Adient plc is an American Irish-domiciled company that manufactures
automotive seating for customers worldwide and is based in
Plymouth, Michigan
Plymouth is a city in Wayne County, Michigan, United States. The population was 9,370 at the 2020 census. The city of Plymouth is surrounded by Plymouth Township, but the two are administered autonomously. Plymouth is a western suburb of Metro ...
,
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...
.
, Adient was the world's largest auto seat manufacturer, accounting for one-third of the markets global revenue and providing components for 25 million vehicles.
History
Adient was founded as a
spin-off
Spin-off may refer to:
*Spin-off (media), a media work derived from an existing work
*Corporate spin-off, a type of corporate action that forms a new company or entity
* Government spin-off, civilian goods which are the result of military or gove ...
from
Johnson Controls
Johnson Controls International is an American
Irish-domiciled multinational conglomerate headquartered in Cork, Ireland, that produces fire, HVAC, and security equipment for buildings. As of mid-2019, it employed 105,000 people in around 2,0 ...
in 2016,
establishing its
legal domicile in
Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...
, Ireland.
Johnson Controls had entered the automotive seating business in 1985 by acquiring
Hoover Universal
Adient plc is an American Irish-domiciled company that manufactures automotive seating for customers worldwide and is based in Plymouth, Michigan, United States. , Adient was the world's largest auto seat manufacturer, accounting for one-third ...
. In September 2017, Adient acquired the
Oak Park, Michigan
Oak Park is a city in Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 census, the population of Oak Park was 29,560. As a northern suburb of Metro Detroit, Oak Park shares its southern border with the city of Detroit.
History
This ...
-based automotive seat manufacturer Futuris from Clearlake Capital, which added 15 facilities in Asia and North America, including one facility based in
Newark, California
Newark is a city in Alameda County, California, United States. It was incorporated as a city in September 1955. Newark is an enclave, surrounded by the city of Fremont. The three cities of Newark, Fremont, and Union City make up the Tri-City ...
, and which was anticipated to increase the company's revenue by $0.5 billion annually.
, Adient employed 86,000 people across 250 manufacturing/assembly plants,
in 34 countries.
[It is unclear whether this number includes assets acquired through Futuris.] In 2016, Adient announced plans to move its global operating headquarters to the
Marquette Building in
Detroit
Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...
, but canceled those plans as of June 2018.

In January 2018, a
joint venture
A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acce ...
was formed by Adient (50.01%) and
Boeing
The Boeing Company () is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, telecommunications equipment, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and ...
(49.99%) to develop and manufacture
airliner seat
An airline seat is a seat on an airliner in which passengers are accommodated for the duration of the journey. Such seats are usually arranged in rows running across the airplane's fuselage. A diagram of such seats in an aircraft is called an ...
s for new installations or
retrofit
Retrofitting is the addition of new technology or features to older systems. Retrofits can happen for a number of reasons, for example with big capital expenditures like naval vessels, military equipment or manufacturing plants, businesses or go ...
, a $4.5 billion market in 2017 which will grow to $6 billion by 2026, to be based in
Kaiserslautern
Kaiserslautern (; Palatinate German: ''Lautre'') is a city in southwest Germany, located in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate at the edge of the Palatinate Forest. The historic centre dates to the 9th century. It is from Paris, from Frankfu ...
near
Frankfurt
Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its ...
and distributed by Boeing subsidiary Aviall, with its customer service center in
Seattle
Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...
.
In February 2020 Adient announced it agreed to sell its 30% stake in
Yanfeng Global Automotive Interior Systems to Yanfeng Automotive Trim Systems US$379 million.
In March 2020, Adient entered into an agreement to sell its automotive fabrics manufacturing business to
Sage Automotive Interiors
Sage Automotive Interiors is a portfolio company of Asahi Kasei and a global supplier of technical textiles for the automotive industry. The company develops and produces automotive interior surfaces such as seating, door panels and automobile h ...
for $175 million.
Notes
References
External links
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*
{{Authority control
Corporate spin-offs
Manufacturing companies established in 2016
Johnson Controls
Auto parts suppliers of Ireland
Manufacturing companies based in Michigan
Companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange
Manufacturing companies based in Dublin (city)
Tax inversions