First Line Ltd. is celebrating 30 years of its vast and ever-growing steering and suspension range in 2022, using its strong heritage and extensive experience to showcase its commitment to providing the automotive aftermarket with wide-spread vehicle parc coverage and access to parts of the highest quality.
As safety-critical components, First Line Ltd. recognises that when it comes to steering and suspension, availability and quality assurance are key, as motor factors and technicians need to be able to access reliable and quality parts as quickly as possible to carry out the repairs and provide the reassurance that a vehicle is roadworthy.
Jon Roughley, global marketing director for First Line Ltd. said: “With the vehicle parc constantly expanding, a greater number of parts are required to service a wider range of vehicles.”
When First Line introduced its steering and suspension programme back in 1992, the 1,000-reference portfolio led the way in providing a comprehensive offer for aftermarket professionals.
Since then, the range has continued to grow considerably, and in 2021, First Line Ltd. achieved a new milestone with its largest, most pertinent range in the aftermarket, with more than 9,100 references available.
Roughley added: “Availability of product is core to our service offering and with an average of 96 per cent availability across our entire product portfolio consisting of 40,000 references, the company’s commitment and forward planning paid off during these unprecedented times.
“However, it is times like this that distributors really get to value the service offered by a longstanding credible supplier, and with a range like steering and suspension being critical for keeping a car on the road, availability is king and is something we have consistently been able to deliver.”
The range is constantly under review and to recognise the need to meet ongoing demand, new product is regularly added on a monthly basis, ensuring distributors are able to access parts for the very latest models, when they hit the aftermarket.
Whether using either First Line or Borg & Beck steering and suspension brands, the company has ensured that factors and their workshop customers are able to accurately and efficiently identify the correct component by providing product layout images in their market-leading online catalogue, WebCat, showing the positioning of the components in reference to the vehicle.
First Line Ltd.’s team of expert data professionals work daily to ensure that vehicle data is maintained, and that all necessary information required to correctly identify the product is easily viewable.
All First Line and Borg & Beck ball joints, link bars, and suspension arms, that, where applicable, come with the necessary fitting components, can be identified by the ‘Includes Fittings’ logo on the packaging, giving customers total peace of mind that what they need will be included with the part.
There may be times when technicians only need the nuts and bolts, so as well as supplying the necessary fittings as standard, the nuts and bolts are available separately as fitting kits, catering for any scenario.
Roughley said: “The confidence that you will be getting a premium quality component, backed-up with our exceptional customer service and excellent availability has enabled us to be market leaders in steering and suspension for the past 30 years.”