What CTS makes for vehicles

CTS Corporation designs and manufactures sensors, actuators, and connectivity components, and its transportation line is the automotive-facing part of that portfolio. For light and commercial vehicles, CTS builds automotive position and speed sensors, accelerator (throttle) pedals, electronic brake pedals, and complete pedal and foot-control modules. Its pedal portfolio spans contacting, non-contacting Hall-effect, and custom-designed units built to meet accuracy and durability requirements, and the company has added floor-hinge pedal technology with a first North American OEM win plus multiple platform awards for accelerator modules.

Electrification is a stated growth area. CTS designs alternating-current and direct-current sensors, along with clamp-on magnetic field concentrators, for electric, hybrid, battery-electric, and plug-in hybrid motors using Hall-effect technology. The company sells primarily to OEMs and tier-one suppliers, working as an engineered-solutions partner rather than a catalog vendor: its sales engineers co-develop application-specific products with major customers. Beyond transportation, the same sensing, connectivity, and motion competencies serve industrial, medical, and aerospace and defense customers, which is central to how the company describes its strategy.

Financial performance

CTS reported net sales of $541.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2025, up 5.2 percent from $514.8 million in 2024. Net income was $65 million, or 12.1 percent of sales, and diluted earnings per share were $2.19, up from $1.80. Operating cash flow was $102 million and adjusted gross margin was 38.5 percent, up 150 basis points year over year. The company entered 2026 guiding to net sales of $550 to $580 million, and its second-quarter 2026 release reported record margins and a raised outlook.

The balance sheet is conservative. CTS held $82.3 million in cash at year-end 2025 against roughly $58 million drawn on a $300 million revolving credit facility, a net-cash position, and it returned $86 million to shareholders during the year while spending $16 million on capital expenditures. The revenue mix has shifted deliberately: transportation fell from 55 percent of sales in 2023 to 43 percent in 2025 as diversified end markets (industrial, medical, aerospace and defense) grew 16 percent in 2025. Roughly 44 percent of 2025 net sales came from outside the United States.

Ownership and history

CTS was founded in 1896 as Chicago Telephone Supply, an early telephone-equipment maker, and was incorporated as an Indiana corporation in 1929. It trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker CTS, and its principal offices are at 4925 Indiana Avenue in Lisle, Illinois. The company operates as a single reportable business segment and has been audited by Grant Thornton since 2005.

Leadership changed at the top in 2026. Effective July 6, 2026, Pratik Trivedi, formerly Chief Operating Officer, became President and Chief Executive Officer and joined the board, while Kieran O'Sullivan, who had led CTS as CEO since 2013, moved to Executive Chairman. Ashish Agrawal has served as Vice President and Chief Financial Officer since November 2013. The company manufactures in more than a dozen locations across North America, Europe, and Asia, including plants in Illinois, New Mexico, Idaho, and Rhode Island; owned and leased sites in Matamoros, Tecate, and Nogales, Mexico; Ostrava and Nupaky, Czech Republic; Lublin, Poland; Kvistgaard, Denmark; Kaohsiung, Taiwan; Calamba, Philippines; and Tianjin and Zhongshan, China.

Certifications and quality

CTS runs certified quality systems at its manufacturing sites, and its automotive plants hold IATF 16949:2016, the automotive-industry quality standard, with published certificates for sites including Matamoros, Mexico and Ostrava, Czech Republic. IATF 16949 is the sector norm for direct automotive suppliers, and the company posts individual site certificates on its own website. As an engineered-solutions supplier working to OEM and tier-one program requirements, CTS also carries the design, testing, and production-approval disciplines those programs require.

Known customers

CTS names its largest customers in its annual report through customer-concentration disclosure, which makes two OEM relationships a matter of public record:

No other single customer exceeded 10 percent of net sales in 2025. The declining concentration of both accounts reflects the company's deliberate diversification away from transportation and toward industrial, medical, and aerospace and defense end markets.

Sourcing evidence

CTS's US import record reads like that of a global manufacturer feeding its own operations, not a reseller. The Brownsville, Texas import entity, adjacent to CTS's owned plants in Matamoros, Mexico, shows 1,465 sea shipments on record from January 2015 through September 2026, with the most recent landing September 21, 2026. A large share of the flow comes from CTS's own overseas plants, which appear in the bill-of-lading data as suppliers:

By origin, the shipments lead with China (504), Malaysia (212), Taiwan (182), and Spain (175), followed by Hong Kong, Portugal, the United Kingdom, and South Korea. By HS chapter, the product mix leads with motor-vehicle parts (HS 8708, covering pedals and shafts) alongside electronic parts. The mix of intra-company transfers and outside suppliers across Asia and Europe is a useful read for buyers weighing nearshoring and tariff exposure, since CTS already runs owned capacity in Mexico close to the US market.

Coverage caveats: these are US ocean-freight records only. Air, truck, and rail movements, including most US-Mexico flows, do not appear; some records name freight intermediaries rather than manufacturers; and product categories come from declared manifest codes, which are noisy. Absence of a record is not evidence of absence.

Frequently asked questions

What does CTS make for the automotive industry?

CTS designs and manufactures automotive position and speed sensors, accelerator (throttle) pedals, electronic brake pedals, pedal and foot-control modules, and AC and DC current sensors for electric and hybrid vehicle motors. It sells these as engineered solutions to OEMs and tier-one suppliers for light and commercial vehicles.

Who owns CTS Corporation?

CTS Corporation is a publicly traded company listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker CTS. It was founded in 1896 as Chicago Telephone Supply and incorporated in Indiana in 1929. Its headquarters are in Lisle, Illinois.

What is CTS Corporation's annual revenue?

CTS reported net sales of $541.3 million for fiscal year 2025, up 5.2 percent from $514.8 million in 2024, with net income of $65 million (12.1 percent of sales). The company guided to $550 to $580 million in revenue for 2026.

Who are CTS Corporation's customers?

CTS names Toyota Motor Corporation (11.2 percent of 2025 net sales) and Cummins, Inc. (8.4 percent) as significant customers in its annual report. It supplies OEMs and tier-one suppliers across transportation, industrial, medical, and aerospace and defense markets.

Where is CTS Corporation headquartered?

CTS Corporation is headquartered at 4925 Indiana Avenue, Lisle, Illinois 60532. It manufactures in more than a dozen locations across North America, Europe, and Asia, including sites in the United States, Mexico, the Czech Republic, Poland, Denmark, Taiwan, the Philippines, and China.

Is CTS Corporation IATF 16949 certified?

Yes. CTS's automotive manufacturing sites hold IATF 16949:2016, the automotive-industry quality management standard, with individual site certificates published on the company's website, including for Matamoros, Mexico and Ostrava, Czech Republic.

Last verified September 27, 2026. Is this your company? Request a correction.