On April 5, 2004, Lear announced it would pay $220 million for Wuppertal, Germany-based Grote & Hartmann, a maker of electrical components.

[10] Also in 2007, Lear's board of directors agreed to a $2.3 billion takeover offer from American Real Estate Partners, an affiliate of financier Carl Icahn, subject to shareholder approval.

[citation needed] On July 2, 2009 Bloomberg News reported that Lear Corp. planned to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy after reaching an agreement with representatives of secured lenders and bondholders.

[13] In 2012, Automotive News awarded Lear a Premier Automotive Suppliers' Contribution to Excellence (PACE) Award for innovation, technological advancement and business performance for its Solid State Smart Junction Box (S3JB), noting Lear's "S3JB junction box has 1) integrated solid state fuse technology to eliminate relays, 2) created a new package that no longer has to be accessible from the driver compartment which decreases nuisance calls and lowers electrical device warranty returns, 3) created and installed a smart software logic with detailed diagnostics to permit a 'fail safe operation,' and 4) designed a single state board design with patented thermal aspects that permits multiple system and device connections and various configurations to ease manufacturing processes.

[15] In August 2014, it was announced that Lear Corp would acquire automotive leather supplier Eagle Ottawa LLC for a fee of $850 million.

[17] In February 2017 it was announced that Lear Corp signed a definitive agreement to acquire Grupo Antolin's automotive seating business.