Recaro Group is implementing board-level personnel and structural changes in preparation for the next phase of the company’s development. Starting at the top, on 1 January, 2022, Dr Mark Hiller (49), CEO of Recaro Aircraft Seating since 2012, will also become CEO of Recaro Holding GmbH, the Group’s strategic management company. He will succeed Recaro Shareholder Martin Putsch (54) in this position.
Putsch has held the role of CEO at Recaro Holding for 20 years (he is also CFO), and is now taking over as Chair of the advisory board of Recaro Group. The advisory board, which is expanding to seven members and consists of experts from industry, aviation and science, is the key supervisory and consulting body for the Recaro Group. The current Chair of the board, Prof. Burkhardt Funk, will become vice-Chair.
Peter Müller (49), a long-standing member of the executive management team of Recaro Aircraft Seating responsible for finance & administration, will also take on the role of chief financial officer (CFO) at Recaro Holding. Hartmut Schürg (57) will remain responsible for brand and design in the future three-member management team of Recaro Holding. This reorganisation of Recaro Holding’s management is intended to enhance teamwork within the Group.
Recaro Holding recognises the successes that Hiller and his team have achieved for Recaro, noting that they have enhanced the global position of Recaro Aircraft Seating, achieved a leading market position in economy class seating, and won various supplier quality and reliability awards.
Recaro Aircraft Seating’s management team is undergoing change, with the addition of Laura Karbach (35) and Denis Altmann (42), both of whom have been recruited from within the company’s ranks. Karbach will be responsible for supply chain and sustainability, while Altmann will assume responsibility for research & development. The new position of plant manager will be created for the Schwäbisch Hall site, headed by Mirjam Bruhns (47), who was also recruited from within Recaro Aircraft Seating.
In addition to this bolstering of the management structure, the shareholding structure of the family company will also be broadened. In the future, Hiller’s family will hold a minority stake in the Recaro Group, while the Putsch family remains the clear majority shareholder. This new stake is an expression of the long-standing bond and mutual appreciation between the two families, according to Recaro.
“Now that we are at the beginning of a new growth phase for the Recaro Group, this is precisely the right time to look ahead and set the course so that our Group can continue to be managed as a family company over the long term,” stated Martin Putsch. “Over the years, our relationship with Mark Hiller and his family has developed into a close partnership based on mutual trust with the same goals and values. I am very much looking forward to my future roles as shareholder and chair of the advisory board, which will allow me to support our company with the same passion as before.”
Dr Mark Hiller added, “It is an honour, duty and challenge in equal measure to be taking over the strategic leadership of the Recaro Group and to be able to further develop this company, which is both rich in tradition and highly successful. I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to the Putsch family and particularly to Martin Putsch for the great trust that has been placed in me. In the years to come, we will be seeking to expand the existing businesses in aircraft seats and gaming seats, to deepen licencing partnerships with automotive and child seats as well as strollers, and to develop new activities under the Recaro brand at the same time.”
