The Garage 318

15 NEWS
RFT MOVES FORWARD
WITH NEW UK
MARKETING PARTNER
PERFORMANCE PARTS RFT, the
UK distributors for all passenger car
products from the famous Koni shock
absorber brand, are stepping up their
marketing activities with new campaigns
in planning and the appointment
of automotive PR and marketing
specialists, Chicane.
Koni has been in business since
1857 and producing performance
shock absorbers since the 1930s. RFT,
which was set up in 2016 to handle
Koni distribution in the UK, is about to
celebrate its fourth anniversary with the
brand. The team behind RFT, however,
has had an involvement with Koni in the
UK that stretches back for more than
thirty years.
RFT Managing Director, David
Russell and his family, were owners
of UK motor factor group, Camberley
Auto Factors, who became distributors
for Koni in 1986. “Our experience with
Koni, combined with years of having
worked in the performance parts sector,
means we are in an excellent position
to move the brand forward. The Koni
product range has expanded notably
in recent years and is still finding new
parts of the market to serve.”
Koni today encompasses many
different product categories within the
shock absorber arena, with more than
a dozen different types of products -
each aimed at a particular sector of the
performance market. The ranges start
with the STR.T “Street” Dampers and
run, via the Koni Classic range - which
helps give classic cars better handling &
ride - and Koni’s specialist 4x4 ranges
of Heavy Track and Raid, through
to its high-performance Sport and
Special Active ranges the benchmark in
adaptive suspension.
RFT’s work with Koni also extends
to providing product in the light
commercial vehicle sector, camping and
caravanning markets and in historic
racing with Formula One, being a
specialist area where Koni is still the
benchmark and where RFT provides a
bespoke service via its dedicated service
network.
RFT also stocks complementary
product ranges, such as Ferodo DS
brake pads, for fast road and track day
applications as well as a selected range
of Champion ignition products and its
own brand of ReFiT suspension bushes
& bush kits, which focus mainly on 4x4
applications, with an ever-increasing
range of cars catered for.
“Appointing Chicane represents a
conscious decision to move Performance
Parts RFT towards a new level of
business,” continues David Russell. “In
its sector, Koni is an iconic brand that
has become a bit of a sleeping giant, so
we thought that the time was right, with
the product offer it now encompasses,
to raise its profile in the UK and, at the
same time, move forward with our other
product ranges.”
INA COOLING.
CLEVER!
ELECTRIC WATER PUMPS
THERMAL MANAGEMENT MODULES
SWITCHABLE WATER PUMPS
Installing and maintaining modern complex
coolant management systems presents a
new challenge for workshops.
The INA range of electric, adjustable,
switchable and mechanical water pumps and
Thermal Management Modules (TMM) offers
comprehensive repair solutions for the very
latest intelligent cooling system technology.
And, as always, everything you need for a
professional repair is included, right down
to the last bolt, seal or gasket.
MECHANICAL WATER PUMPS
www.schaeffler.co.uk/aftermarket
www.repxpert.co.uk