The new buildings are part of the space2grow expansion strategy and encompass a new customer service area, a flame lab and crash facility

Schwaebisch Hall, Germany, December 16, 2019 – Recaro Aircraft Seating has broken new ground on its latest expansion project, which features a new customer service area, a flame lab and crash facility. In total, Recaro acquired additional 45,000 square meters and invests 40 million euros in the new buildings on 24,000 square meters.

The area under construction comprises of 24,000 square meters and features 19,000 square meters of building construction, around 190 parking spaces, and a bike rack for about 60 bikes. Designed by Maja Djordjevic-Müller and Siegfried Müller of Bürogemeinschaft mdm Architekten, the expansion project creates an optimal working environment for all Recaro staff members through sustainable and modern industrial infrastructure. Construction kicked off in December 2019 and is slated for completion in summer 2021.

The customer service area will improve operational processes by connecting all production, administration and logistic areas via a central meeting axis.

Scheduled for a spring 2021 launch, the new flame lab will ramp up the facility’s testing capabilities by seamlessly integrating the fire test chambers with the flame certification tests.

By 2021, the new crash facility will be able to run 300 dynamic crash tests a year at the site for the certification and development of passenger seats. Additional technical features include:

• A modern Instron crash catapult, with a force of 2 MegaNewton and a 40m track length
• 2 preparation rooms for the setup and post processing of test seats
• Dummy laboratory with 10 crash-test-dummy with integrated sensor to analyze possible injury criterion
• Pyrotechnical static inflation test room for the development of modern retention systems

The new building will be designed as a KfW-Effizienzhaus 55-standard. Recaro is thus taking an important step towards energy efficiency and a sustainable, as well as resource-saving future in building operation. This will be achieved via measures including energy-efficient solar shades and the integration of the district heating to improve the end-use of energy.

“We are proud to be a family-owned company with a long-term corporate strategy,” said Dr. Mark Hiller, CEO and Shareholder of Recaro Aircraft Seating. “For us, this means repeatedly identifying investment opportunities for the future in order to secure and sustainably expand Recaro’s growth. Our expansion strategy space2grow strengthens our commitment to our Schwaebisch Hall headquarters.”

The groundbreaking ceremony on December 5 featured remarks from Dr. Mark Hiller, CEO and Shareholder of Recaro Aircraft Seating, Gerhard Bauer, County Commissioner, as well as Hermann-Josef Pelgrim, Mayor of Schwaebisch Hall. Also, in attendance was Martin Putsch, Shareholder and CEO of the Recaro Holding, as well as Schwaebisch Hall city officials, Maja Djordjevic-Müller and Siegfried Müller of Bürogemeinschaft mdm Architekten, media, and Recaro team members.

Recaro Aircraft Seating is looking towards a confident future. For the first time in company history, Recaro has earned more than €600 million in revenue by October 2019.

Photo – from left to right: Jochen Wohlers Bauleiter – construction manager LEONARD Weiss GmbH & Co. KG, Peter Müller – Executive Vice President Finance & Administration Recaro Aircraft Seating, Martin Putsch – Shareholder and CEO of the Recaro Holding, Hermann-Josef Pelgrim – Mayor of Schwäbisch Hall, Maja Djordjevic-Müller – architect mdm Architekten BDA, Martin Löffelad -Head of Facility Management Recaro Aircraft Seating, Mark Hiller – CEO and Shareholder of Recaro Aircraft Seating, Gerhard Bauer – county commissioner, Siegfried Müller – architect mdm Architekten BDA, Joachim Ley – Executive Vice President Supply Chain Recaro Aircraft Seating.

About Recaro Aircraft Seating

Recaro Aircraft Seating sees itself as a solution provider for its customers. As a global supplier of premium aircraft seats for airlines and OEMs, the company reported a growth averaging 10% over the past 15 years. Recaro employs over 2600 people worldwide and neared €600 million in sales in 2018. It is the global market leader in the economy class seating. To secure its strategic expansion, Recaro is investing hundreds of millions in product innovation in business class seating. Over the next 5 years, it will also invest in significantly expanding its headquarters in Schwaebisch Hall as well as its sites in China, Poland and the USA. With this, Recaro consistently underpins its corporate vision of “Driving comfort in the sky”.

The aim: become market leader in economy and business class seating while maintaining a permanent customer focus. For more information, please visit www.recaro-as.com.

About Recaro Group

The Recaro Group comprises the independently operating divisions Recaro Aircraft Seating in Schwaebisch Hall and Recaro eGaming in Stuttgart as well as the Recaro Holding located in Stuttgart. The automotive seating business as well as the child seat and stroller business are operated by licensees. For more information, please visit www.recaro.com.