Recaro

Infobox Company
name = RECARO GmbH & Co. KG

type = GmbH
foundation = 1906
founder = Wilhelm Reutter
location = flagicon|Germany Kirchheim unter Teck, Stuttgart, Germany
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industry = Vehicle seating
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homepage = [http://www.recaro.com/ Recaro.com]
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intl = yes

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.

History

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.

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.

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. [ [http://www.recaro.com/index.php?id=912&region=5&L=2 Recaro - Recaro aside from the strategic business fields] ]

Recaro seats are also used in the Leopard 2 MBT

Recaro generally prices their seats higher than competitor Sparco.

Recaro also manufacters seats for the dugouts of some of europe's top football clubs including, Manchester United, Reading, Real Madrid, and Newcastle United.

Cars with OEM-installed Recaro seats

Below is a list of OEM-installed Recaro seats, available at the present and formerly: [ [http://www.recaro.com/index.php?id=2599&L=2 Recaro - Original Equipment Seats] ]
* Alfa Romeo: 33|156 16V 4x4
* Aston Martin: DB9, Vantage, Vanquish
* Audi: Sport Quattro, S3, A4, S4, RS4, A6, S6, RS6, TT, R8
* BMW: Mini John Cooper Works
* Bufori: La Joya Mk3
* Chevrolet: Cobalt SS Supercharged
* Callaway: [Callaway C16]
* Ferrari: 599 GTB Fiorano
* Fiat: Coupe Limited Edition, Turbo Plus
* Ford: Escort RS2000 und Sondermodell „Michael Schumacher Edition“, Focus ST, SVT Euro Pack, Mondeo ST 220
* Honda: Accord Type-R, Civic Type-R, Integra Type-R, NSX, Odyssey, S2000
* Isuzu: VehiCross
* Jaguar: XK8/XKR
* Lamborghini: Gallardo
* Mazda: MX-3, MX-5, RX-7 Spirit R Type-A, RX-8 2009 RX-8
* Mercedes-Benz: 190E 2.3-16, CLK 63 AMG Black Series
* Mitsubishi: Lancer Evolution, eK Sport
* Opel: Corsa OPC, Meriva OPC, Kadett-E Frisco, Astra-H OPC, Zafira OPC, Vectra OPC, Omega A Evo
* Peugeot: 406 Coupé
* Pontiac: Trans Am
* Porsche: 911, 911 GT2, 911 GT3, Boxster, Carrera GT, Cayman
* Proton: Proton Satria GTi
* Renault: Clio, Sport
* SEAT: Leon Cupra R
* Subaru: Impreza STi S204
* Suzuki: Ignis Sport
* Toyota: Caldina, Supra JZA70
* Vauxhall: Vauxhall Vectra Super Touring & GSi
* Volkswagen: Polo 6N Colour Concept, New Beetle RSi, Golf Mk5 GTI, Golf Mk5 R32, Jetta GLI, Gol GT, GTS and GTi (Mk1).

References

External links

* [http://www.recaro.com Recaro.com] official webpage
* [http://www.recaro-as.com/ Recaro Aircraft Seating]
* [http://www.recarochildseat.com Recaro Child Seats]