A strained global economic situation and industry-related uncertainties are affecting the supplier business. The manufacturer known for its seats, Grammer, which specializes in interiors for cars and commercial vehicles, is responding to declining sales by parting ways with about half of its supervisory board. As reported by the Landesdienst Bayern of the German Press Agency (dpa/lby) on February 19, 2025, five members representing shareholders will leave the Upper Palatinate company prematurely by the end of March 2025, including the chairman. The CFO is also leaving her position at her own request, it is said.
Mandates Expiring
In its brief announcement, the company, which is represented worldwide in 20 countries with around 48 production and sales locations and approximately 15,000 employees, stated that the early re-filling of five shareholder representative supervisory board positions is happening as the mandates are regularly expiring on March 31, 2025. According to dpa, in the next step, the Chinese major shareholder Jiye Auto Parts will have the successors appointed by the Amberg district court. New elections are then scheduled for the next shareholders' meeting on May 22, 2025.
The total of 12 supervisory board members of Grammer AG are each appointed equally by the employer and the employees. Among the five supervisory board members leaving, all representing the employer's side, is the chairman, Dr. Martin Kleinschmitt.
Union Concerned
The union IG Metall is now alarmed. Udo Fechtner, the first authorized representative of IG Metall Amberg, fears that the personnel change could negatively affect the Upper Palatinate Grammer locations. "For us, the security and future viability of jobs and locations in the region are the top priority." In Germany, Grammer AG has 15 locations, several of them at the headquarters in Ursensollen. In Upper Palatinate, there are nine in total.
Jiye Auto Parts, a subsidiary of the Chinese Ningbo Jifeng Auto Parts, took over Grammer in 2018 and, according to dpa, holds 86 percent of the shares. With this distribution, the Chinese supplier can significantly influence the composition of the employer side of the supervisory board.
Exact Background Unknown
According to dpa, the initiative for the leadership change likely came from the Chinese owners to position their desired candidates. A company spokeswoman confirmed that the five supervisory board positions were already planned for reappointment. Consequently, the chairman, Dr. Martin Kleinschmitt, and the four other members choosing to step down early did not want to stand in the way of this plan. The spokeswoman clarified that the reshuffling is not due to a vote of no confidence.
Apart from the supervisory board, the three-member executive board of the company will also undergo changes at the same time: As Grammer announced a week ago, CFO Jurate Keblyte will also leave her position early at her own request on March 31, 2025. Keblyte joined Grammer as CFO in 2019. For initially one year, a successor has been found in Thomas Strobl, who has been acting as interim CFO of Grammer's largest region EMEA since January 2024.
Demand Declines
A weakening business development due to the uncertain economic situation was reported by the company, founded around 70 years ago, already last year. As a result, on February 7, 2025, it was noted that there was also a 14 percent decline in group revenue for the fourth quarter of 2024 compared to the previous year. Grammer blames the revenue decrease on increased costs due to volatile factory utilization. In all three regions – Americas, EMEA, and APAC – macroeconomic and industry-specific uncertainties consequently led to a persistently weak demand from manufacturers.
Grammer manufactures interior components for the two main business areas, Automotive and Commercial Vehicles. Most locations are distributed with around 21 in the European area, about 12 in the Americas region, and roughly the same number in the Asia-Pacific area.
