The Turkish holding company ISH Group could not save BBS from bankruptcy, so now the company has been sold back to German KW Automotive.
The Turkish holding company ISH Group promised as late as December 2023 to pour significant sums of money into the rim manufacturer BBS.
The Turks said this would happen over a period of five years. But already in July 2024 it emerged that the coffers were empty. And that the employees were not getting paid.
But now KW Automotive, which previously sold to the Turks, has stepped in. The German suspension supplier, founded in 1992, is once again taking over the entire rim company.
This is what the German section of Motor1 writes.
According to the media outlet, KW Automotive is taking over 'everything' related to BBS. This includes everything from tools to production facilities.
Turkish owner promised huge investments but abandoned BBS
– BBS is very close to my heart, says Klaus Wohlfarth, managing partner of KW Automotive GmbH.
– After the harsh cuts of recent months, we are now laying the foundation to build a new beginning.
It is not known whether that foundation includes the 270 employees who remained at the factory when ISH bought the company after the 4th bankruptcy in 2023.
Motor1 also writes that BBS has had a very advanced and digital production line in place since 2023. However, it has been idle because the rim company had run out of money.
BBS filed for bankruptcy for the first time in 2007, followed by one in 2011, another in 2021 and again in September 2023. ISH entered the fray in 2024.
But the Turks gave up when they themselves were unable – or did not want – to spend money on rim production in July 2024. In any case, BBS declared itself insolvent at that time.
And it took almost a whole year before a permanent solution was found. As permanent as anything in the automotive industry can be.
Conversely, the historic rim company is far from being the only one to have come close to bankruptcy in recent years.
The German part of Recaro Automotive went bankrupt in October 2024. It was only when a solution was found in December that total closure was averted. Read more about it here .
