Effective June 12, select Auto Plus locations became Factory Motor Parts (FMP) stores, FMP announced on its website. The sale comes after Auto Plus, Carl Icahn’s aftermarket auto parts chain, won bankruptcy court approval to sell most of its locations to FMP after the company disqualified a different bid under suspicion of impropriety, Bloomberg Law reports.
According to a statement from Ichan Enterprises, various factors negatively impacted its Auto Plus business, including lessened demand, supply chain disruptions, an inflationary environment and the effects of COVID-19.
Over the past 77 years, FMP has focused on OE parts solutions and FVP and Splash brands. Factory Motor Parts’s new locations will have inventories for all makes and all models combined with aftermarket brands as a result of this transaction
Founded in 1945 as Elliott Auto Supply Co., Inc., Factory Motor Parts (FMP) Co. has grown from a small, single location in Minneapolis to over 300 locations in 19 states. The name was acquired from its participation in the former Chrysler Mopar Distribution network of the 1960s and symbolizes its partnerships with Ford, General Motors and many other aftermarket companies, FMP said on its website.
FMP’s expansion began in 1993, when the company went from three locations to 32 locations within five years. FMP entered into Bismarck, Omaha, Phoenix, Denver and other markets expanding its automotive aftermarket business. Today as an aftermarket distribution partner with OE suppliers, FMP serve markets in the Midwest, Mountain states, Southwest, Northeast, North Carolina and West Coast including Alaska.