There have been a fair amount of rumblings in the motorsport community, and in the racing press, about BBS Wheels in Germany filing for bankruptcy. As in most cases of rumblings, there are bits and pieces of truth wrapped in a lot of simple misunderstandings. So we're here to set the record straight and set everyone's (at least everyone in the U.S.) mind at ease.
Apparently, there's more than one "BBS". In fact, there are a number of separate BBS entities with really similar names. The different BBSes have different ownership groups and management teams, and they have various agreements to collaborate with one another. According to a letter we received yesterday from the President and Sales V.P. of BBS of America, the following are the entities relevant to our racing community:
- BBS of America: Based in Braselton, GA. Owned by KW Automotive NA, the North American subsidiary of KW Automotive GmbH, a German company known for developing high-performance suspension systems.
- BBS Japan: Based in Toyama, Japan. Owned by Washi Kosan Co., Ltd., a Japanese auto parts manufacturer/distributor.
- BBS Motorsport GmbH: Based in Haslach im Kinzigtal, Germany. Owned by BBS Japan.
- BBS Autotechnik GmbH: Headquartered in Schiltach, Germany. Owned by the ISH Group, a fast food management company that, for some reason, bought BBS Automotive GmbH and renamed it BBS Autotechnik GmbH.
For over 10 years, the BBS brand has been co-owned. BBS Japan owns the Forged wheel business and BBS Motorsport. BBS Autotechnik Gmbh owns the Cast wheel business. Unfortunately, this co-ownership of the brand leads to confusion when BBS Autotechnik GmbH (the cast wheel company) files for insolvency. (Actually, it's ISH Group that has filed for insolvency.) Most importantly, this has no direct financial impact on BBS of America or BBS Japan.
These two BBSes are the important ones for the North American and European racing communities. BBS Japan manufactures BBS forged wheels for the North American market. BBS of America distributes these wheels in North America (and supports NASCAR, which is very cool). BBS Motorsport in Germany manufactures forged wheels supplied to Formula One, which doesn't affect us directly but is also very cool.
So when you buy a set of BBS Motorsport or Forged Line Series forged wheels from Competition Motorsport, they're made by BBS Japan and distributed to us by BBS of America. It has nothing to do with BBS Autotechnik GmbH, solvent or not.
We hope this puts your mind at ease in terms of what's going on with BBS. As always, if you have questions about getting a set of forged BBS wheels fitted to your car, give us a call at (844) 438-7244 or email us at sales@competitionmotorsport.com. We're here to help!
