LOS ANGELES – Global motorsport marketing professional Francisque Savinien and co-founder Judy Kean announced the launch of EPARTRADE, a global trade-only online parts-sourcing platform, to the racing industry on Tuesday.
Savinien, Kean and their group of motorsports business professionals brought passion to the table when coming up with the idea for EPARTRADE, which stands for Electronic Performance and Racing Trade. Their goal is to provide a product-sourcing resource that is available around the clock, throughout the year for racing consumers and suppliers.
EPARTRADE allows for parts manufacturers and suppliers of all sizes to list new products online to the racing industry instantly, so buyers can have access to all the latest parts for their teams and race cars from anywhere around the globe.
Both Savinien and Kean have spent time working with the Performance Racing Industry Trade Show in the past, and both recognized the need for a resource that would allow smaller companies to push out their products to race teams on a more level field as their larger counterparts, while allowing smaller teams the ability to match parts development with multi-car teams, spanning across all forms of racing.
“Racing is year-round,” said Savinien. “Thirty years ago, you would prepare your car over the winter and take it out for the new season. Today, there are new parts coming out every day, every week and every month. Suppliers get excited when they have new products, and with EPARTRADE they can promote them on a platform where buyers from around the world can find them immediately.”
“This is the ideal platform for all racing suppliers large and small to connect to high-volume repeat buyers and be on an equal footing with the more established companies,” added Kean, who will oversee North American sales for EPARTRADE. “This will be the No. 1 source for racing businesses and race teams to find new products and technology.”
In addition to providing suppliers with a platform to market their products, EPARTRADE will give teams, engine builders and industry professionals the means to research new parts quickly.
“As a one-car team competing against numerous multi-car teams, it’s impossible to match their in-season development,” said NHRA Funny Car driver and team owner Cruz Pedregon. “EPARTRADE will provide us the opportunity to find the latest parts in mid-season and help level the playing field.”
“For years, I traveled the world to find new products and new suppliers for my customers. Now, with EPARTRADE, I can do the same thing day or night, all year long, without leaving my office,” added Jean Marie Jacquemin of Jacquemin Tuning. “Time is money. What a valuable service this new platform brings to the (racing) industry.”
Early enrollees to the EPARTRADE platform include Kalitta Motorsports, Eibach Springs, Ferrea Racing Components and CP-Carillo Inc.
Savinien made it clear that EPARTRADE is not meant to replace the face-to-face human interaction that comes out of trade shows like PRI and SEMA.
Instead, he noted that EPARTRADE is a resource meant to “supplement and fill the other 50 weeks of the year outside of those trade shows.
“There’s nothing that can fill the void of the face-to-face and business-to-business relationships that are formed and cultivated at trade shows in our industry and we’re not trying to do that at all,” said Savinien. “EPARTRADE will provide companies the ability to continue marketing their goods to the public all the time, rather than having to wait to debut a new part or make a first push at PRI, SEMA or the like.
“The racing industry is built on passion and innovation, and we want to help all sides of the sport grow those facets in any way we can,” he continued. “We look forward to seeing how EPARTRADE will aid teams and suppliers around the globe in maximizing their potential.”
For more information on EPARTRADE, visit www.getepartrade.com.
