What makes Touge different to the hundreds of other companies selling aftermarket parts? How do I know I'll receive authentic goods? How can I contact you?
These are just some of the questions we get asked on a daily basis. And, to be honest, we don't blame you for asking them.
What makes you different?
The parts industry has changed a lot since the JDM boom of the late 90s. So many small time companies starting up, promising cheap prices but they usually come down to earth with a big bang when they can't deliver on their promises. Many distributors outside of Japan only give 15-25% off RRP to retailers. This doesn't give a lot of room for discounts and certainly doesn't make much business sense to buy in 10,000,000 worth of stock to make maybe 10% after deal clinching discounts, PayPal or other merchant fees and packaging costs.
Through bulk buying Touge is able to negotiate the best deals with manufacturers to pass on those discounts to you, the customer. Many of the items we sell are cheaper through Touge than walking into an auto parts store in Japan. That's our promise to you.
When the Touge project started in 2007 the idea was to change this typical industry business model. Why should a handful of companies have a monopoly and control the market with inflated prices? The internet has revolutionised shopping for pretty much every consumer industry from music, films to electrical goods. It is time that the JDM tuning industry followed and got out of the dark ages of buying product from some dingy backstreet tuning shop.
The Touge dream was to have a logistics centre located in Japan. From this base we can buy in product from over 400 manufacturers and trading companies and keep huge stocks to maintain fast shipping times. Touge has access to over 150,000 products in Japan. It is our aim to have all these products online by 2011. This will make Touge by far the biggest online store on Earth.
Ever heard this from your local parts supplier? "yeah, they're just another web site with no stock like all the others, we carry stock".
Touge Japan carries over 30,000 inventory items in stock with a value of over 200,000,000. This is by far the largest stock holding of any online store in the world. Bar none. Over 400 wheels from Rays, SSR, Work, Advan, Weds. Thousands of spark plugs, Turbine kits, brake pads.. Everything you could ever want. All the world famous brands, under one roof.
Combine this with our legendary communication and service and you've got a winning recipe! No more waiting 2 days for email replies to simple questions. You can contact us via email, Windows Messenger, Skype, Touge live support and private messages on forums. We try and reply to all contact between 0800 and 2200 hours (GMT) within 60 minutes.
How do I know I'll receive authentic goods?
Since the global recession hit and the worlds markets were turned upside down a number of unethical companies have been hugely successful through selling counterfeit goods, cheap copies and moved their buying from Japan to Malaysia, Taiwan and China.
Some have even taken Japanese product to China and Taiwan to get copied. How can these people claim to have your best interests at heart? They don't. They are doing it to make money and nothing more.
Touge is proud to represent the interests of the industry by educating customers on the products they are buying. How can you compare Volk forged wheels with cheap Chinese knockoff rims? You can't. Or cheap, bad fitting aero parts with the likes of Ings or Top Secret. Again, you can't.
Would you buy a stolen car? Would you buy a stolen phone? Would you buy a stolen set of wheels?
I hope the answer to all 3 of those questions is "no, of course not.."
By buying from these companies you are buying product that has stolen its design, its R+D and has stolen profit that should be in the hands of the
original manufacturer. This profit is then used to fund further R+D and product testing so when new vehicles get released, there are parts available.
If this current plague of counterfeit/copies continues more and more companies in Japan will be forced to cease trading. And yes, it is getting to that stage..
From a safety point of view, please consider the following:
What happens if you have an accident with cheap copied low quality seats?
What happens if you run high grip S tyres on cheap Chinese cast rims?
What happens if those cheap Taiwanese coilovers break mid-corner?
What happens if that cheap ripoff bonnet opens at 200kph?
Everyone wants to save money, but at what cost? What use is that 50,000 you saved if you are upside down with the car on
fire with broken legs?
Many mechanical auto parts may look the same when compared to the cheaper brands. But they are cheaper for a reason. The materials, the workmanship, the manufacturing processes, the quality control procedures (or lack of) are all a part of the final retail price. Many Japanese companies now have supply contracts in various forms of motorsport from F1, WRC, BTCC, WTCC, Super Taikyu and Drift Championships world over. The secured these contracts after going through a harsh due diligence procedure that analysed many aspects of their company. Do you think an F1 team would risk using cheap wheels on their 300kph F1 cars? Or cheap brake components? Of course not.. There is too much at risk!
Many of these counterfeit/copy companies charge 20% under the going rate for the Japanese part and make HUGE profit on every item they sell. Manufacturing costs in China are so cheap and the workmanship is nowhere near the standard of that of Japan. Many manufacturing plants make anything from headers to copper piping under one roof. They wouldn't know if those K20 headers were a manifold for a water supply system or to be fitted to your pride and joy. Is that what you want on your car?
Then compare to the likes of Toda or Amuse which are made to absolute precision with pride and passion! See below. Amuse Titaniun muffler and the quality of Amuse welds:
There is a lot of profit to be made from counterfeit. A lot more than a legitimate company would ever dream of making in this industry. These people
DO NOT love the industry. Far from it. It's merely a cash cow to milk until their luck runs out. Then they'll move onto watches or handbags.
Protect the industry from these companies and support official product.
How can I contact you?
Email: enquiries@tougedistribution.com (sent to all 3 enquiry address : Japan, USA, UK)
Skype: touge.distribution
Windows Messenger: enquiries@tougedistribution.com (English only)
Live Chat: Click Here
About Touge Japan
The logistical hub based in Chiba, Japan. From here we source from over 400 brands and agencies throughout Japan. This is vital to our operations as it allows us to buy the products in cheaply and efficiently and ship from the source; Japan.
No double and triple shipping with numerous companies handling the goods with their own financial gain to be made. Touge is in a great position to source parts far faster than the competition in your country.
Through extensive negotiations with shipping companies and a lot of database work Touge is able to ship goods to over 240 countries worldwide. Thus, allowing new customers to experience high quality JDM parts at realistic prices.
Touge Japan also has the latest packaging equipment to minimise the chance of damaged goods upon receipt. Heavier items are strapped and double packaged. We never send small goods out naked. They are always in their original packaging and then packed in a thicker outer box. Protecting the goods inside is a huge priority for us. Last thing we want is customers receiving that carbon wing damaged when they have waited 6 weeks for it to be custom made. A little bit of care our end minimises the risk.
Touge Distribution's unique business model stands above the rest and is actively striving for perfection in an industry that is far from perfect. Remember, we buy and use these parts as well - it's our passion first, our job second!
You can contact Touge Japan: enquiries@jp.tougedistribution.com
About Touge UK
The worldwide customer service centre and website development HQ based in North Yorkshire, United Kingdom.
Touge UK came from humble beginnings; founded in 2006 by two friends. They had an obsession with cars, in particular a passion for Japanese cars. After playing Gran Turismo since it first graced the Sony Playstation they had a dream of bringing almost every part made in Japan to the world market through a simple website interface. Work began on developing an e-commerce platform as a bit of a hobby and a challenge.. Little did they know that 3 years on a monster site would have been created..
With so many "rigid" e-commerce solutions available Touge took a standard installation and after almost 36 months of constant development, the Touge be-spoke platform is complete! From this platform we can control various elements of the database with single clicks to update thousands of listings quickly and easily. A number of major changes have been made to allow the website to grow painlessly. Touge is proud of its in-house development. This keeps costs to a minimum and complete creative control.
The website is in constant development and improvement with hundreds of products being added every week. We hate out of date websites that still have 2008 prices, we hate POA listings. This is why we are proud to offer EVERY product with an up-to-date price.
In February 2009 a long standing friend James Turbett, joined the UK team heading up our customer services and looking at ways of keeping the business at the top of the game in terms of service and communication speed.
We've all been consumers for years (some of us for over 10! - we remember the glory days) and we know the frustrations of wanting parts shipped quickly and efficiently without paying crazy prices. The combined efforts of the UK team and the Japanese have allowed Touge to flourish during a difficult trading period (not just in the industry, but globally). We are very proud of our achievements and trading relationship.
Our UK team has over 100 years joint ownership experience with JDM vehicles cars including various Lan-Evo's, FD3S RX7, R34 GTR, NSX, SW20 MR2, S2000 and Civic/Integra Type R (EK9, DC2, EP3, DC5). We dare to challenge the norm and have helped numerous brands grow outside of Japan through recommendations to customers and clients alike.
We are active participants, supporters and sponsors of many forms of motorsports around the world. You can almost always find us at major Japanese shows and supporting clubs/websites/forums with sponsorships and vendor sections. Check out some of our sponsored drivers!
|
