While production has now resumed at BBS’s Schiltach and Herbolzheim wheel plants, the crisis and the wheel manufacturer’s adapted 50th-anniversary celebrations have given Markus Wartosch a tricky start as the newly appointed global head of sales and marketing at BBS. He is supported in this role by Erwin Eigel, who continues as Head of the IAM division at BBS.
Alloy rim manufacturer BBS claims to have “reinterpreted the Y-spoke” pattern with its new XR design. The XR goes on sale this autumn in 18-inch sizes and a platinum silver gloss finish; BBS says 19-inch sizes and a diamond-turned finish are currently in preparation.
Donghyun Jin has always been a big city lad, but of late he’s downsized. From Seoul and its population of ten million to a village of 3,850 in Germany’s Black Forest. Donghyun Jin, senior director of the Manufacturing division at NICE Holdings (majority shareholder of the BBS Group since 2015) arrived in the village of Schiltach as interim chief executive officer of BBS in order to navigate the alloy wheel manufacturer through the turbulent waters of Dieselgate and the introduction of WLTP.
Wheel manufacturer BBS says it is “strategically repositioning” itself, and has thus made a number of changes to its management team. Heinz Bartosch, chief executive officer since December 2016, was “released from his duties” as of 2 November 2018. He has been replaced with a new management team, a team that BBS says will “place a stronger focus” on expanding the BBS brand around the globe as well as on growing the company’s partnerships with OEM customers in the premium segment.
The winner of the BBS design contest has been announced, with the first prize of €10,000 prize going to two brothers. The creative minds behind the ‘Spoked wheel of today’ design are Davide and Dario Dornauer, who respectively study product design at the Bauhaus University in Weimar, Germany and Automotive Engineering at the Cologne University of Technology. They were chosen from a total of 103 applications were received from 27 German universities and 20 design submissions.
Wheel manufacturer BBS will introduce a new alloy rim designed for the Porsche 991 GT3 at next week’s Reifen fair in Germany. The BBS CH-R is available as a 20-inch fitment and will be on display at the company’s show stand (Hall 2.0, Stand 2D20) along with other rims, including the FI-R and CH-R ‘Nürburgring Edition’, and the new BBS aluminium wheel display stand for dealers.
BBS is launching a Porsche-specific 20-inch, centre lock version of its CH-R design. The “Nürburgring Edition” of the CH-R wheel will be available in 18, 19 and 20-inch sizes for a wide variety of vehicles.
An investor consortium led by Austrian industrial holding Tyrol Equity AG has signed an agreement to sell a majority stake in German high performance alloy wheel manufacturer BBS GmbH to Korea Exchange listed industrial group Nice Holdings. The parties have declined to disclose the transaction value, and the deal is subject to relevant regulatory approvals. The transaction is expected to be completed within the coming months.
Wheel manufacturer BBS is showcasing its products together with Swiss importer Carex at the Geneva International Motor Show (Stand 7450/Gate 729). The event will see the premiere of the CI-R high-performance wheel in a new platinum silver finish. The weight-optimised wheel, has a concave shape and Y-spoke design. The proven flow-forming technology and backmilled spokes facilitate a lightweight construction – the rim is even lighter than the BBS classic CH-R. The three moulds used in the production of the 20-inch wheel ensure three different concavities.
BBS has announced it is showcasing a world premiere at the Essen Motor Show – CI-R design . Other highlights at the booth in Hall 2 are the “Special Edition” of the CX-R wheel in the Satin Platinum finish and the 20-inch CH-R II which is flow-formed.
Pirates aren’t lovable rogues with eye patches and parrots perched on the shoulder. Piracy, specifically brand piracy, has become a major issue for manufacturers of well-known products. One such firm, German alloy wheel manufacturer BBS, says counterfeiters who sell online and offer everything from fake centre caps to complete wheels cause the firm significant damage, and now it is taking “appropriate measures” against these pirates.
To some of his competitors Derek Zhang is known as the “godfather” of the aluminium wheel business in China. He has been dubbed with this moniker in appreciation of the rapid development of the China Wheel, which he leads as CEO, and his deep knowledge of the competitive situation in the enormous People’s Republic.
At the moment there are about 200(!) different producers in the country. Some are so small that they are liable to disappear from the map, or have already been forced to cut production. Zhang expects a large consolidation wave, whereby the capacities of the smaller companies are taken only partially from the market; many will be absorbed by the larger players.
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