ZilviaBot

09-10-2008 09:32 AM

Filed under: Aftermarket, Tuners, Government/Legal, Japan

The market for aftermarket parts from Japan has been declining for well over five years, due in part to decreased demand both at home and abroad and the rising rates of Chinese knock-offs and other inexpensive (and dubiously built) components.

Today, one of the world's largest performance parts companies, known as Trust in Japan and Greddy here in the States, declared bankruptcy. According to various reports, Trust is approximately $60 million in debt and, after reporting a serious decline in sales since February 2008 and amassing $43 million in loan payments, filed for bankruptcy in Tokyo District Court.

Trust has been around since 1976, employs almost 200 workers and had been dealing in everything from CARB-legal exhausts to turbo systems when Greddy Performance Products was founded in the U.S. in 1994. There are several firms that will step up to fill the need of enthusiasts, assuming that Trust doesn't try to reorganize, but with the aftermarket industry down overall, we suspect this won't be the last time we'll here about a large tuner going under.

[Sources: GTChannel, JDMInsider]

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i240sx2nvi

fuck them chinese ebay replicas

blu808

Ohh man. Such a great company down the drain. Sad day for sure.

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bardabe

*purs 40 ouncer on side walk*

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Grenade180sx

this is why we should say NO TO KNOCKOFFS

HyperTek

damm 60 million in debt? geeeeez

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thefro526

You guys know that just because they filed bankruptcy doesn't mean they're closing down. It most likely means they're restructuring and can't pay back their debts

s13dan

FUCK! BOYCOT ALL CHINESE KNOCKOFFS. this sucks ass. 30+ years to declare bankrupycy because of cheap ass wannabe parts.(All those parts and not even 200 employees, WOW)

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oridostyle

GReddy; Parent Company to Undergo Reorganization - DRIFTING.com

bryce with a y

bout time.

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trad1987

Here's what that played a major part guys ...

Greddy's (Trust's) home is in japan, right? Well the reason they had such declining revenues over the past years was because the potential Japanese buyers were turning to Chinese built replicas or similar parts. The reason this has been happening is because Japan has been in a recession for a long time, which is continuing to go further down. Since the market is poor, business loans run a higher risk of defaulting. This means that Greddy would have to pay higher interest rates on their business loans.

Knock offs/substitutes have been around forever. Since the Japanese economy has been doing so poorly the potential Japanese buyers are turning to cheaper substitutes to try to stretch their yen even further since their wallets since their budgets are getting smaller. The problem does not lie in their being substitutes, but the economy.

Thought id drop some knowlege on ya'll

lightsource

Very interesting.
That sucks a whole bunch. RIP GReddy in Japan.

Uhhh Mishimoto FTW!?

Silverbullet

you can not blame this on knock offs. Business is about competition. If Trust could not keep up with low level companies, there is something wrong with its business strategy.

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allntrlundrgrnd

holy smokes.

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FerretsCanDrift

Very true. Especially since not only here, but all over the world companies look to have their product made out of house for financial reasons. When multiply companies have the same product it comes down to us, the consumer, to decide how much of that mark up we want to pay that same product. Now Im not saying ALL companies have products made out of house. But those companies left that do in-house R/D and build their own product are far and few between. If they contract the product to be made by someone else, whats to say that when its sold under a different name its any better that a lesser 'reputable' shop. With the increase in 'knockoff' companies on the rise the past few years with cheaper prices for the exact same product its not hard to see how the big gun companies can decline

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trad1987

I dont understand how Greddy goes bankrupt, which everyone owns at least one part from, but companies like Top Secret are still around. Top Secret comes out with the craziest cars ($$$) but their parts are sooo damn expensive. Ive only heard of people buying their shift knobs. Who honestly is buying their $4000 accord coilovers? wtf?!

bigtom

greddy is a lowe end parts maker in the big picture. they used to be really pricey and make great stuff then made the turn to cheaper parts for cheaper prices. a lot of greddy's recent parts are made in china. thats how they got copied easily. this has been coming for a while. the same thing happened to apexi a year or so ago. they reorganized.

the economy is a big part of it. chinas labor laws are changing and prices will go up soon. mexico will start to become a bigger mfg player. a number of companies have moved to mexico or are planning to in the near future.

corporations are always going bankrupt. trump did it!!!! no need to worry much.

kognition

It sounds like different Japanese companies develop different mentalities. It's pretty apparent that China has given most of them a gut check. But it is right on the money that China will be raising it's labor prices. They have been deliberately devaluating their currency for sometime now.
Alot of small businesses i hope are taking notes.

driftstyre

Top Secret also sells their cars to wealthy shieks in the middle east for crazy money. I can't imagine the amount of overhead Trust has. The machinery they have is 10s of millions, employees doing R&D etc.

anyotherone

It doesn't surprise me at all when large corporations go bankrupt. There are tons of big companies that exist only because of a paper-shuffle, not real asset value, profits, and income.

Look at GM, Ford, Chrysler, and a ton of the financial giants that are all staring bankruptcy in the face these days. The pendulum is swinging.

trad1987

But honestly, what shiek is gonna be rockin those $4000 coilovers for the civic or accord they dont have?

flytwa78

Fuck that, Greddy will prevail!!

slw240sx

I know we are paying attention. seeing big tuner shops reorganizing and showing instability can be a very good thing for smaller U.S shops that do alot of fabrication and manufacturing of their own parts. We might actually see a shift in the market where consumers will start buying and pushing Small U.S shop products as much as they have the tuner shop parts and the big brands from japan.

When big names go under there is room for a little guy to grow into their spot, they aren't going under do to lack of a market, but because they failed to change with it.

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singlecamslam

The Chinese did it again. They just wont stop.

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turboboost12004

My friend who is a financial advisor said that the chinese will be the have the biggest economy in a few years....he said..."man start boycotting panda express".......

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trad1987

they will. That is why you should learn chinese

Koopa Troopa

Greddy went bankrupt because they offered nothing above the standard and nothing for a good price. Nobody wants to pay more for less because of a name. 50,000 yen for a 3 core Trust radiator when you can get a 3 core Delphi for less than 3/4 the price?

I bought an oil cooler kit on Yahoo Auctions for like 15,000 yen. It was suppose to be a Grex knockoff. What happened when I opened the unmarked bags it came in? Everything was stamped Grex. Just goes to show how much mark up there is for the Trust/ Greddy/ Grex packaging.

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91SuperS13

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manjijima

yea well you can also blame this on all the ebay sellers and selling greddy parts at near wholesale cost. this also brings the competition way down thus making you think why should i pay so much for a nicer exhaust. you guys didnt think the prices were too high before ebay came around. now all of a sudden greddy prices are too expensive because you know how cheap they can be made or bought at.

most supposed baller companies like top secret have small shops and dont employee 200 people. they dont have a factory. so obviously they can survive. and who knows maybe smoky is just some super rich guy that doesnt mind breaking even and just making himself a name or being famous.

Koopa Troopa

Companies like Top Secret are contracted by professional racing teams to develop set ups... That's how they stay in business. For example Pop! Nishimura designs aero kits for JGTC NSX's

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