As Ford Authority reported last week, a company called First Brands – which sells a variety of aftermarket auto parts – has filed for bankruptcy. Typically, this wouldn’t have much of an impact on a company like Ford, but as it turns out, at least some of First Brands’s business comes from “original equipment manufacturers in the automotive industry,” according to that bankruptcy filing. Those documents revealed that Ford is indeed a First Brands customer in some capacity, but it was unclear at the time just how much The Blue Oval is/was involved with it.
Now, we have more details about that relationship, thanks to a new report from the New York Times. That piece reveals that First Brands sells most of its products directly to consumers, but some also go to automakers – which then sell the products under their own names. A spokesperson for First Brands declined to reveal what automotive models utilize its parts, but in the company’s bankruptcy filing, it does name both Ford Motor Company and General Motors as two companies that it currently owes money to, at least.
The report didn’t provide any comments from The Blue Oval, but a GM spokesperson stated that Ford’s rival doesn’t anticipate any “material disruption to our operations.” First Brands raked in $5 billion in sales in 2024, but only around 13 percent of that total apparently came from OEMs. First Brands sells the vast majority of its products – including Anco and Trico wiper blades, as well as Fram filters – directly to the public.
In the meantime, First Brands has received permission from the court to use $500 million or its 1.1 billion dollar in debtor-in-possession financing to continue to serve its customers, but the potential impacts on Ford’s business remain unclear at this time. It and GM aren’t the only automakers facing some sort of implications, however, as the bankruptcy filing also listed Stellantis, Volkswagen, Subaru, Honda, Toyota, Nissan, and Mitsubishi among First Brands’ clients, too.
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