A 70-year-old Australian company that makes clutches has added two new products just six months after first entering the U.S. market. Taken at face value, this comes at a time when consumers are largely abandoning clutch-requiring manual transmission cars in favor of increasingly self-driving cars and sometimes self-driving trucks. That's a strange move.
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Brad Davis, UniClutch Industries CEO
uniclutch industry
Brad Davis, CEO of Uniclutch Industries, agreed that overall demand and production for stick-shift vehicles is low in the U.S., but said demand is especially high in certain segments.
“There aren't that many cars built with stick shifts, but there's a huge aftermarket in the U.S. worth hundreds of millions of dollars for high-performance clutches for people who want to have fun,” Davis said in an interview. “So muscle cars and even car companies like Volkswagen are releasing the Mark 8G Golf GTI manual only in North America.Honda is releasing the new Honda Civic Si only in North America with a manual. , it's great to see that the US market is still demanding that car companies deliver driving fun.”
In fact, there are only 30 to 32 models equipped with manual transmissions, according to Brian Moody, editor-in-chief of popular car research and purchasing sites Kelley Blue Book and AutoTrader. The acquisition rate is only about 1.7%, up from 1%, but still a small portion of the market, Moody said.
Still, he believes it makes sense for UniClutch, which focuses on performance, to enter the U.S. market.
“Today's cars have much more performance and power,” Moody said in an interview. “If you have clutch technology from 10 years ago, you look at some cars today that make 400, 500, 600, 700, or 800 horsepower. It makes sense that we need a solution.”
The ingenuity of the UniClutch component is that it is designed as a sealed clutch pack that can be installed on the flywheel of any vehicle, eliminating significant time and costs associated with clutch replacement.
“This makes the clutch itself a single modular part that fits almost any car, with a variety of equipment kits available that can be mechanically connected,” Davis explained.
Additionally, UniClutch can be installed in a variety of vehicles using equipment kits, Davis notes, which eliminates the need for parts dealers to stock different components, reducing costs and shelf space.
UniClutch entered the U.S. market last October with two models: UniClutch, which replaces the stock clutch, and UniClutch Sport, which features a 15% increase in torque capacity and sport-tuned pedal feel.
On March 5, the company will introduce two additional models: UniClutch Track for race cars and UniClutch 4Terrain, designed for 4×4 off-road.
Davis said the UniClutch Track is specifically aimed at the increasingly popular drift racing, which is tough on clutches and requires car owners to replace their clutches frequently. But that particular model is also targeted at various street and track races.
“Virtually all different forms of motorsport will benefit from UniClutch Track because it's so cheap, and when it wears out, it always does,” Davis said. . “It can be installed more quickly because you don't have to replace the flywheel. So you save a lot of time and money.”
Currently, UniClutch is only available at NAPA dealers in the United States, starting March 5th.thSo is NAPA Canada, according to Davis.
Despite the small number of manual transmission vehicles on the market, NAPA executives say partnering with UniClutch as exclusive U.S. distributor was an easy decision.
“The clutch system's adaptive design fits a large number of vehicles, simplifying inventory management, reducing clutch replacement time, and reducing common installation issues. “It's a win-win for the aftermarket, with significant benefits for manufacturers and parts alike,” said Danny Huffaker, NAPA's senior vice president of category management, in an email. mentioned in.
It may have taken UniClutch 70 years to try its luck in the US, but Davis is confident that jumping across the Pacific is a shot in the arm, declaring: In the United States, the clutch market boasts a market size of over 500 million dollars. So it's definitely worth being a small part of a very large pie. ”
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