Recaro Aircraft Seating has reported that in 2013 it posted revenues of around 337 million Euros, a new all-time high for the company (previously 309 million Euros in 2012). The figures are in line with the company’s long-term plan to achieve revenues of 600 million Euros by 2018.
“With a growth rate of around 9%, we were able to increase sales significantly and continue our global growth,” stated Dr Mark Hiller, CEO of Recaro Aircraft Seating. “We not only reached a new all-time high but also far exceeded our planning.”
The increase in sales is due to an innovative product portfolio, according to Recaro, which claims to be the world leader in economy-class seats, with every third new economy seat worldwide being from Recaro in 2013. According to chief sales officer Andreas Lindemann,the company’s bestselling model last year was the BL3520 seat: “The winner of prestigious awards such as the red dot award 2012 has been ordered more than 200,000 times by airlines worldwide – including All Nippon Airways, Lufthansa, and Alaska Airlines and many more – since its launch in late 2010. In addition, business class orders, including orders from Cathay Pacific, contributed to our positive business development in 2013.”
In 2013 Recaro Aircraft Seating continued to invest in the expansion of capacity and future product generations. “Over the past two years, we invested a total of 27 million Euros,” added Lindemann. “We expanded our worldwide locations to accommodate the market trend and growing demand for Recaro products. In this way we doubled our international capacity.”
After plant expansions in Germany, Poland, and South Africa in 2012, Recaro inaugurated the plant enlargement at the US site in Dallas/Fort Worth in early 2013: With an additional building, the area was increased from 10,000 to 23,000 square meters. At the end of 2013, Recaro opened its new plant in Qingdao, China – just ten months after the groundbreaking. Since January 2014, the production plant has been officially certified, and in the first half of 2014, seats from the plant will be delivered to Shandong Airlines. In addition, Recaro is opening a new Customer Center Middle East in Dubai this year, with a focus on sales and technical support. Last but not least, at the site in Schwaebisch Hall Recaro has invested around 3 million Euros in the development of component manufacturing in order to ensure greater flexibility and speed.
The company is also preparing for the future with new products, which were presented at Aircraft Interiors Expo 2014 in Hamburg. “With our new long-haul seat CL6710, we have shown that we are back in the business class segment,” stated Mark Hiller. The seat was developed after extensive market analysis and takes into account requirements of different markets, regions, and airlines. Furthermore, the evolution of the BL3520 economy seat was unveiled at the show, which includes solutions that facilitate the handling of personal electronic devices.
“We are looking at the current year with a great deal of optimism: Our order books are completely filled – we expect a sales increase of around 7%,” said Hiller. “Our workforce is expected to crack the 2,000 mark for the first time this year.” The growth trend will also continue in the medium term: “We want to support our strong position in the economy class with innovative products. In the business class segment, we expect significant growth thanks to our new product,” says Hiller. “For 2018, we are planning on sales of some 600 million Euros, and the number of employees is expected to rise to around 2,400.”
