BBS is out of business

[TURBO2GO]

We know that we have all different preferences. Mine are:
1. Safety
2. Design
3. Weight
4. Price

For weight we can have a look at http://gti-vr6.net/library/wheels_tires_brakes/wheels_weight/wheels2_17.html where the BBS are good to average.

The BBS that are on that page are way above most of the other wheels in 17x10 in terms of lightweight, probably would be at the top in terms of strength, and those are their CAST wheels, not the forged models. Go to the tirerack and look at the weights of BBS wheels, they are well below almost any other wheel. But weight is easy to do, if you give up strength. You can easily get a lighter cast wheel for 1/2 the price of a good lightweight forged wheel. BBS wheels are EXTREMELY strong. You may not care about the process so much, but their cold forging techniques are what makes them so strong.

As for reputation in racing, no amount of marketing will let an F1 team run a shitty wheel on their car. BBS has a reputation in racing because they have earned it. If you want to talk about marketing, there are probably two dozen wheel companies with no ties to racing that have a name on the street because of good marketing. BBS isn't one of them.

To me BBS going out of business is like Mclaren or Lotus saying they are going out... its sad. The BBS RS is a wheel that is a classic because that thin multi-spoke design works wonders for strength and weight... unfortunately it doesn't make it into the fashion magazines.

 

[goldNSX]

As for reputation in racing, no amount of marketing will let an F1 team run a shitty wheel on their car. BBS has a reputation in racing because they have earned it. If you want to talk about marketing, there are probably two dozen wheel companies with no ties to racing that have a name on the street because of good marketing. BBS isn't one of them.

Agree with you with a slight difference. F1 IS marketing in its best form. By the perception of 99.9% of the watchers it's racing. But economically spoken all can be summed up by a statement by no less than Enzo Ferrari as he explained to Bernie Ecclestone his business: "Here (he pointed his finger ON a table) we do racing and here (he pointed his finger UNDER a table) we do business"
Reputation is a result of marketing. I don't think that BBS has an advantage over other manufacturers as far as F1-engagement is concerned. IF a wheel producer does act as a F1-supplier they are surely aware of the potential risk of bad reputation like broken wheels or whatever. They all cook with the same tools in general.

 

[TURBO2GO]

Agree with you with a slight difference. F1 IS marketing in its best form. By the perception of 99.9% of the watchers it's racing. But economically spoken all can be summed up by a statement by no less than Enzo Ferrari as he explained to Bernie Ecclestone his business: "Here (he pointed his finger ON a table) we do racing and here (he pointed his finger UNDER a table) we do business"
Reputation is a result of marketing. I don't think that BBS has an advantage over other manufacturers as far as F1-engagement is concerned. IF a wheel producer does act as a F1-supplier they are surely aware of the potential risk of bad reputation like broken wheels or whatever. They all cook with the same tools in general.

Maybe so... but BBS actually has been a pioneer in many wheel manufacturing technologies. By the way their cheapest wheel passes German TUV and Japanese JWL requirements.

 

[goldNSX]

Maybe so... but BBS actually has been a pioneer in many wheel manufacturing technologies. By the way their cheapest wheel passes German TUV and Japanese JWL requirements.

pioneer or not, that's of no importance to me as far the other wheel-producers produce good wheels. Again, BBS is (was) a good producer.

 

[GTOneUSA]

Dang.... I guess good BBS wheels will now go up. BBS is one of the lightest wheels out there..

I hope so, mine is currently for sale :biggrin:

 

[myopicpaideia]

Babelfish is very weak, what a crap translation! Since accounting is not my only degree, and I lived in Germany for a couple years, here is what that notice really is all about.

BBS is not out of business. Check the German Stock Exchange. That link is to a notice put out by BBS (As required because it is a public Company) that they it had a much worse fourth quarter than anticipated. It says that on the basis of preliminary data the YTD net income will be 1.7M Euros less than the prior year. This was caused not only by the weak fourth quarter performance, but also compounded by increased raw materials and energy costs as well as expenditures incurred related to debt restructuring measures. It ends by noting that the Company's net income for the year remains at about 200M Euros.

The second paragraph is just an informational commentary about the nature of the business BBS is in (Worldwide technology leader in high quality lightweight alloy wheels and due to their extensive product research and development efforts enjoy an excellent image in their industry) and goes on to say that BBS stock is exchanged on the Frankfurt, Stuttgart, and Berlin stock exchanges. Further information can be found at their corporate website, www.bbs-ag.com (Which has an english version, and and american version no less)

It is really no big deal, at 200M of net income, they aren't in any real trouble at all.

You're welcome everyone!

 

[goldNSX]

???

For those who still don't believe it, here's a message from the renomée FAZ: http://www.faz.net/d/invest/meldung.aspx?id=41094727
Feel free to translate it by whatever tool you find on the internet if you don't like Babelfish.
It's true there still on the stock market exchange board, it's true that they had a warning about 4rd quartal profits AND it's also true (according to the FAZ) that they must have problems with liquidity which forced them to report insolvency (in german 'Insolvenzantrag').

Ok, it was a little bit early of me to call them out of business but if there happens no wonder there will be logically very soon out of business. So it was a anticipation of what most likely will happen this or next few months. Sorry about that.

I've checked the german stock exchange, let's the graph tells you: http://deutsche-boerse.com/dbag/dis...g=de&wplist=DE0005196232&view=InOverview_Equi

 

[myopicpaideia]

It appears that BBS IS going into administration (meaning bankrupcty proceedings), and if they can't find a way to restucture their debt satisfactorily, (it says that it fell through due to a very large customer not being able to pay as planned because its bank was not willing to front the money or some such) they mey be in trouble.

However, just because they are going into bankruptcy proceedings does not mean they are going out of business. The article states that their initial restucturing plan fell through. I'm sure they have other plans that are less favorable, but will work.

Oh, and Goldnsx, I apologize, I only clicked on your second link, and didn't even look at the German Forum. My Bad. No wonder I couldn't make sense of your babelfish translation at all (although Babelfish is crap).

 

[CL65 Captain]

My company is currently in Bankruptcy and they will emerge this spring after raping the employees and reorganizing their debt and leases. They will be making money hand or fist next year.

BTW: At the same time that they got a judge to void our contract and impose their terms and then order an injunction against a strike, they turned a $50m profit for the year all while in Bankruptcy.

 

[myopicpaideia]

Exactly! BBS will not go out of business. Most corporate bankruptcies are only on paper anyway! (Due to Generally Accepted Accrual Accounting Principles, both US and International)

Notice how in my first post (#30) I say they made 200 Million Euros (Approximately $260.7 million)? Based on reading Goldnsx's articles, their liquidity ratios took a dive due to impairments and/or collection issues with a big client, and triggered them to fail to meet financial covenants to their lenders, making all of their debt due immediately. The banks would not sign exemption waivers, and so now they need to go into bankruptcy proceedings and try to hash out new deals with their lenders, hack off "luxury" employees, and streamline their financial statement projections in the process.

BTW, Captain, sorry to hear about that, the corporate world is a really big bitch, man. A cove of sharks, a den of cut-throats, if you will. I see it from the outside looking in all the time.

Luckily for me, in my profession, I'm in demand for the forseeable future. More rules and regulations means more for me to test compliance with...

 

[Jim]

Re: BBS sold to Belgian firm

From: http://www.motorauthority.com/news/industry/bbs-sold-to-belgian-firm/

BBS sold to Belgian firm

Posted on Friday 29 June 2007

The maker of some of our favorite performance wheels, BBS, has been sold to Belgian holding company Punch International. Though full details of the acquisition are yet to be finalized, some employees will be losing their jobs in an effort to turnaround the rim manufacturer’s poor financial results.

Back in February, BBS voluntarily entered an insolvency request following a loss of €3.8 million last year because of a sharp rise in the price of aluminum. This latest deal is regarded as a success by most of BBS’ 1,200 odd staff, who were notified today of the latest development.

Under the new deal with Punch, BBS subsidiaries in Italy and the US will remain independent, while a proposed project in China is still under negotiation. Either way, it’s good to see that there’ll be a continued supply of our favorite wheels. The trademark mesh pattern with deep dish lip in particular will always be on our wishlist.