Aftermarket Parts May Be Harder To Find After Major Supplier Goes Bankrupt

You’ve probably never heard of First Brands Group, but if you’ve spent much time in an auto parts store, you’ve heard of some brands it owns: Fram filters, Autolite spark plugs, Trico wipers, and Raybestos brake pads, among many others. With that in mind, the news from Reuters that First Brands has filed for bankruptcy takes on a new level of seriousness for home mechanics and independent auto shops.

The wide variety of parts that First Brands specializes in falls into the “OE aftermarket” category, according to MotorTrend. These parts are intended to be direct replacements for original parts rather than performance upgrades. They usually cost a lot less than the same parts from the vehicle manufacturer, though quality has been known to vary at times. While each of the brands under the First Brands banner started as independent parts manufacturers, the giant conglomerate has swallowed them up over the years, centralizing ownership and control. 

An unfortunate effect of this consolidation is that if First Brands falls, all of these other brands fall with it. At best, this could vastly reduce the selection of auto parts available on the shelves at your friendly neighborhood auto parts store, perhaps driving up prices in the process. At worst, it could force us to rely on the dealership parts counter instead. One silver lining to this cloud is that First Brands does not supply parts to auto manufacturers, so at least that part of the supply chain would remain intact.

The familiar blaze orange air and oil filters aren’t going to disappear from shelves anytime soon. They may not go anywhere at all, as First Brands has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, which allows it to continue operating while it reorganizes and looks for a way out of its overwhelming debt. GM still exists after its Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2009, as does Chrysler, though not in its original form, as this is what led to the Fiat-Chrysler merger. According to MotorTrend, First Brands has been in financial trouble since last year. More than 40% of its bills were over 91 days past due at the end of 2024, growing to 57% in February 2025. The company reduced this delinquency to between 47% and 49% of bills by June, but seems to have been unable to continue making progress toward paying its debts without bankruptcy protection.

While the Trump Administation’s tariffs on pretty much all auto parts didn’t cause First Brands’ problems, which started before he took office for the second time, they certainly haven’t helped, either. First Brands is an American company, but many of the parts it sells are made overseas, and thus suddenly much more expensive to import than they used to be. These problems are not exclusive to First Brands, but affect all parts suppliers, because the economy is global, whether the Administration understands or likes it or not. First Brands’ bankruptcy isn’t the end, but it may be alerting us to even bigger problems to come.