Adient Explained

Adient plc is an American, Irish-domiciled company that operates as the largest^[2] manufacturer of automotive seating for customers worldwide and is based in Plymouth, Michigan, United States.^[3]

History

Adient was founded as a spin-off from Johnson Controls in 2016, establishing its legal domicile in Dublin, Ireland.^[4] Johnson Controls had entered the automotive seating business in 1985 by acquiring Hoover Universal.^[5] In September 2017, Adient acquired the Oak Park, Michigan-based automotive seat manufacturer Futuris from Clearlake Capital, which added 15 facilities in Asia and North America, including one facility based in Newark, California,^[6] and which was anticipated to increase the company's revenue by $0.5 billion annually.

In 2016, Adient announced plans to move its global operating headquarters to the Marquette Building in Detroit,^[7] but canceled those plans as of June 2018.^[8] In January 2018, a joint venture was formed by Adient (50.01%) and Boeing (49.99%) to develop and manufacture airliner seats for new installations or retrofit, a $4.5 billion market in 2017 which was then forecast to grow to $6 billion by 2026, to be based in Kaiserslautern near Frankfurt and distributed by Boeing subsidiary Aviall, with its customer service center in Seattle.^[9]

In February 2020 Adient announced it agreed to sell its 30% stake in Yanfeng Global Automotive Interior Systems to Yanfeng Automotive Trim Systems for US$379 million.^{[10] [11]}

In March 2020, Adient entered into an agreement to sell its automotive fabrics manufacturing business to Sage Automotive Interiors for $175 million.^{[12] [13]}

As of 2026, Adient employs more than 65,000 people across ~200 manufacturing/assembly plants, in 29 countries.^[14]

Manufacturing facilities

Africa

Asia

(under construction)

Europe

(under construction)

North America

(under construction)

South America

(under construction)

Oceania

(under construction)

Notes and References

1. Adient President and CEO Doug del Grosso announces retirement; CFO Jerome Dorlack to be appointed leader of seating supplier .
2. Web site: Adient Is A Leader in Seating . 3 May 2024 . 27 January 2025.
3. News: November 2023 . Adient Earnings Release . Adient Investors Website . 19 October 2023.
4. Book: Wong, Wilson Kia Onn . Automotive Global Value Chain: The Rise of Mega Suppliers . Routledge . 2017 . 9781315300979 . Routledge Advances in Management and Business Studies . 87 . The global automotive seats industry . 1003268557 . Google Books (preview).
5. News: 0362-4331. Daniels. Lee A.. Johnson Buying Hoover Universal. The New York Times. 2018-08-29. 1985-03-05.
6. Driving Economic Growth: Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing. Loan Programs Office. January 2016. United States Department of Energy. 2. 6 January 2018.
7. News: Adient moving to downtown Detroit's Marquette Building. Wayland. Michael. 30 November 2016. The Detroit News. 2017-12-04.
8. News: Auto supplier Adient cancels move to downtown Detroit. Here's why.. Detroit Free Press. 2018-07-05. en.
9. Boeing, Adient Launch New Company to Design and Build Airplane Seats. 16 January 2018. Adient. PRNewswire.
10. Web site: Adient enters into agreement with joint venture partner Yanfeng to restructure existing joint venture relationships and drive shareholder value. finance.yahoo.com. en-US. 2020-02-19.
11. Web site: Adient to sell stake in Yanfeng Global Automotive - International Leather Maker. internationalleathermaker.com. 3 February 2020 . en. 2020-02-19.
12. Web site: Adient enters into settlement to promote its materials enterprise. 2020-03-09. Car Enthusiast World. en-US. 2020-03-19.
13. Web site: Adient enters into agreement to sell its fabrics business Automotive World. www.automotiveworld.com. 6 March 2020 . 2020-03-19.
14. It is unclear whether this number includes assets acquired through Futuris.