HKS (company)

HKS Co., Ltd. (株式会社エッチ・ケー・エス, Kabushiki-gaisha Ecchi Kē Esu) is a publicly traded company headquartered in Fujinomiya, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan specializing in the production and sales of aftermarket and accessory automotive parts and components.

HKS Co. Ltd.
TypeJoint stock company
JASDAQ: 7219
IndustryAutomotive, motorsport
Founded1973
FounderHiroyuki Hasegawa
Goichi Kitagawa
Headquarters
Fujinomiya, Shizuoka
,
Japan
Key people
Hiroyuki Hasegawa
Goichi Kitagawa
ProductsAutomotive accessories and tuning
Revenue8,514,000,000 yen (2005)
Number of employees
276 (February 2009)
SubsidiariesUK, Thailand
Websitewww.hks-power.co.jp
Performer 86 demo car built by HKS for drifting at the 2014 Osaka Auto Messe

History

HKS was formed in 1973 by Hiroyuki Hasegawa, a former engineer for Yamaha Motor Company, and his partner Goichi Kitagawa, while the start up capital was supplied by Sigma Automotive (hence the name HKS). The company began operations by tuning gasoline-powered engines in a dairy-farming shed at the foot of Mount Fuji in Japan. Their goal was to design and build high performance engines and components that major OE (original equipment) manufacturers could not or would not produce. In July 1974, Hasegawa engineered and built the first commercialized turbocharger kit for passenger automobiles; since then developing turbocharger upgrades and bolt-on turbocharger kits that subsequently became the core business of HKS. Hasegawa also created the first commercially available electronic turbo timer and boost controller.

HKS is a publicly traded company with an international sales and distribution network spanning Asia, Europe, Australia and the Americas to support its customer base. The main manufacturing and R&D facility is at the foot of Mount Fuji. Subsidiary companies have been established in California (HKS USA), Cambridgeshire, England (HKS Europe), and Bangkok, Thailand (HKS Thailand). HKS USA, established in 1982, shut down operations in 2011 electing instead to use wholesale distributors to handle their supply chain in the USA. Motovicity Distribution was selected as the North American warehouse for HKS where a full inventory of products is maintained for HKS’ North American customers.

HKS was made famous through videogames like Need For Speed and Gran Turismo series.

Products

HKS offers Japanese domestic model cars a wide variety of aftermarket parts ranging from engine internals such as connecting rods and camshafts to external parts such as blow off valves, intercooler kits, full exhaust systems, turbo kits, engine management systems and other performance electronics.

The company also produces the HKS 700E aircraft engine, under its subsidiary, HKS Aviation.[1][2][3] And also produced a 600cc Speedway cycle engine.

Motorsport

Since the late 1980s, HKS has competed in many forms of motorsports including drag racing, JTCC, JGTC, F3, D1 Grand Prix, Superbikes, plus many others. They also sponsor many racers to carry the HKS name and to become part of the HKS team. In the past, they notably used the likes of Anthony Reid (Supertouring/JTCC), Tetsuya Kawasaki (drag racing), Nobuteru Taniguchi (D1 Grand Prix and Time Attack), Akira Iida (Time Attack) to drive for their in-house team.

See also

References
  1. Cliche, Andre: Ultralight Aircraft Shopper's Guide 8th Edition, page G-9 Cybair Limited Publishing, 2001. ISBN 0-9680628-1-4
  2. HKS (n.d.). "HKS Aviation". Archived from the original on 1999-10-13. Retrieved 2009-12-25.
  3. HKS (n.d.). "HKS 700E Specifications". Archived from the original on 1999-10-13. Retrieved 2009-12-25.
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