🛞 Brembo’s Plan for Big Bucks
The merger between Brembo and Öhlins forms an automotive powerhouse
HAPPY RACE DAY! especially to GReddy Performance, the iconic tuner brand that celebrated 30 years in the U.S. last weekend. The American arm of Trust Ltd., has been instrumental since the ‘90s import scene.
President and managing director Kenji Sumino started with the company in 1995 and survived bankruptcy in 2008. Afterward, GReddy stayed in the U.S. when other Japanese brands left, and now they have three decades to show for it. Sumino also contributed vital information for my 2023 book Cult of GT-R.
“We have a strong brand,” he told me last year. “We’re trying to keep that GReddy/Trust heritage to reeducate new guys coming in—and having fun with it.”
Here’s to 30 more.
In today’s email: 👇
JCCS Recap: Our coming out party was a blast!
Brembo Preps for Domination: Braking giant makes big move
Your Mom Goes Rallying: Kelly and her E30 hit the dirt
Thanks for joining us. Read on for more.
WHAT’S NEW
Carrara Media at JCCS 2024
The country’s largest Japanese car meet rolled into Long Beach last weekend. We were there as a proud sponsor to celebrate. Here’s a rundown:
📚 We launched new books! JCCS was the debut for two titles: A special 1-of-100 Cult of GT-R | JCCS Edition; and the final installment of The Prototype Trilogy by Sam Mitani. Sign up at the link to be notified for preorders.
🚗 We welcomed great cars! Big shoutout to our friends Jimmy (with the green Silvia S13 above) and Alex (with the white R34 GT-R). Both cars illustrate our JDM passion and set the tone for the day.
🏆 We had a HUGE team effort! I wasn’t able to make the show, but thankfully we had heroic work from our Carrara Media friends and supporters. Emma, Jeff, Michael, Natalie and Ellis were rockstars all weekend!
Watch our recap video on Instagram for more.
CAN’T GET OVER THIS
Check the wheels on Jimmy’s Silvia. Those are inspired by the iconic Japanese anime Initial D and the video he made about them has 600,000 views.
FEATURE ARTICLE
An Auto Alliance for Our Times
The braking juggernaut Brembo made waves last week when it announced the acquisition of suspension company Öhlins for a cool $405 million.
To enthusiasts, it’s a meeting of icons. Brembo is THE braking company. It has legendary racing history, provides the brakes in F1, and is coveted on the street.
Öhlins is, if not THE suspension company, a very highly-regarded one. (The notoriously picky Oilstainlab twins will use Öhlins on their supercar.)
To business insiders, this is a picture-perfect marriage:
Brembo brings Öhlins into its rapidly growing family of brands, which now comprises almost an entire car. Öhlins not only makes suspensions, but also steering components and software.
Öhlins gets the green flag to become an industry leader. Its CEO said the company is “committed to developing the next generation of mechatronic suspension technology for both road and track.” (Sounds expensive.)
THE M&A TSUNAMI IS HERE
Analysts have predicted for years that mergers and acquisitions, or M&A, would be on the rise in the automotive aftermarket.
We pointed in August to a McKinsey report that noted:
The shift to electrification will require huge investments in R&D.
Companies will scale to more easily absorb that spending. And reap the rewards.
Brembo, a publically traded company based in Italy, doesn’t just want to grow sales. It wants to become a giant supplier of parts throughout the entire car.
“With this addition, we take another step forward in our strategy to provide integrated intelligent solutions to our customers" said Matteo Tiraboschi, the company’s executive chairman.
That’s a big hint. Sure, consumer sales of shocks are great. But Brembo is looking for smart suspension systems that use sensors to read the road and adjust in real-time. The info is then relayed to your steering wheel and brakes. All as one.
This is less like Holley or Edelbrock—which seek to increase consumer sales. It’s more like giant conglomerates Bosch or ZF Friedrichshafen—which seek B2B sales from global automakers and trucking companies.
THE $$$ BREAKDOWN
One look at the revenue sheet shows the divide between the two companies.
Öhlins is expected to hit about $144 million in revenue this year.
Brembo, which is really a conglomerate of many high-performance brands, cleared more than $2 billion in the first half of this year.
This comes as the U.S. aftermarket has hit a snag. The industry grew to a total $52 billion in 2023, however many brands struggled to meet pandemic-era sales.
According to SEMA, the domestic brakes market only grew from $2.39 billion to $2.42 billion last year. The suspension market grew from $3.04 B to $3.08 B.
There’s strength in numbers. Both brands can now ride out a slow sales period, and prepare to capitalize on the expected electrification wave.
SOUND FAMILIAR?
If and when the deal is finalized in 2025, Öhlins will no longer be owned by Tenneco.
(Tenneco is backed by Apollo Management Group, the private equity firm that also owns Yahoo and recently sold Autoblog for an undisclosed sum.)
Öhlins ended up being a nice little investment:
In 2018, Tenneco purchased Öhlins for $160 million.
Six years later, it sold the company for $405 million.
Not bad for selling shock absorbers. As mobility consultant Rémi Hébras points out, Tenneco bought Öhlins for 1.2x revenue and sold it for 2.8x.
“This move is all about focusing on what we do best and reinforcing our financial strength to fuel Tenneco’s future,” said Tenneco CEO Jim Voss.
It’s also about Brembo’s ambitions. And now—after an aggressive buying streak that included companies making brake pads, brake discs, wheels and clutch plates—the company has a shiny new suspension brand to take racing. And beyond.
Ask A Millennial! Kelly Conroy, 38
Over the weekend, our friend Kelly competed in her first rally race! Not only did she race, she got faster with each session. I asked her for a recap:
The race experience was actually much lower pressure than I expected! Everyone was driving such different cars and had varying levels of experience so it didn't feel like a competition. It felt like everyone was there to have fun and do their best!
I honestly cannot believe how far I've come in just 8 months! I was so scared to learn how to drive stick I cried! And now I'm in this space where I can look back on all the things I've done and feel so much more confident and resilient. I have this new sense of freedom knowing that fear won't stop me from doing what I want anymore.
I took advice from my incredible Dirtfish instructor, Michelle Miller, and used them as a mantra: "Look where you want to go. Feel the car. Have fun!" Those remind me to be present and grounded in the moment and focus on the direction I'm headed. Which is great life advice too!
I was really worried I wouldn't fit in! I thought I had to be a certain type of "car girl" or would be seen as an imposter or outsider. I honestly have never been welcomed so warmly in my life. Every single woman I've interacted with from professionals to hobbyists has been so generous, helpful, and genuinely supportive. I honestly cry about it sometimes because it's so beautiful to see all of these women supporting each other. It's absolutely incredible!
LINK CENTRAL
💪 Tough as nails: Rally driver Lia Block, daughter of the late Ken Block, went off course during the Lake Superior ARA event last week and shook hands with a tree. Thankfully she was okay. It’s part of rallying.
🛠️ Built not bought: Our good friends at the Strickland Motor Co. are prepping to debut their first car at SEMA in a few weeks. Their frequent Instagram updates have been fun to track.
💨 Lucrative pipes: Truck upgrades are big business. The exhaust specialists at Flowmaster announced a new power upgrade for Ford, Ram and GM called the Signature Series that’s sure to be popular.
🇯🇵 Factory fresh: Nismo, the tuning division of Nissan, is offering brand-new parts for the 1989-1992 R32 Skyline GT-R to celebrate its 40th anniversary. Nismo parts are always in high demand — get yours before the backlog builds.
🦖 Speaking of GT-R: Someone stole an Australian market R32 GT-R off the showroom floor of Nissan HQ near Melbourne. It’s been missing nearly a week. My book Cult of GT-R explains why AU models are so special.
😂 Laugh it off: The comedian Rachel Samples runs a great IG account called Hey Free Samples, which has recently made some excellent car videos. Check out this one on the Alfa Romeo Giulia TI.
AND FINALLY…
Automotive photographer and Carrara Media author Kevin McCauley released a new video of photography tips, this time on the use of drones.
To see drone-assisted shots like the Diablo above, plus many others, check out Kevin’s book Waiting for the Sun to Come Down, which we’re preparing to ship very soon.
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