http://jalopnik.com/#!5796802/afterm...sing-its-doors

Citing poor market conditions HKS USA, formerly one of the largest aftermarket JDM performance companies in the country, is ceasing U.S. operations after nearly three decades in business. A letter obtained by Jalopnik shows the company will consolidate its work to Japan.

A letter from HKS to its dealers and vendors went out this afternoon, much to the surprise of companies who have been using HKS parts for decades. The letter blames the move on the slow economic recovery, a shrinking aftermarket, the U.S. Dollar, and the disaster in Japan.

Aftermarket pioneer HKS USA closing its doors. The company will continue to sell parts to the United States, but all operations will be transferred to HKS Co. Ltd. in Japan while HKS USA is folded.

 

that really blows!

 

That sucks. NGO is going to cry.

 

I just died a little inside......

 

At least we got Megan!

 

O I see this is finally hitting the public. Sucks to hear huh. I think were gonna stock up on a lot of stuff and hopefully find a way to use another source for a US distributor.

 

What does it matter? HKS's "support" in the US simply does not exist. It's just as bad if not worst than Trust/Greddy.

if you have a problem with your HKS products, they tell your *** to go back to "HKS dealerships" only. I mean seriously dealership is just a reseller, they don't fix the product.in the end they still have to send it back to HKS so what the hell ?

HKS products are good but if you have a problem, you're pretty much on your own. At least in the US.

Everybody saw this coming, cuz I think they "closed" the tech support phone line about 1/2 or 9 months ago, and redirect all calls to just "oh visit our web site and go to our dealership"

Am I pissed? maybe, I have a set of HiperMax III with a broken bottom mount and a HKS Intake that I never even use (intake tube MAF mount is all wrong), and guess what, no support from HKS. nice.

Bye bye HKS, I will not miss you.

 

There are many companies in the US who dont support thier own products and have you contact their resellers/distributors. HKS has a great line of products and has been a great contributor to the automotive aftermarket community.
And no, nobody saw this coming, unless you predicted that there would be a great disaster in Japan.

 

again, they've been cutting corners here and there since last year. it has nothing to do with the earthquake, its the falling dollar + rising yen that's killing their business. it hurts all Japanese companies, not just HKS.

Most HKS products are good, I mean my Hipermax III was really good until it broke --- and I can't get any help from HKS USA.

And the Intake I bought, MAF tube size is all wrong,the screw got stuck and broke. again, no support/help from HKS USA. basically just told me to go away and contact dealer. yep. like thats going to help ? and I'm pretty much stuck with a 500 something bux paper weight.


I guess this is a USA only thing ---- cuz in Japan HKS has really good support, they backed their product directly and if you have a problem you can contact them and they will fix/change it without much issue.

 

The falling dollar and rising yen did contribute to this, but many japanese companies were hurt by the disaster. Not directly at thier locations but some important raw materials manufacturers. Which is why many of them have lost some production capabilities.
HKS, TRUST, TOKICO, and etc all are going/went through price increases because of the falling value of the dollar. Dont be surprised if you see this happening with more companies in the coming months

 

supply might be an issue, but the worst is they don't have anything to sell. right ?

the problem now is they're losing money on every single piece of stuff they sell, the yen vs dollar been going worst and worst and they just can't change their prices every day. everything has a set price aka MSRP.

oh well doesn't hurt me much, like I said I don't get any after sale support from them anyway.

 

This is a sad day for the aftermarket industry.
I hope this is not the last we have heard from our friends at HKS USA.

 

 

HKS is doing very well in Asia market. mostly because people over there are "loaded" and don't mind to spent the money. a HKS GT800 kit cost 1/2 as much as our car. does not include tuning and install.

 

Do you take your RX8 directly to MNAO or do you drop by your local dealership?

Typically, when a product is purchased from a vendor, the vendor is in direct relation with the customer, thus in the position to offer the customer service. As a customer, you choose to purchase not only the part, but customer service from. Furthermore, requiring going through a vendor also prevents those who purchased the parts second hand in the event of a warranty claim. Really, this is common practice for a company who strictly does wholesale distribution. Companies that have a retail side (i.e. Racing Beat) may be a bit more flexible if not purchasing directly from them but honestly, I do not blame HKS for sending you to the dealer you purchased their part from.

Edit: And ah, there are so many factors that are contributing to the industry change, it is indeed sad

 

I had no idea that there was an HKS in the USA. It always seemed like a Japan-only company to me.

 

They like to call "companies" big distributors apparently, what HKS USA really was.

 

HKS just don't want to deal with issues because they just want money. They should treat their customers like the way Racing beat does.

Another example is K&N, when you have problem you go to K&N directly, they will not tell you to F-off and go back to their dealership network then do the RMA/fix/return/whatever

Again, this is just a HKS USA thing because in Japan or in Asia, I never had any problem dealing with warranty issues. They won't tell me to f-off and contact our dealership network.

So I wasn't surprise when they said they're closing their doors. with "this" kind of customer service, yea, you are going out of business, now pack your stuff and go back to Japan and "re-learn" how to do "real" customer service.

 

So sad, people are still losing jobs