We will be partnering with oil distributors, all the way up and down the East Coast and the Midwest, to supply Eneos products to automotive dealerships and to quick lubes, Chrysan Industries President and Chief Executive Officer Suk-Kyu Koh told Lube Report.

Chrysan has previously packaged and distributed factory-fill products on behalf of Nippon Oil USA. At Ford, at GM, at Chrysler and at Toyota, we package and distribute small quantities of factory fill, Koh said. This is the first time were actually going into the aftermarket side.

Chrysan plans to open a warehouse in Alabama later this year, which Koh said is partly to help with the Eneos distribution and also to support other business customers in the region. Our warehouse will probably be on the border of Alabama and Georgia, he said. Our business is really growing down in the Southeast.

Sarah Park, manager of lubricant sales for Nippon Oil USA, said the company has a very good relationship with Chrysan on the OEM side. Were very happy with our partnership and believe we can expand our business together, Park told Lube Report. Chrysan expressed interest in partnering with us on our aftermarket business this year, which we also thought would be a beneficial relationship.

Park explained that because Eneos is a new brand of lubricants in the United States retail market, it is very important for us to find a partner that has a strong business foundation in the United States to help us create a sales and distribution network for Eneos.

She said the companys specialty motor oils are unique blends that other oil companies do not offer. They include a 0W-50 grade that offers the widest coverage of viscosity and temperature ranges for high-performance and luxury vehicles in the market.

Weve been marketing our 0W-50 toward the high-performance and import car enthusiasts, Park said. Although the 0-weight oils are currently not readily available in the market for consumers, a lot of factory fills from manufacturers use 0 weight, and are moving toward 0 weights to lower emissions and increase fuel economy, especially 0W-20. Nippon Oil USA offers premium 0W-20 oil for consumers, dealerships and bulk distribution.

Nippon Oil USA opened a new blending facility in Childersburg, Ala., last fall. The plant, which began production Sept. 29, supplies factory-fill lubricants such as engine oils, automatic transmission fluids and shock absorber oils to major Japanese and Asian auto manufacturers, including Toyota, Honda and Hyundai. The plant is capable of producing 38 million liters of lubricants and 800 metric tons of grease per year.

Over the last years, the automotive industry has invested more than $7 billion and created more than 35,000 new jobs in Alabama, according to the Economic Development Partnership of Alabama. The state is home to more than 350 automotive-related manufacturers, including vehicle assembly plants for Mercedes-Benz U.S. International, Honda and Hyundai. Toyota has a dedicated engine plant in the state producing engines for its pickup trucks.

Nippon Oil launched the Eneos line in the United States last year, and has developed a distribution network on the West Coast. Chrysan has been our partner for many years in packaging and distributing Nippon Oil products, and as Nippon Oil continues to grow, we expect that our partners, like Chrysan, will grow with us, said Yasuhiro Kawasaki, vice president for Nippon Oil USA.