Garmin sent a notice to many JL Audio car audio reps yesterday saying it is changing its distribution model and the rep’s service is terminated effective July 31.
Many in the industry believe that Garmin terminated all its JL Audio car audio reps.
Garmin had “no comment” when we asked for confirmation.
JL Audio, a long-standing and beloved brand in car audio, was purchased in September 2023 by Garmin, which tends to use a distribution model of distributors and in-house sales, said industry members.
The termination of reps follows other changes by Garmin including adding JL’s marine audio offering to Garmin distributors, so that a broader range of dealers can carry its marine lineup.
One rep who received the termination notice said, “It’s been a blessing. I am grateful to have been involved with the company for the length of time that I have. With the transition of the company to Garmin, it lead one to wonder when this would happen. On the bright side, what manufacturer gives anybody six months notice.”
We will publish more information as we learn more details.
I believe when Garmen bought JL first the reps get let go and then the original engineers.. then the quality we all know and love goes the wayside for cheaper designs for more $$.. its sad im my opinion
To all the reps just let go, you’re welcome to hit us up over at USAmps, as we’d love to discuss signing you on. We are growing, and want a solid team to grow with us. Cheers to the next chapter 🥂
The next move will be to get rid of the bad internal sales representative that made poor decisions on signing up new dealers on every corner to show ” nice numbers” right before Garmin closed the purchase and not concerning about creating competition to the old loyal dealers that had deep contribution for the success of the company.
Would be nice but clearly their direction is to have a dealer on every corner. No programs, lower freight, and one price helps facilitate that.
The next move will be to get rid of the bad internal sales representative that made poor decisions on signing up new dealers on every corner to show ” nice numbers” right before Garmin closed the purchase and not concerning about creating competition to the old loyal dealers that had deep contribution for the success of the company.
JL audio management never cared about their customers or reps.
Being the first Rep that JL hired in 1988 I can say without equivocation, it was a great ride. Lucio Proni and the crew at Speaker Warehouse created one of the best engineer driven, prestigious car audio companies in the industry. From the beginning JL was always a dealer and rep centric company. The culture they created throughout the years was second to none. That passion and attention to detail will probably never be repeated in car audio. Another great American success story that sadly came to an end.
Times change and so does the industry. Garman made a strategic move buying JL Audio. The time was right for the sale to occur. Those that didn’t see what was coming after that were not paying attention. Hopefully everybody, buyers, retailers and reps made alternative plans for this eventual reality. So glad I’m retired now I don’t have to worry about these things. For 32 years I enjoyed the ride. ✌️
This is a mixed bag, on one hand it no surprise, as Garmin see Independent Reps as a ‘Bug,’ not a feature. So this was worst kept secret in 12V over the past year. On the other hand, giving the Reps effectively a ‘6 month severance package’ is very rare and generous. I’m sure they can find (have planned for some time) other, ‘better’ uses for how to allocate those funds, moving forward. When your model relies upon Distribution and Amazon as your core channel partners — Reps firms simply offer minimal “value add,” and thus are little more than a significant number line-item, on some spreadsheet, that’s become expendable. I’m sure that Garmin shareholders (or Amazon), will benefit from this “strategic” cost-cutting move.
Goodbye JL AUDIO Reps
I have had friendly relationships with reps
In the past. I belive its a mistake to take a highend
Product and change its sales structure.
But the fact is many auto manufacturers have made
Upgrades hard to do. The bottom line is the marketshare
Is not what it was 20 years ago.
Plus expandable income has dropped.
Car audio is fun, but its not nessary.
If dealers can sell a system its hard.
And online transshipping is killing whats left of the industry.
Sadly when any business is purchased these days expect big changes, some good and others ….well matter of opinion.
Goodbye to the JL Audio that we all knew and loved.
Bravo, to Garmin,
If when making such a business decision, uncomfortable though it may be to have to announce, doing it with the impact on the partner’s business is quite a rare quality in business these days.
Oh! What a surprise! I DID NOT SEE THAT COMING, OR HAD SEEN ANYTHING LIKE THAT IN MY 50 YEARS! WOWIE!
No surprise here. I feel deeply for the many reps this has affected.