Most industry-insiders know our story, but for those who don't, my name is Stephen Yeh and I, along with Patrick Seto (the General Manager of MFactory Competition Products), were the ones solely responsible for putting "Performance Gearing" on the map for Honda. When I created INFINITUDE Autosports back in 2004, there were other brands around at the time, most noticeably ATS with their B-Series Cl
ose Ratio Gears (and with JDM Brands come JDM Prices) and SRR with their D-Series Final Drives (and their spectacular failure rates), but they did not manage to achieve anything to the same scale. There was one other brand in particular though that came about roughly the same time as INFINITUDE Autosports, offering near-identical products, but due to supplier agreements, I can't mention the name of this company. Over the course of 3 years (between 2004-2006), INFINITUDE Autosports and these other 3 brands were battling it out in North America for domination over the Honda gearing market. This left INFINITUDE Autosports and the "Other Brand" brand left to carry on the fight. During the second half of 2006, Patrick Seto joined the team as General Manager, and an executive decision was made, one that would change the "Performance Gearing" market for Honda forever:
- INFINITUDE Autosports was dissolved
- MFactory Competition Products was born (You can learn more here)
Over the next 2 years (2006-2008), with the guidance of Patrick Seto, MFactory very quickly rose to prominence, introducing more and more product fitments to the Honda market
As quickly as we had achieved this though, I had realised that the Honda market was not growing in size but rather, slowly decreasing. With this in mind, another executive decision was made, a decision which would forever shape the roadmap for MFactory:
- In the later half of 2008, MFactory, in conjunction with our supplier in Taiwan along with a multi-million dollar investment in property, facilities and state-of-the-art equipment, established a new company: Performance Gear Industrial Co., Ltd
- Our supplier would still be responsible for the manufacturing of all existing product designs (i.e products sold by INFINITUDE/MFactory circa 2004-2008), but would only handle development for the oem/odm market from this point forward. Due to an agreement-in-place, our supplier would still remain in the public-eye as the only Performance Gearing Manufacturer in Taiwan
- Performance Gear Industrial Co., Ltd, operating exclusively behind-the-scenes, would be solely responsible for the design, development and manufacturing of the entire Aftermarket Performance Gearing market
From 2008 onwards, Performance Gear Industrial Co., Ltd was responsible for all new projects, designs which would differentiate MFactory from our competitors, designs which would eventually help us to dominate not only the Honda market worldwide, but other popular vehicle markets. As of this moment, MFactory are the worlds largest supplier of Performance Transmission products for the Honda and Mazda market, and North America's largest for BMW. In early 2015, with Patrick Seto still operating MFactory as the General Manager, I made the executive decision to sell my majority share in MFactory to YCW Engineering Ltd (the R&D arm of Performance Gear Industrial Co., Ltd), and bring YCW Engineering Ltd out from behind the scenes and into the public-eye. Not only does this ensure the continued growth of MFactory, but also allows me to realise my engineering dreams and expand YCW Engineering Ltd into a truly global enterprise and not just limited to gearing products. Fast forward to 2016, MFactory is growing stronger than ever (albeit without my direct involvement), and YCW Engineering Ltd is gaining prominent ground in the specialist motorsports engineering marketplace, once again putting "Made in Taiwan" on the map and something to be proud of (in case you weren't aware, the majority of industry leaders have now relocated their manufacturing to Mainland China). From precision machined IndyCar engine components to high-end chassis development, the opportunities are boundless. So where does INFINITUDE Autosports come in, I hear you ask? Being the the baby that started all of this, what better way to shown my appreciation to the Grassroots Honda Market than to revive the catalyst that put this whole story into motion! And so, having purchased all of the original 2004-2008 discontinued/clearance stock from MFactory, INFINITUDE Autosports is reborn, taking the fight from "Made in Taiwan" (and proud of it!) to our competition! Stephen Yeh - General Manager, INFINITUDE Autosports
