Best to get in quick if you’re in the market for a T88 turbo as Teikoku Databankas, Japan’s largest credit research company, yesterday announced that Japanese tuning firm Trust has just filed for bankruptcy in Tokyo’s District Court.
Known as GReddy in the states, Trust is reportedly USD$60 million in debt and has opted to shut down operations in the face of declining sales and increased costs.
It was not looking good back in February of this year when Trust reported a drop in annual sales of USD$53 million while in the process amassing USD$43 million in loan repayments. Things did not improve and Trust has been forced to call it quits.
Founded in 1976 and employing close to 200 workers, Trust has produced a range of performance components, including exhausts, turbos, cooling systems, and electronics for some of the hottest cars in Japan and America.
Trust’s US presence, GReddy, was established in 1994 to avoid trademark issues and made solid contributions to Trust’s bottom line with 1998 sales figures topping USD$80 million. Since then, sales have seen continual decline to a point where the burden to continue operations is now too great.
With Apexi, Buddy Club, and Bomex having all experienced similar difficulties in the last year or two, it’s evident that increasing pressure from cheaper imitations - and a volatile global economy - are having a substantial effect on sellers of high-end niche products.
If you don’t want to see your favourite tuner disappear, pass up on that cheap eBay turbo and get the real deal instead. For Trust/GReddy though, it might be too late.
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Oh well, one less maker of Jap crap to worry about.
What a shame that it is coming to this. Trust, such a large contributer to the tuning scene, is all but gone.
A sad day.
Jap Crap that has a million times better build quality than any Yank junk on the market. Get over yourself douche.
This IS a shame, I had no idea that these performance parts manufacturers were doing it so tough.
I guess that many owners of these sorts of cars are not loaded to begin with, so there is always that temptation for some, to buy cheaper imitation stuff that appears at first to be just as good.
We have confirmed here in Japan that Trust has filed for bankruptcy. However, we have also had reassurances that it will be “business as usual” for the time being, much like was the case with Apexera/Apexi. We will provide updates on our website regarding parts availability and any other details that come to light, but Trust isn’t going anywhere for now!
http://www.nengun.com
American cars weren’t even mentioned, that’s a tad presumptuous don’t you think.
Douche, haha, I’m a water squirting device.. Such a decimating insult.
Woe is me.
Thanks for the news Nengun, good to hear that we can continue to expect top notch components for a while yet.
Unfortunately due to cheap manufacturing in China and India this is going to keep on happening unless we decide to use quality componentry rather than go for that cheap knock-off that has been reverse engineered and manufactured in a second rate factory.
There was an article out a while ago that outlined that they could take every job from America and send it to China and China would still have a labor surplus. Kind of makes you feel small.
I suppose you think we should all drive Australian made craptaxi’s with petrol drinking dinosaur technology V8 engines..
Two “yank junk” machines are the fastest factory cars around the Nurburgring, and in completely showroom condition.
The R33 GT-R’s “breaking” of the 8 minute mark wasn’t in a factory fettled car, so its claim of being the first car to do it is hollow.
doesn’t know about other products from Trust/GReddy, exhaust wise don’t think they are top quality goods, I might be wrong tho…
The Viper ACR is hardly a showroom car, it’s a track day special… so if you’re including those, then those yank cars get their butt handed to them by the Britsh-built SR8 which does the ‘ring in 6:55…
The Viper ACR is street legal and can be bought from a showroom. Being a “track day special” makes it no different to a Porsche 911 GT3RS or a Ferrari Challenge Stradale (both of whom are considered “street”).
The Corvette ZR-1 is also a street car, and was being driven on street tyres with street alignment.
The Radical SR8, in its Nurburgring record setting trim, could not be road registered and was on full slicks at the time. Its hardly comparable.
Neither Yank car was driven by a pro driver either. In both cases, it was someone on the engineering team who did it, that happens to be able to drive reasonably well. If you watch the video of the Viper ACR’s lap, the driver is pretty rough behind the wheel. A proper driver would shave further seconds off the time.
Does anyone know if Holden ever punted a HQ Premier around the ring. 202 and trimatic? I’ve Googled it but came up empty - go figure.
Tis really bad to see such an influence in the car see go out like this.
O charlie the r35 gtr does the ring in 7:28 and it only had r type compounds to be a factory time the car must have no modifications look it up = ) As for comparing the viper and jdm its like comparing apples to oranges.
Back on topic i feel bad for the workers under them. THis is why i wont buy cheap ebay stuff the other side is you dont have to worry about a trust t88 dropping a compresser wheel where the ebay crap is like a granade.
Cheers
Anthony