Moving Parts in the Motor State: Motor State Distributing

Motor State Distributing has a fairly typical origin story given the type of business it is, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t some degree of charm to it. The company that is now a powerhouse distributor in the automotive aftermarket got its start way back in 1964 when its founder George Lane found himself getting requests for parts from his drag racer friends. He sourced the speed parts they needed and sold them out of his garage. This eventually grew into one of the largest distribution companies in the automotive sector.

Over the past 52 years, Motor State has grown from George Lane’s garage into a massive 153,000 square foot facility in Michigan. They distribute parts from nearly all of the automotive aftermarket’s best brands, including MagnaFlow.

“Having a great deal of diversity in our product lines is one of the biggest keys to Motor State’s success,” said Dean Akin, product manager at Motor State Distributing. “We also dedicate a great deal of our resources to customer service. Guys know that they can call us if they have a problem and we’ll do everything we can to help them out.”

Being a wholesale distributor has a lot of advantages but also comes with some unique challenges. On one hand, Motor State doesn’t deal with retail customers which simplifies their customer service processes, but they do have to deal with shops, builders, and other smaller distributors. These clients are incredibly demanding but Motor State’s firm adherence to selling only the highest quality product and standing behind the products they sell has allowed them to rise to the top of a challenging market.

When asked how Motor State and MagnaFlow first began working together, Dean said: “We had customers calling in left and right asking us to carry MagnaFlow. Keep in mind this was back when MagnaFlow was known more for catalytic converters than they were for performance stuff, but we got together and all these years later they are one of our most popular brands.”

As long as shops and builders need parts, Motor State will be there to get them those parts quickly, easily and at the best price possible.