teck, Stuttgart, Germany
Industry Vehicle seating
Website Recaro.com

RECARO GmbH & Co. KG, commonly known as Recaro, is a German company based in Kirchheim unter Teck in the vicinity of Stuttgart, known for their automobile bucket seats. The company can produce OEM racing-style seats for mainstream manufacturers.

Contents

[edit] History

[edit] Founding and beginnings

Founded in 1906 by Wilhelm Reutter as Reutter Carosserie-Werke, the company became known for building limousine bodies during the 1920s. In 1930 they started producing bodies for the Volkswagen Beetle, and in 1949 Porsche started using their bodies for their sports cars.

[edit] Move from car bodies to racing seats

Due to new manufacturing methods, the market for car bodies went downhill in the 1950s, and Reutter found itself on hard times.

In 1963, Porsche acquired the car body factory. What remained was renamed to Recaro GmbH & Co, changing its focus to high-end seats. The company began producing both OEM seats for Porsche, and a separate line of aftermarket seats. In 1969, the Reutter family sold their ownership to three companies, Keiper, Huber & Wagner and Metzeler, due to economic problems. In 1983, Keiper purchased all shares in Recaro and established Keiper Recaro GmbH & Co in Kirchheim (Teck) near Esslingen am Neckar.

[edit] Recaro today

The 1990s was a period of change for Recaro. In their home country of Germany, the name was to change to RECARO GmbH & Co. KG. Operations expanded as they established Recaro North America Inc at Oakland, Michigan, Recaro UK Ltd in Birmingham, Recaro South East Asia in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Recaro Japan Co Ltd in Kyoto, and Recaro France in La Rochelle.

Meanwhile, Recaro seats could be seen in a variety of cars, ranging from the Aston Martin V03, and the Audi S and RS models, to the New Beetle RSi. A side-airbag seat was added to the Recaro line.

The company also manufactures wheelchairs, as well as aircraft seats for airlines, and for the Shinkansen train in Japan. Its seats are used in the VIP lounges and substitute box at European football stadiums.[1]

Recaro seats are also used in the Leopard 2 MBT

Recaro generally prices their seats higher than competitor Sparco.

[edit] Cars with OEM-installed Recaro seats

Below is a list of OEM-installed Recaro seats, available at the present and formerly:[2]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Recaro - Recaro aside from the strategic business fields
  2. ^ Recaro - Original Equipment Seats

[edit] External links

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