Aftermarket Truck Accessories - A Near MONOPOLY!

This may be old news, but I just found out about it. Most of the biggest names in aftermarket parts for trucks, including BAK, Undercover, Gator, Retrax, Extang, Amp, Fuel, Truxedo, and almost 300 other name brands are all owned by the same company, Truck Hero!!! There is almost NO real competition out there other than sibling rivalry! The same call center even handles all of these name brands' web sites! I primarily listed tonneau cover brands because that is what I am currently shopping for, but this applies to WAY more than tonneau covers! I don't know about your first impression of this, but to me, THIS REALLY SUCKS!!! Again, COMPETITION is GOOD! But in this market, there really is no competition to speak of!

 

This is so true! I saw a new ARE topper that had ARE badging and....Truck Hero too......

 

I’m shopping for a bed cover now, and suspected something like that just because of the way the websites are laid out. Too bad, I agree monopolies hurt innovation and tend to inflate prices.

I do think Leer and Snugtop are not part of this group.

 

Interesting..

"Truck Hero’s industry leading family of brands includes Advantage Truck Accessories™, Alloy USA™, AMP Research®, A.R.E.®, Auto Ventshade®, BAK Industries®, BACKRACK®, BedRug®, Belmor®, Bushwacker®, Extang®, Husky Liners®, LUND®, N-FAB®, Omix™, Rampage Products®, Retrax®, RoadWorks®, Roll-N-Lock®, Rugged Liner®, Rugged Ridge®, Stampede™, Superlift®, Tonno Pro®, TruXedo® and UnderCover®."

https://truck-hero.com/about

 

oh I'll be dammed.. I guess no one else wants to be in the truck business.

 

That doesn't surprise me.

 

N-Fab used to be privately owned by Thomas Fichter, but was bought a few years back. Only reason I know is he was fairly heavily involved with motocross and some team sponsors.

 

The aftermarket lighting market is the same way...HR, TRS, etc.

 

Rockefeller lives by killing competition