You’ve probably heard the news by now that wheel manufacturer BBS has filed bankruptcy in Germany. The announcement, however, has led to some misunderstandings on how exactly this will affect the company’s supply and operations on a global scale, specifically here in our market.
People have been asking whether or not this will impede the supply of local distributors in the Philippines. Well, to answer your question: No.
BBS GmbH, the specific company that recently filed insolvency, only shares the brand name with BBS Japan Co., Ltd., BBS Motorsport, and BBS of America. However, the German marque is an entirely separate entity from the three. This means that production for other markets will continue as usual.
We reached out to Excellar Enterprise, Inc.— authorized distributor of BBS wheels in the Philippines—and got in touch with the owner, Jeff Tan. We’re sharing his statement below, and we hope this clears things out:
“As some of you know, BBS GmbH (Germany) filed for bankruptcy last week. I would just like to make it clear that this does not change anything in terms of supplying wheels to distributors like us. Production of all BBS products (cast and flow form) will continue with no disruption to BBS aftermarket or OE customers. It is just a debt restructuring process for them.
“Also, this only affects BBS GmbH which makes the cast and flow form wheels. BBS Japan (forged wheels) and BBS Motorsport (racing wheels) are totally independent and different from BBS GmbH so this does not affect them.
“The low OE wheel demands due to low car sales in Europe brought about by this COVID-19 pandemic is the major cause for BBS GmbH’s bankruptcy.
“I appreciate everyone’s continued support for the BBS brand.”
BBS is an iconic aftermarket brand, and it would be a shame if it folded. Good to know it will still be in the market despite what’s happening in the world.
