Wheel Pros Bankruptcy

Rockwood

Rockwood

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www.moderntiredealer.com

Wheel Pros Owner Hoonigan Declares Bankruptcy

Hoonigan, which was known up until October 2023 as Wheel Pros LLC, has filed for Chapter 11 relief.
www.moderntiredealer.com www.moderntiredealer.com

Not Hoonigan the Ken Block YouTube channel, Wheel Pros, which changed its name to Hoonigan after acquiring the brand.


This includes a lot of brands we’re familiar with. KMC, American Racing, Fuel, Teraflex, Smittybilt, 4WP, etc.

www.hoonigan.com

Brands | Hoonigan

From wheels and suspension to lighting and accessories, our carefully curated brand portfolio is a testament to our commitment to excellence and service. We take pride in building a platform for each of our brands and partners to be represented on the world stage with prestige and success.
www.hoonigan.com
 
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I had read they bought the Hoonigan brand after Ken Block's passing.
 
Maybe Greg Adler can buy back 4wheel Parts as that is part of Wheel-pros.
 
I think this guy explained it really well. They filed a chapter 11 and not a chapter 7 bankruptcy so they have a chance at a restructure before fully liquidating everything. But it’s ridiculous these firms buying out these companies and have no flippin clue about why they were successful in the first place.

 
racedezert said:
these firms buying out these companies and have no flippin clue about why they were successful in the first place
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I've been l8ving this for the last 15 years. And even when we tell the management, our distributors tell the management, and when the customers tell the management..... they just don't care. Another RIF and all will be fine....
 
Rockwood said:
www.moderntiredealer.com

Wheel Pros Owner Hoonigan Declares Bankruptcy

Hoonigan, which was known up until October 2023 as Wheel Pros LLC, has filed for Chapter 11 relief.
www.moderntiredealer.com www.moderntiredealer.com

Not Hoonigan the Ken Block YouTube channel, Wheel Pros, which changed its name to Hoonigan after acquiring the brand.


This includes a lot of brands we’re familiar with. KMC, American Racing, Fuel, Teraflex, Smittybilt, 4WP, etc.

www.hoonigan.com

Brands | Hoonigan

From wheels and suspension to lighting and accessories, our carefully curated brand portfolio is a testament to our commitment to excellence and service. We take pride in building a platform for each of our brands and partners to be represented on the world stage with prestige and success.
www.hoonigan.com
Click to expand...

That's a shame..

Most wouldn't know now but years back wheel pro's was the title sponsor of rdp for years. I knew something was wonky when they told me they were quitting all digital advertising and going to print. :oops: I had a pretty lengthy conversation with the people in charge asking them if they realized that print was dead, and even playboy was having a hard time making it work?

I got the impression that who ever was making that decision musta had a buddy in the print world and he was probably getting some kinda kick back or something. The whole thing was bizarre.

For a good while there they were flat out printing money.

I haven't bought a set of wheels off them in years, but back in the day they'd just send them.. After they cancelled the title sponsorship they put me on a friends and family program where I could still buy them cheaper than cost.

RD
 
RiverDave said:
That's a shame..

Most wouldn't know now but years back wheel pro's was the title sponsor of rdp for years. I knew something was wonky when they told me they were quitting all digital advertising and going to print. :oops: I had a pretty lengthy conversation with the people in charge asking them if they realized that print was dead, and even playboy was having a hard time making it work?

I got the impression that who ever was making that decision musta had a buddy in the print world and he was probably getting some kinda kick back or something. The whole thing was bizarre.

For a good while there they were flat out printing money.

I haven't bought a set of wheels off them in years, but back in the day they'd just send them.. After they cancelled the title sponsorship they put me on a friends and family program where I could still buy them cheaper than cost.

RD
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The whole thing smells like a pump n dump…

And yeah, we had sponsorships with similar companies that just out and quit on us for no real reason. Was shitty overall.
 
All the PE firms seem to have the same playbook for US manufacturing companies in "specialized markets".
Automotive aftermarket is the ripest for them. So many manufacturers started by families and grew but were under tight control - they age out and see a decent windfall and they are gone. The VC's and mostly PE's look at the brands, slim down the offerings to just the A movers, they consolidate manufacturing often losing the people that have the tribal knowledge and understanding of the market . They replace the leadership with people that "consolidate costs and often outsource everything including customer service, and they all seem to fail ....
 
How many years is this going to continue before companies figure out this is not sustainable.....
 
Years ago I worked for a company which was bought out by Holley. They are embedded in the aftermarket world but not much better since they are publicly traded. It is doing a fraction of the business it did before purchase and I warned them all. Matter of fact, I was part of the merger team. Our lead warned them that if they messed up the integration, it would be difficult to purchase other companies in the future. Most of these businesses are Mom & Pop before acquisitions and don't want to see their hard work squandered. Her job was to keep the higher-ups on task, they didn't do their job so she called them out (the job they hired her to do)....so they fired her. I didn't last long either.
 
Fullthrottleguy said:
All the PE firms seem to have the same playbook for US manufacturing companies in "specialized markets".
Automotive aftermarket is the ripest for them. So many manufacturers started by families and grew but were under tight control - they age out and see a decent windfall and they are gone. The VC's and mostly PE's look at the brands, slim down the offerings to just the A movers, they consolidate manufacturing often losing the people that have the tribal knowledge and understanding of the market . They replace the leadership with people that "consolidate costs and often outsource everything including customer service, and they all seem to fail ....
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Fucking mystery why they fail...
 
BENCH said:
Years ago I worked for a company which was bought out by Holley. They are embedded in the aftermarket world but not much better since they are publicly traded. It is doing a fraction of the business it did before purchase and I warned them all. Matter of fact, I was part of the merger team. Our lead warned them that if they messed up the integration, it would be difficult to purchase other companies in the future. Most of these businesses are Mom & Pop before acquisitions and don't want to see their hard work squandered. Her job was to keep the higher-ups on task, they didn't do their job so she called them out (the job they hired her to do)....so they fired her. I didn't last long either.
Click to expand...
It was so sad to see what they did to AEM when "Holley" bought them. not sure if they can ever return to their former glory.
 
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