For Recaro, the news comes as a shock even to the firm’s own workers. The filing caught them by surprise since they have waived pay rises and benefits in recent years to keep Recaro afloat.

Although Recaro builds seats for aircraft and other applications, only the automotive decision is insolvent. The division was sold to Johnson Controls in 2011 which became Adient. Adient was later sold to Detroit-based Raven Acquisitions, a private investment firm, four years ago. The original Recaro company licenses its name to Recaro Automotive.

Meanwhile, alloy wheel maker BBS files for bankruptcy for the fifth time—the first four being in 2007, 2010, 2020, and 2023.

It’s understood that the company has stopped paying wages since May.

ISH Management Services (the company which acquired BBS Automotive GmbH) released a brief statement saying, “We will never let down the people who have walked this path with us. We will never give up on the BBS brand, which for us is one of the biggest German global brands. We have a plan and we are determined to implement it.”

Reports say that BBS has agreed to transfer the brand and distribution rights in June. No formal announcement has been made since.

The move will most definitely send shockwaves in the automotive industry, especially to car manufacturers who rely on both Recaro for seats and BBS for wheels.

For its part, BBS Japan clarifies that the bankruptcy filing of BBS Automotive GmbH has no effect in their business as there’s no equity relationship between the two. BBS Japan manufactures and sells forged wheels, while BBS Automotive GmbH makes cast wheels. BBS Motorsports is a subsidiary of BBS Japan and is also a separate company from BBS Automotive GmbH.