Jeff Foster smiles at the analogy of the phoenix from the flames. Then raises a valid point.
“If,” he offers, “we’re going to talk about it rising from the ashes, we have to talk about how it burned. I think that’s a good place to start this story.”
Rallysport Direct was a powerhouse of parts for all kinds of cools cars. Then it wasn’t. From 2003 to 2015, it was a business which thrived in helping Subaru owners make their cars firmer and faster. The same for Hondas, Mitsubishis and Fords. Then a new owner came knocking with the offer of private equity to take things to the next level.
How did that go?
There’s a pause as Foster, Rallysport Direct’s chief operating officer, considers his response.
“The private equity firm bought up five different brands including Rallysport Direct,” he explains. “They took away all the individuality from each one of those brands – they essentially painted them all the same color and took away the character. And, when times got tough, post-COVID in 2023, what did they do? They flailed and they lost touch with the customer.
“The view of private equity firms is not really a good one around here. And, let’s be honest, the view of Rallysport Direct wasn’t a good one. Customers had been let down with unfulfilled orders and a general lack of communication.”
When the business was up for sale at the end of last year, Import Automotive Enthusiast Darren Xu spied an opportunity to do something unusual in the aftermarket space. He brought a brand based on passion back to enthusiast ownership, and four weeks ago, rallysportdirect.com was relaunched.
“We have a clear vision of what we want to do,” said Foster. “We’re aware of the shortcomings from the last few years – we’re still getting people reaching out now who are waiting on their deliveries and we’re committed to figuring that out.”
It’s not just the deliveries, the supply aspect of the company needed attention too.
“When we talked to suppliers we’d worked with before, there wasn’t the same warmth when it came to working with us. I’d been a customer of Rallysport Direct myself from 2011. I’d always loved the community aspect of the company – regardless of what you were doing to your car, those guys were there to help you figure stuff out and supply what you needed with great advice.
“So much of that had changed. We’ve worked very hard to bring suppliers back – but at the same time we’re looking to do things a little bit differently. We know there are a lot of companies out there who can supply a lots of aftermarket track and fast road parts, so we’re going down a slightly different path.
“We’re working closely with suppliers in the UK, in Europe and in Australia – we’re bearing the financial burden to build an inventory so that if, for example, you want to buy spare parts for your EXE-TC suspension, which is supplied from England, we have it in stock and we can fulfil your order in two days and not four weeks.
At the time of takeover, there were around 72,000 parts available for sale. Now the website is offering more than 280,000.
“And we have the parts there,” added Foster, “we’re ready to ship them out.”
Rallysport Direct is a firm run by Foster for folk like Foster.
“I’ve owned eight Impreza WRX’s,” he said. “I recently sold my last one – it was a 2007 hawkeye with flared arches. It had a roll cage and fuel cell. Not necessarily compatible with children. My daily drive now is a GR Corolla, which I use as a track car as well. It’s great. And the way Toyota is building this following in the US is fantastic, but Rallysport Direct still has its heart very much in Subarus, Hondas and Hyundais now – Hyundai’s doing some fantastic stuff.
“And the ethos of the company remains function over form: Rallysport Direct is about making your car faster and more track-focused or, of course, ready to go rally. We’re not so much about making it look lower and sound louder.
“It’s exciting times for us. In the last four weeks since we relaunched the site, the response has been fantastic. We know we still have to win over some hearts and minds for some people, but all we’re asking is for people to give us a chance – to come back and join us, talk to us, they’ll find we’re back at the heart of the community again.”
Like a phoenix from the flames.
