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Posted on 10/11/2025 2:20:03 PM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum
Financial problems at the maker of spark plugs, wiper blades, brake calipers, brake shoes, tow hitches and motor oil has caused intense anxiety on Wall Street in recent weeks.
Car parts are not usually something that causes finance chiefs to lose much sleep. But the potentially multi-billion dollar financial crisis surrounding First Brands has them rattled.
As ever in finance, it’s what investors don’t know that scares the most, and with First Brands, there appears to be plenty.
What is First Brands?
First Brands was founded by the Malaysian-born businessman Patrick James. Starting life as Ohio-based Crowne Group, James acquired Trico, best known for windshield wipers, and went on a debt-fueled acquisitions spree, snapping up auto-focused parts makers. James rechristening the company as First Brands Group in 2020. It now owns 24 automotive-related companies, according to the group’s website.
“If your car is 10 years old, odds are good that parts from these companies are already on there,” notes the auto website CarBuzz. “And they were probably half the cost of original equipment parts sold through dealerships.”
Seems like a sensible business. Why did it collapse? The company filed for bankruptcy protection in the southern district of Texas on 29 September due to creditor concern over the company’s use of opaque off-balance sheet financing, listing liabilities – what it owed – between $10bn and $50bn against assets – what it owned – of between $1bn and $10bn.
But the speed of the First Brands implosion has spooked investors, and the more that’s known, the more they are spooked.
The company had until recently had a decent cash buffer, but it was using private debt or “shadow banking” to borrow against invoices, effectively keeping debt off its balance-sheet disclosures, and turning a company with 26,000 employees into finance company more than the...
(Excerpt) Read more at theguardian.com ...
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Recent wiper blade designs and implementations totally suck.
They need to use much better “rubber” to make them last and last.
Legerdemain in cooking the books, how artful—and dishonest.
Bring in Tommy Boy
Silicone is the best, bit they aren’t cheap enough.
Tariffs
#4...nice. My first thought.
What brands use silicone?
Thanks for mentioning that. I thought it was just my isolated problems.
BUILT IN TO WEAR OUT FASTER
BLADES USED TO COST ABOUT $7.
PAID $20 2 weeks Ago....PER BLADE
Raybestos, Reese and Hopkins are a little concerning, especially Raybestos. That’s like a 50-60 year old company for brake parts. That leaves Wagner and Bendix and they don’t have as full a line as Raybestos.
Reese, Draw-Tite and Hopkins are all trailer/towing related and good brands. Anco and Trico are good old old brands and covers a good chunk of wiper blade makers.
Cardone is one of the better re-manufacturers.
U R correct.
It’s a TOTAL scam.
I have a ~5 yr old car that has been sitting in a climate controlled garage for most of those years.
Its rear wiper is shot.
Unbelievable.
Ironic.
I would not draw any comparisons to Tricolor. The significance of that particular failure is that it reflects the success the Trump Administration has had in getting illegal immigrants to go home. Unfortunately for TriColor, that was a substantial segment of their customer base. As they go back, they either take the vehicle to Meioco for scrap and parting, or they abandon it in the US on their way out. Either way, they stop paying Tricolor.
That’s a good number of the who’s who automotive parts manufacturers.
Since First Brands is not a public company, they are not subject to Sarbanes-Oxley, and do no have to file a 10-K with the SEC. Their accounting could be anything.
Rain-X and Michelin do. You just have to look at the packaging because only some are.
Bosch
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