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Originally posted by 911SCfanatic
Looked into this--not true. Several distributors told me that Mahle has separate distribution agreements for foreign and domestic vehicles. After about six phone calls, it seemed that they were correct. I found that there are only 2 authorized Mahle piston distributors for Porsches...Andial and I forget the other (the information is in one of my posts in this forum). If I'm wrong, I'd like to hear who the other distributors are because the prices are killer.
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The only 2 Mahle distributors for PORSCHE pistons and cylinders in North America are Andial and SSF Auto Parts in the SF Bay Area. At one time (when I worked there over 10 years ago), Andial was the SOLE U.S. importer.
The exclusivity created alot of problems for many other shops/wholesalers who felt that Andial was gouging. A few years ago, Mahle opened up a "Motorsport" office in North Carolina because they want to get a slice of the "good old boy" NASCAR market. The Porsche stuff for them is not a big priority.
Mahle then "set up" regional distributors to purchase Porsche pistons/cylinders from Mahle Motorsport in NC, even though Andial's arrangement from Mahle is that they can still buy direct from Germany and bypass Motorsport in NC (another distribution level).
This arrangement didn't exactly work out too well either. The other distributors had little to no product knowledge and not much inventory to speak of. The Motorsport office was just as bad if not worse (remember, they could care less about Porsche aftermarket sales). Supply problems were also an issue (and they always have been).
Now, it's just down to SSF and Andial. Andial does their own development work in conjunction with Mahle and thus has exclusive access to some of the piston and cylinder sets. SSF is a master parts distributor who supplies wholesalers, shops, jobbers, etc. They only sell what Mahle products are available.
Mahle is ceasing to manufacture many, many piston and cylinder sets. Once supply has run out on some of these sets, it will take a large order on someone's behalf to get them made again. Hence, a golden opportunity for JE and cylinder manufacturers.
Prices for Mahle have always been high, some due to internal and some to external forces. But, if you look how devalued the dollar is against the Euro (about 1.35 right now) you can see that it will only get worse for new inventory.
Ralph