ICYMI: Both BBS and Recaro have filed for bankruptcy

In reply to DeadSkunk (Warren) :

They even work in the 24th century.

An update via Facebook from Craig Donnelly, president of BBS‘s American arm:

In regards to the recent BBS Insolvency and all of the various media / posts hitting the internet over the past few days, I feel that some clarity is needed. With both Recaro and BBS filing for Insolvency in Germany within days of each other, this has really supercharged the coverage to a level that we have not seen. We have been through 5 Insolvencies with BBS Germany since 2007 and 4 of them are directly related to the cast wheel side of the business in Germany. BBS of America is owned by KW Automotive NA, and we are NOT part of the Insolvency in Germany. For over 10 years, the BBS brand has been co-owned with BBS JAPAN -Forged Wheel- 鍛造ホイール and BBS Japan also owns the BBS Motosport GmbH part of the business. The structure of BBS is complicated and when you add that to some poorly translated Germany articles, media coverage can be very unclear of the facts. More information available at https://www.bbs-usa.com/.../73322/BBS_Germany_Insolvency

In reply to David S. Wallens :

Well, thats good news!

I worked for a company that borrowed private equity money to buy a bigger company,

the merger worked out poorly and I lost my job when the private investors got to take over 

Now everyone should go order a set of LMs. :) 

David S. Wallens said:

Now everyone should go order a set of LMs. :) 

I already looked. They don't offer a 5x100 PCD option. 

Peabody said:

NickD said:

berkeleying private equity. Have the ever done anything beneficial for a company? 

Yes.

The large automotive parts manufacturing company where I worked for 25 years went from being a small/medium family owned manufacturer,supplying the big 3 and losing money to a large worldwide manufacturer supplying parts to almost everybody and making large money in the process. It was a great place to work (under the private equity company(s)), until it was purchased by a private manufacturer. 

You probably only ever hear the bad stories associated with PE firms, and not the good ones.

Good PEs? I would contend there are none because of their very nature.

PEs are one time short term gains...........they are akin to using steroids, pump yourself up see miraculous short term gains.............then an inevitable collapse.

Your case is a perfect example; inevitably the company became worse. Sure in the short term some people made a very good return. 

PE's are in essence a pump and dumps.

Knowingly saddling a company with debt, knowing full well it will collapse in the medium to long term is a horrendous business strategy as well as bordering on predatory.

The main problem, I feel,  with most PE firms is that they're already looking flip the purchase before it's even made, and most certainly don't know much about the product(s) those companies produce.

In reply to Toyman! :

So...Boeings shenanigans have trickled down to the automotive industry....my conspiracy the theory spidy sence is tingling 

DWNSHFT said:

When I hear Recaro all I think of are the seats out of 80s Porsches

 

 

 

I think of Evos and MKIV Supras with confetti pattern. 
 

Side note, if BBS and Recaro made 10% off every set of fake BBS and fake Recaros I see on these ebay builds, they'd still be doing fine. 

Toyman! said:

I read that this morning. 

The last time I saw a Recaro seat still in the box was at the Boeing plant in Charleston. They apparently make pilots seats as well as car seats. 

Believe it or not, they make EVERY seat on some Alitalia planes.

Slippery said:

In reply to Toyman! :

Actually, not only the pilot seats, most of the passenger seats are made by them as well. 

You beat me.

A 401 CJ said:

Toyman! said:

I read that this morning. 

The last time I saw a Recaro seat still in the box was at the Boeing plant in Charleston. They apparently make pilots seats as well as car seats. 

Believe it or not, they make EVERY seat on some Alitalia planes.

Alaska airlines as well

Sounds like this news is overblown and out of context, as usual.

Regarding private equity- except in the case of hostile takeovers of public companies (very VERY rare), the management teams and boards of these companies make conscious choices to do PE deals, often because the companies have been mismanaged or underperforming up until that point, or because their previous investors never got what they expected/deserved and need liquidity.  I'm no big fan of PE takeovers, but the circumstances that lead to the takeover in the first place have usually been brewing for years and the end results often would have been inevitable.  Consumers like us only see the brand and products, we don't get insight into what kind of shape the company is actually in. 

ShinnyGroove (Forum Supporter) said:

Sounds like this news is overblown and out of context, as usual.

 

Regarding private equity- except in the case of hostile takeovers of public companies (very VERY rare), the management teams and boards of these companies make conscious choices to do PE deals, often because the companies have been mismanaged or underperforming up until that point, or because their previous investors never got what they expected/deserved and need liquidity.  I'm no big fan of PE takeovers, but the circumstances that lead to the takeover in the first place have usually been brewing for years and the end results often would have been inevitable.  Consumers like us only see the brand and products, we don't get insight into what kind of shape the company is actually in. 

Also PE comes in when a founder wants to cash out.  I have no problem with that.   I do have a problem with the financial shenanigans PE is allowed to implement to essentially, in layman's terms, load the company up with debt to buy itself.  PE in general has little to no interest in the products or services that the "purchased" company provided.  The private investors are made whole (and usually gain a nice profit - taxed as investment income BTW) by selling off the company's assets - not by building better products or delivering better services.  It is a wholly wrong-headed way to do business and the few key laws that underpin it need to be changed.  It's a cancer.

When the majority of commenters in the very liberal (ahem, ahem, throat clear) Wall Street Journal say the same thing I just did, I think there's a clear issue.

j_tso said:

z31maniac said:

That looks like an old school school BMW/VW seat, those in good condition are already $$$$$$

Yep, they brought back the LS and LX a few years ago. Link

There must be some sort of premium for pepita pattern cloth or the foam because they're $1k more than their other similar models.

I work for an aftermarket automotive seat company (not Recaro) so I can't speak to Recaro pricing specifically. In my experience, one challenge with Pepita is the size of the roll. The mills that produce it only offer sizes too small to work with automated machinery, meaning that every process (not just assembly/stitching) has to be done by hand...unrolling, adhering foam backing, pattern layout, cutting, etc. For reference for those unfamiliar, cloth upholstery materials receive a backing of a thin sheet of foam bonded to the back. The backing gives the cloth a little more structure and helps with a smooth and pleasing look and feel on the finished seat.

By it's nature, upholstery material has to have a little stretch/give to fit complex shapes snugly, and to last with lots of repeated sitting. Before the backing is applied, the cloth can get stretched or skewed. On a geometric pattern like Pepita, applying backing by hand perfectly straight with no waves or wiggles is really hard. Hand labor is expensive. Waste from imperfections is expensive.

BTW, if anyone knows a source for auto-upholstery-durable Pepita made in 40m lengths, I'd love to hear about it!