Spotlight on 100 Years of the Haartz Corporation

Convertible Top Maker Haartz Corporation Offers Its Vision of the Future At 100

Car Talk sat down with the CEO of Haartz Corporation, the company that makes coated fabrics for the tops for many of your favorite vehicles. We discovered that the convertible as we know it is about to change.

Imagine in your mind a convertible. If your mind’s eye called up a sporty, compact coupe with a soft-top lowered, you’re like me. And also like Eric Haartz, the CEO of Haartz Corporation. However, Mr. Haartz told me in a sit-down interview this week at the company’s global HQ that what a convertible is will be different for our children. Ask the generation about to begin driving today what a convertible is, and the image they see is a Jeep Wrangler or Ford Bronco, not a Miata or Boxster. The next generation to come will likely envision an electric and semi-autonomous version of those activity vehicles.

Mr. Haartz has worked in one role or another at Haartz Corporation in Massachusetts for nearly half of the 100 years the company has been in business. “I started out working summers at the plant,“ says Mr. Haartz. “I started full-time 43 years ago, and I’m proud to see my daughter Deborah now navigating her journey at our company.”

Haartz Corporation is a family-owned and operated business headquartered in Acton, a rural suburb of Boston, Massachusetts. The company’s founder began in the textile industry 115 years ago and incorporated Haartz 100 years ago this year. Unlike many corporations in the Boston area, Haartz doesn’t just have its management team and R&D in Acton. Rather, Acton is one of the places where Haartz manufactures its products as well.

100 Years of Manufacturing Evolution

We asked Mr. Haartz what changes have occurred to the convertible top manufacturing industry over the past 100 years. “My father‘s generation would be amazed by the performance of the materials now in use,” said Mr. Haartz. “My grandfather would be astonished by the longevity of the materials we can create today. My goal before I pass the baton will be to see that our materials continue to progress towards sustainability.”

100 Years of Planning

100 years is a long time to be a manufacturer. We asked Mr. Haartz how a company with such a rich history manages to plan ahead for the future. He replied that the only visibility anyone in the auto industry has is a five to ten-year window. Beyond that, regulatory and economic changes cloud the horizon. However, Haartz Corporation needs to have plans and a vision beyond that. Mr. Haartz told us, “The key to operating in an environment like this is to have great managers that can chart a course during times of change. We are blessed with a President and other managers who do this successfully.”

However, keeping a family business going for over a century has its own unique challenge. Succession. “Deborah has begun her journey with our company,” said Mr. Haartz. “I have full confidence that she will build the knowledge and relationships needed for her to guide us in the years and decades ahead.”

Can Manufacturing Succeed In America?

As a refugee of multiple manufacturing industries that have been pushed out of America, I asked Mr. Haartz if the company could continue to operate in the United States. Mr. Haartz was very positive on this topic. He told us that he considers himself a manufacturing evangelist.

Haartz operates tours for the media and other groups to highlight the importance of being able to make the things we use. Haartz Corporation has also hosted many school tours. Mr. Haartz told us, “I encouraged parental participation on school field trips to our plant. I felt it was equally important that the adults in our community saw how we make things here. It is quite different from the often negative images one sees in films and on TV.”

EVs and Convertibles

No force is stronger today in the automotive industry than the shift to electric vehicles. We asked how the shift to EVs had shaped the convertible top industry. Mr. Haartz pointed out that the Jeep Wrangler is now electrified and has multiple soft-top choices. He added, “Electric powertrains and autonomy have stressed the developmental budgets in both manpower and financial resources. However, as manufacturers catch up in these regards, we expect that convertibles will again become popular.”

Eric Haartz’s Personal Vision of the Future of Convertibles

With nearly half a century working in the automotive industry, we asked Mr. Haartz if he has a vision of his own future. He surprised us by saying, “I do. Before I go, I’d like to stand in the back of an electric autonomous Jeep Wrangler, holding onto the rollbar cracking a bullwhip.” Not the ending to our interview I expected, but one I will never forget.