WeatherTech is an American manufacturer of

automobile A car, or an automobile, is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of cars state that they run primarily on roads, Car seat, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport private transport#Personal transport, peopl ...

accessories headquartered in

Bolingbrook Bolingbrook is a village in Will and DuPage counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. It is a southwest suburb of Chicago on I-55 and Historic Route 66 (Frontage Road). The village was a new town built on the Gateway Wetlands west of the Des Plai ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

History

WeatherTech was founded in 1989 by current

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

David MacNeil, who did not appreciate the quality of vehicle floor mats as they did not well-contain dirt and were not easy to clean. At the time, MacNeil was the vice president of sales at high-performance vehicle company AMG, now a subsidiary of

Mercedes-Benz Mercedes-Benz (), commonly referred to simply as Mercedes and occasionally as Benz, is a German automotive brand that was founded in 1926. Mercedes-Benz AG (a subsidiary of the Mercedes-Benz Group, established in 2019) is based in Stuttgart, ...

. His company began importing accessories made in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

and selling them in the United States when in 1994 he found a

contract manufacturer A contract manufacturer (CM) is a manufacturer that contracts with a firm for components or products (in which case it is a turnkey supplier). It is a form of outsourcing. A contract manufacturer performing packaging operations is called copacker ...

and then opened his first plants in the

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

suburbs.

Products

Among its other products, WeatherTech is primarily known for its FloorLiner brand of heavy-duty rubber floor mats, which it also manufactures for companies such as

Volkswagen Volkswagen (VW; )English: , . is a German automotive industry, automobile manufacturer based in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. Established in 1937 by German Labour Front, The German Labour Front, it was revitalized into the global brand it ...

and

Kia Kia Corporation (, formerly known as Kyungsung Precision Industry (京城精密工業) and Kia Motors Corporation) is a South Korean multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Seoul, South Korea. It is South Korea's second larges ...

. Other products made by the company include other heavy-duty floor mats and trunk liners,

windshield sun shade Windshield sun shades (also known as sun-screen shades, sunscreens, sun car shades, sun shields, heat shields, or UV shields) are protective shields attached to a car's windshield or side window to keep the sun from reaching the interior and help r ...

mudflap A mudflap or mud guard is used in combination with the vehicle fender to protect the vehicle, passengers, other vehicles, and pedestrians from mud and other flying debris thrown into the air by a rotating tire on a wheeled vehicle. A mudflap is ...

s, and cupholder accessories. WeatherTech claims over 95% of its products are manufactured in the United States at its plants in Illinois.

Sponsorships

IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship

WeatherTech is the title sponsor of the

International Motor Sports Association The International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) is a North American sports car racing sanctioning body based in Daytona Beach, Florida, under the jurisdiction of the ACCUS arm of the FIA. It was started by John Bishop, a former executive dir ...

(IMSA) SportsCar Championship, currently officially known as the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship through the sponsorship. The sponsorship was announced on August 8, 2015 with the official renaming taking place on November 1 for the 2016 season.

WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca

On March 20, 2018, it was announced that the new title sponsor of the Laguna Seca Raceway would be WeatherTech, replacing

Mazda is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Fuchū, Hiroshima (town), Fuchū, Hiroshima Prefecture, Hiroshima, Japan. The company was founded on January 30, 1920, as Toyo Cork Kogyo Co., Ltd. ...

. The track was officially renamed to WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca soon after on April 1. Shane van Gisbergen 97 Xfinity Sonoma 2024

NASCAR

On December 13, 2023, it was announced that

Shane van Gisbergen Shane Robert van Gisbergen (born 9 May 1989), also known by his initials SVG, is a New Zealand professional auto racing, racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 88 Chevrolet Camaro (sixth generation)#ZL1, C ...

would drive in the

NASCAR Xfinity Series The NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) is a stock car racing series organized by NASCAR. It is promoted as NASCAR's second-tier circuit to the organization's top level NASCAR Cup Series, Cup Series. NXS events are frequently held as a Undercard, support ...

with WeatherTech as his main sponsor. On August 24, 2024, it was announced that van Gisbergen would drive full-time in the

NASCAR Cup Series The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the NASCAR, National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR), the most prestigious stock car racing series in the United States. The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, ...

with WeatherTech as his main sponsor as well. Shortly later, it was announced that Connor Zilisch would be sponsored by WeatherTech in the Xfinity Series.

References

{{reflist Companies based in DuPage County, Illinois American companies established in 1989 Privately held companies based in Illinois Manufacturing companies based in Illinois 1989 establishments in Illinois