ERJ Embraer SA

By Chester Dawson 

DETROIT -- Automotive seating supplier Adient PLC is considering entering the aerospace business, announcing plans Monday to work with Boeing Co. to explore development of seating for aircraft.

The recent spinoff of Johnson Controls Inc., which is one of the world's top two suppliers of passenger car seats, is signaling it wants a piece of the growing market for aircraft interiors. The move comes as global sales growth for passenger vehicles is expected to slow, with record high demand for cars in key markets such as the U.S. forecast to decline slightly this year.

"We believe there's an opportunity for Adient to raise the bar on the aviation passenger experience, building on our leadership in the automobile seat market," Adient CEO Bruce McDonald said in a statement.

The collaboration with Boeing isn't exclusive and Adient says it is open to working with all aircraft manufacturers, including rivals such as Airbus SE, Bombardier Inc. and Embraer SA.

Adient and rival Lear Corp. control about half of the passenger car seating market, which RnR Market Research values at around $70 billion currently and expects to grow to $84 billion by 2020. That dwarfs the $14.1 billion aircraft interior market, but demand for aviation seating and other interior components is projected to nearly double by 2025, according to Counterpoint Market Intelligence Ltd.

Boeing's relationship with Adient is an effort to provide a "wider range of options and more reliable, on-time performance in the airplane interiors and seating category," Kent Fisher, vice president of supplier management for the aerospace company's commercial unit, said in a statement.

Boeing has been shaking up its supply chain in an effort to cut costs. Last April, the aircraft manufacturer said it would promote economy-class seats made by Lift, a unit of Encore Corporate Inc. and new entrant into the aircraft seating supply business.

In 2016, the biggest seating suppliers on Boeing aircraft were B/E Aerospace Inc., the world's largest maker of plane seats, France's Zodiac Aerospace SA and Recaro group of Germany, said George Burton, a director at Counterpoint.

While Adient leases the Recaro brand name for high-end automotive seating, a spokesman said it would not use that name to market aircraft seats sales if it does decide to enter that line of business.

Adient became independent of Johnson Controls in October, and has corporate offices in Plymouth, Mich. even though it retains its former parent's incorporation in Ireland for tax purposes.

Write to Chester Dawson at chester.dawson@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 27, 2017 14:30 ET (18:30 GMT)

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