1-17-2017, Mobile Electronics -- Being a 12-volt business is interesting and challenging. Being a 12-volt business that is family-owned and operated takes it to another level, especially considering that less than one third of family businesses survive the transition from first to second generation.
Scosche, which was founded by Roger and Scotia Alves, is going on its 37th year of business with the next generation, brothers Kas Alves and Vince Alves, serving as executive vice presidents.
Back in 1980, the company operated out of a residential garage in Southern California with its roots in research and consulting. When the focus turned to car audio, the first clients included heavy-hitters Alpine and Kenwood.
Seeing major potential in the automotive audio aftermarket, Scosche developed their first dash kit and launched what has become a signature product category for the company. In fact, the first of the company’s 100-plus patents in 1994 was for a GM vehicle dash kit.
From its humble start to a sprawling campus in Oxnard, Calif., the company now has two distribution centers. One is located on the main campus while the second one, which boasts 14 docks and 30-foot side wall construction, is based in Spruce Pine, Ala. It allows Scosche to reach 37 states within 48 hours using standard ground services. The company has an international presence with an office in Hong Kong and as its products are sold in more than 50 countries.
Not only has Scosche grown out of its garage, but it has significantly expanded its range of offerings to more than 4,000 SKUs. In addition to dash kits and wire harnesses, its products include antennas, amps, speakers, subs, speaker enclosures, Bluetooth accessories, power and audio cables, iPhone accessories, and much more.
Business In A Dash
“If you go back 20 years ago with the company, there were dash kits and wire harnesses, and that was the extent of the 12-volt line,” said Nate Perkins, 12 Volt Team Manager, now on his second stint with Scosche. He was previously with the company from 1997 and 2010.
“Today it is much more technologically driven as far as integration and with being able to add on to your OEM system with different auxiliary inputs, adding an aftermarket radio to your factory amplifier, or your factory warning system," added Perkins. "Integration has really come to the forefront.”
The impact has been far reaching for the consumer.
“Consumers are intimidated,” Perkins said. “They look at their OEM car stereo and wish it did a couple more things. But some of the guys who have these vehicles are guys that started out 20 years in the industry when it was easy to make changes. Now they look at it and it’s a whole other animal. The dashboard is more integrated with the entire system of the vehicle—the radio, the AC controls, the warning chimes, and the warning systems. There is really a huge intimidation factor. So one of the biggest hurdles right now is educating the consumer that they can change out their OEM stereo, they can integrate with it, and they can add to their experience.”
Not to mention the challenge it creates for dealers.
“One of the biggest hurdles on the dealers’ end is embracing the amount of inventory they’ve got to have,” said Shane Condon, 12 Volt Product Development Manager. “It used to be that they could stock a few items and be pretty confident that it would cover anything that came into their install bay. That’s just not the case anymore. More and more dealers are stocking the basic items, but then they use the just-in-time inventory system for everything else.”
Read the rest of the story HERE.
