Heinrich Baumgartner and Klaus Brand established BBS in 1970, with the name derived from their surnames and the city of Schiltach. Initially, the company manufactured plastic auto body parts.
BBS entered motorsport in 1972 with the development of the three-piece racing wheel, known as the BBS Mahle due to its manufacturing partnership with Mahle. By 1975, the company had developed the cross-spoke design and the counter pressure process. In 1983, BBS expanded its sales globally, founding BBS of America, BBS France Co. S.A., and BBS Japan Co. Ltd. to broaden sales beyond Europe and OEM/motorsports clients. The three-piece RS wheel, released in 1977, became popular both with automobile manufacturers and in the aftermarket, frequently replicated by other companies.
Throughout the 1990s, BBS continued to innovate, merging the gap between three-piece forged wheels and one-piece cast wheels with the two-piece RSII design in 1993. In 1995, BBS developed the first one-piece flow-formed cast wheel, utilizing FEM analysis. In 2000, BBS collaborated with Porsche and Kuka to develop the first hollow-spoke wheel.
In May 1987, BBS had its initial public offering and was traded on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. However, in 2007, political unrest in Guinea, a primary source of aluminum for BBS, caused a dramatic increase in aluminum prices, leading to the company’s bankruptcy and takeover by Punch International. South Korean firm Nice Corp became the majority owner in July 2015. BBS Automotive GmbH filed for insolvency in 2020, but was acquired by KW Automotive in March 2021.
BBS has a long history in motorsport, supplying wheels to Formula One, the 24 Hours of Le Mans, IndyCar, DTM, NASCAR, and the World Touring Car Championship from 1972 onward. In 2012, the racing division, BBS Motorsport & Engineering GmbH, became independent under the Japanese Ono Group and moved to Haslach. Currently, BBS is the largest supplier of wheels for the IndyCar Series and a main supplier of Formula One teams, and began supplying the NASCAR Cup Series in 2022 with the introduction of the Next Gen car.
BBS also supplies OEM wheels to numerous automobile brands, including BMW, Porsche, Mercedes-Benz, Audi, Ferrari, and Toyota. High-performance vehicles like the Ferrari 360 Challenge Stradale, Lexus LFA Nürburgring Edition, Porsche 918 Spyder Weissach Package, and Ford GT Heritage Edition have featured specially-made wheels by BBS. The RS cross-spoke design was a common feature on European sports cars from the 1980s to the early 1990s, noted for its light weight.
Today, BBS produces wheels across three lines: Forged, Performance, and Design, offering one-, two-, and three-piece forged wheels, flow-formed wheels, and cast wheels, respectively. In January 2023, BBS unveiled Fortega, a new wheel technology utilizing a proprietary aluminum alloy developed over ten years, offering increased strength, rigidity, and a 10% weight reduction, particularly beneficial for electric vehicles.
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