GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – This is a question that’s been circulating widely within the industry this past year, according to Tim Vehlewald, president and CEO ACL Distribution Inc. Rumors that the business is going away have been making their way through the aftermarket grapevine as well. 
Vehlewald recently spoke with aftermarketNews to set the record straight. Those who were concerned can rest easy, he said. Changes are occurring, he said; however, they are happening in Australia at ACL’s main manufacturing operations, not directly within ACL Distribution Inc., which is based in Grand Rapids, Mich.
ACL in Australia is a major supplier to Ford in the country. Ford, along with Chevy and possibly, Toyota, are pulling out of Australia, and as a result, the receivers who run ACL Australia have announced plans to close the business in June 2014.
Will this impact business in the U.S.? Yes, Vehlewald says, but they are ready.
"This isn’t anything new. We’ve been preparing for this for several years," said Vehlewald.
Ever since the news began to circulate, Vehlewald said the business in Grand Rapids has been preparing by increasing inventory levels. "We have stock to cover us through June 2015," he said. "We’ve got 18 months of inventory sitting here just to give us time to implement our strategy.
"We’ve been working closely with ACL-Australia since we are the previous North American wholly owned subsidiary," he said. "We are currently the exclusive distributor of the ACL and Race Series brands in the Americas. Not only were we the previously owned subsidiary, but we also own the rights to their names."
Vehlewald said the plan is to buy part of the business in Australia. "Whether it is assets or possibly plant operations, we’d like to set up a whole new bearing operation. We’re looking at a range of options to ensure the continuous supply of the Race Series brand. Options including manufacturing in Australia, or somewhere in North America."
Setting up manufacturing operations in North America would put ACL at an advantage Vehlewald said, noting that most all of the company’s major competitors make most or all of their products overseas.
"We’re committed to this market and we’ve got plans to keep this brand going," he said.
