The word from Japan is that Zero Sports is now bankrupt.

That just adds to the already bad news that Abbey Road Company (ARC) recently went bankrupt.

These two companies both brought a lot of excitement and passion to the movement over the years. Support the innovators.

Naturally I’m concerned when I hear incorrect rumors, so I’d like to set the record straight on Japanese high end tuning brand Zele.

Zele, back in January restructured their organization, bankrupted the previous company, and switched ownership to a Japanese owner in Osaka. This was a result of their original business of selling used cars weighing down the company financially, due mostly to difficult economic times in Japan.  Zele brand products which debuted a couple of years ago continue to remain the future of Zele and have been doing quite well. When I talked with Kamata-san years ago (President of Zele), it was already apparent that the company’s focus was being put increasingly into developing original parts and lesser into the used car business. In short, Zele parts have been, and continue to be, the future of Zele since long before the bankruptcy/restructuring. In order to save the future of the company (original parts production) the old company needed to go through bankruptcy to clear out the used car business.

As a result Zele as a brand is stronger than ever. For example, their 370Z kit finally came out now that the restructuring has been completed. The same minds behind Zele’s parts development remain to ensure future quality remains at the level we have come to expect (did you know that some of Zele’s parts are produced with the same factories that make OEM Spec-V parts?). GT-RR/370ZTune.com/Bulletproof remains their North American distributor and has more stock coming in shortly for popular applications.

For anyone out there hearing false rumors of Zele being gone, the only thing that’s gone from a customer perspective is the used car business. Zele parts continue to be made in Japan at the same high-end factories and continue to be supplied reliably to the international market.

If you have any questions please feel free to email me directly ben@bespokeventures.com, I’ve been very close with Zele for years and I’m happy to answer all questions.

In industry news, Autobacs USA filed bankruptcy last week. The future is unknown at this time for the US branches of Autobacs. This is sad news for Autobacs and their related companies as surely everyone is feeling the burden right now.  As a disclaimer, Autobacs USA has been purchasing parts from my business for years and I’ve been buying parts from them as well. As such, I wont say anything here or in comment replies sensitive to that working relationship.

As you all most likely already know, Autobacs is a dominant chain of automotive parts retail stores in Japan and is publicly traded  Japan. They made considerable investment into the USA marketplace in recent years with the hopes of expansion into major US cities. Although this has been a challenge and may or may not be halted entirely, Autobacs Japan will continue on. Autobacs is a major contributor to motorsport of all kinds, managing racing teams in various series. Additionally Autobacs is responsible for the creation of ASM, the specialty high end tuning shop and parts manufacturer.

Bulletproof Automotive introduced ASM as thee role of ASM’s exclusive North American distributor years ago and then handed off distribution rights to Autobacs USA (rightfully as they are the parent company of ASM) when the first Autobacs USA store opened. It should be noted that ASM’s distribution will continue on in North America and Bulletproof will still have steady access to ASM parts, as always.

As Autobacs is a public traded company, a report on the bankruptcy and company financials is available for public viewing:

http://www.autobacs.co.jp/en/news/news_en.php?id=1181