It’s a tough time for German firms making sim racing equipment as not only have Fanatec become insolvent, but now seat maker Recaro Automotive files for bankruptcy.
The company dates back to 1906, with Recaro Holdings owning the aircraft, seating and gaming companies, with Recaro Automotive Seating owned by Raven Acquisitions LLC since 2020. Confusingly, the sim racing side of things sits within the licensed Automotive business unit, rather than gaming, and it’s this company, headquartered in Kircheim unter Teck, which has been approved to go into self-adminisation by a German court.
With a long history in motorsport, the Recaro Pro Sim Star seat was released specifically for the sim racing market. It was followed by the limited edition Recaro Profi XL SIM Star “24H Le Mans” celebrating the famous endurance race. They’ve also partnered with the likes of Williams eSports and Playseat to promote their sim racing range, and Sensit! to use haptic feedback technology for the Recardo FeelTech+ seat insert pads.
And with many rigs using standard motorsport fitments, Recaros have always been a popular option to get that real racing feel from your setup.
As with Fanatec, business will continue as normal during the insolvency process, until it’s resolved by successful restructuring, outside investment or even potential acquisition. Unlike Endor AG and Fanatec, it’s less likely to directly impact many sim racers immediately, but it seems to be a particularly challenging time for many automotive and sim racing companies, particularly due to increases in manufacturing costs and supplies.
German wheel company BBS, has also filed for insolvency for the fifth time in the last 17 years, with the separate US business owned by KW Automotive, who own and develop RaceRoom, and the German company owned by ISH Group.
It seems that following the sim racing boom during the pandemic, and the subsequent interest from automotive companies, private equity groups and other investors, the virtual motorsport world is going to increasingly be impacted by the kinds of business deals and activities that means brands get passed around between all sorts of holding companies. Which is definitely a downside of the increased popularity, as we’ve seen from the ongoing Motorsport Games saga over the last few years.
In any case, you can see our previous coverage of Recaro sim racing and gaming seats, here. Along with all our news and more on sim racing seats and rigs.
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