TAKE 5 With GRID Off-Road: A New Standard in Off-Road Wheels
There’s something special about the height, clearance, power, and world of possibilities available to you from the cockpit of an off-road-capable vehicle. And perhaps no one understands this better than GRID Off-Road, a leading designer and manufacturer of custom wheels for trucks, Jeeps and SUVs. A subsidiary of Savini Wheels, the California-based company specializes in unique designs for the off-road market—some of which are large and loud, all of which are incredibly detailed and impressively on-trend.
As the Fall wheeling season picks up, with the Off-Road Expo in Pomona this past weekend and suppliers preparing for November SEMA debuts, we sat down with Lawrence Lee, Vice President of GRID Off-Road, and Tony Madrigal, Marketing Director, to get some insight on just exactly who GRID Off-Road is, where it fits into the off-road scene, and what it sees in its own (bright) future.
Join us for a little Take 5 deep dive below—and be sure to check out the company’s website and social media for product listings and jaw-dropping builds.
Satisfying Off-Road Needs in Style
Q: Tell us a little bit about the GRID brand. How did the company get to where it is today?
A: In a nutshell, GRID’s parent company is called Savini Wheels. Founded in 2003, Savini specializes in forged wheels for high-end exotic passenger vehicles and SUVs. But as the off-road market continued to expand rapidly here in the States, over time more people were asking us to branch into the segment, bringing along a taste of what we do for Savini. So, in 2015 at SEMA, we officially launched GRID Off-Road with about six designs, as well a variety of accessories like grilles, side-steps, and exhaust tips.
Since then, we’ve been growing our off-road audience. We’re pretty much the new kids on the block, so we went about targeting this market by applying the winning strategy from Savini to the off-road scene. We were the first to come out with a lot of different finishes, colors, very detail-oriented designs, and we utilized a lot of what is already popular in the passenger exotic market into the off-road.
Q: What does GRID Off-Road’s product development process look like? From design to distribution, what’s the turnaround like?
A: Our company has a global network, where we maintain offices and manufacturers in China, Taiwan, and Korea. Additionally, we have a 30,000 sq. ft. facility here in Anaheim, California where we make all USA-made forged wheels; the cast wheels are made overseas.
As for turnaround time, say we’re making the wheels in an overseas factory: we have full-time design and engineer teams in-house that work constantly to react to market trends and needs. So, the designer would go through various numbers of designs and concepts every day, and then develop those ideas that seem best-suited for the current market.
From there, 2D designs lead to 3D renderings, which lead to a series of computer analysis software programs that determine if the wheel design is strong enough to withstand the weight of the vehicle. After that process of engineering, the design moves into 3D printing—that’s where we really get to see how it’s going to look. Once that gets approved, we send it out to the factory and they start the mold process to begin producing the wheels.
So, from concept to design to engineering to manufacturing, I’d say that process takes about 4-6 months. That includes having the product in-hand, ready to go out for distribution.
Q: The wheel market is tough—anticipating trends and consumer demands must be challenging. How does GRID Off-Road do it?
A: First, we’ve always wanted to provide top quality. That’s the biggest thing that we cater to, because we came from a business with a 3-piece forged wheel that’s very expensive—all handmade here in the U.S. You’re talking thousands of dollars per wheel, so the details and quality have to be top-notch. Our audience has always demanded high quality from us from the start. So, we kept the same hierarchy going into this market—the quality comes first, details and design come second.
As far as pricing goes—we’re not the cheapest on the market and we don’t want to be. We’re not looking for volume. But we are looking for quality customers who want to be different with their vehicles.
With that in mind, as a company, we do about 30+ events here in the U.S. and about 10+ overseas. Our marketing team goes and talks to people, sees the customers and what they bring to the shows, to see what’s hot, what the customer wants. Sometimes, our engineers tag along to get a better idea of why certain popular vehicles look good—what exactly are the trends emerging? Having a presence at the show really allows us to relay that message from what the customer wants to what we can provide as a next generation trend.
Q: As a newer brand, do you face any unique challenges connecting at the consumer level or competing with long-standing names?
A: The market changes very rapidly. What was hot last year, definitely isn’t hot this year and obviously, what’s hot next year is going to be different from what we do right now. Yes, we might be the newer kids on the block, but the market is demanding the same thing from everyone: Something new and fresh every year. And if you don’t deliver that, if you don’t cope with the market changes—no matter who you are—you’re going to become a dinosaur pretty soon.
Of course, off-road has been one of the biggest flooded markets here in U.S., so obviously, there’s a lot of competition. But as long as you have brand identity and a clear idea of who your audience is, then I think the game is on.
Q: Aside from the quality and unique designs, what differentiates GRID Off-Road from other brands on the market?
A: For us, small details really matter—and that comes from our Savini experience. For example, right now we’re offering insert options for certain wheels, that can be switched out for a new look or come off so you can rotate the tires. Additionally, our wheels feature a two-piece center cap design, where you can actually open up the cap to easily access the manual hub lockout. Plus, where other manufacturers use plastic caps, our two-piece forged off-road wheels come with a forged cap to keep it more in line with the customers’ demands.
Things like that make us a little different than other offerings on the market.
Q: What are some of your personal favorite wheels and that of customers right now?
I think GD12 is one of our favorites. For customers, it seems that whatever was popular on the passenger side of the wheels market is slowly migrating to the off-road—just think about the prevalence of concave and directional wheels. And the GD12 offers both of those. It has a steep concave angle, as well as directional inserts.
We’re also one of the few companies that started with this dark tint finish, which is a nice classic finish—almost like a gunmetal—that was very popular in the passenger side of the market, too.
Q: So, you have wheel designs that can stand up to the stylistic demands of off-road enthusiasts—how about the durability?
It doesn’t matter if the wheels are driven on the street or off-road, they all have to go through the same rigorous testing procedure. If it’s an 8-lug vehicle, it’s designed to hold 3,640 pounds per wheel. And if it’s a 6-lug or 5-lug, it holds about 2,600 pounds.
All the wheels have been tested physically to make sure these designs can withstand the wheel capacity. Additionally, our company is TUV-certified, which is the toughest standard the aftermarket wheels can obtain. (This comes from Germany where regulations are much stricter). Only a few companies in the U.S. are TUV-certified. It requires extensive testing, procedures, and documentation to obtain that.
Q: Can you talk through GRID Off-Road’s relationship with Keystone? How has that helped expand the brand’s reach and put it in closer touch with its core customer?
A: The market really has changed so much with companies like Amazon offering same-day delivery. Customers have gotten spoiled—no one wants to wait for product. Since we’re based in California, it makes it difficult for us to quickly service customers in the middle of the country or on the East Coast, so a partner like Keystone is really valuable. Their warehouses can service retail stores within a day or two. With that distribution power and our branding, it just makes it a perfect marriage.
Q: What are some trends you expect to see coming up at this year’s SEMA show? Anything exciting we can expect to see from GRID, specifically?
A: Well, overall, I think you can expect to see wheels and tires continuing to get bigger. Last year, we saw 28-inch and now 30-inch is already available here in the U.S. I don’t think anyone is going to 32s yet—mainly because I don’t think there’s a tire for it yet—but once there is, somebody will make them.
For GRID Off-Road specifically, we’re launching new UTV wheels with Keystone. It’s been a really successful, growing market so we’re targeting it with some new designs and multiple colors. So that’s something that’s neat coming up for SEMA. We’ll also be bringing some crazy builds like the Marshmello Ford 6×6, customized by the Diesel Brothers and sporting a set of GF22 GRID Wheels. Because of our relationships and experience with Savini, we deal with a lot of influential celebs and athletes who have crazy builds and we do a lot partnership with them. So, look out for some big names to pop up at the show.
If you can’t bear to wait until SEMA, check out GRID Off-Road’s presence at the Off-Road Expo in Pomono, California for a sneak peek at some current new forged wheels and maybe even a few samples of some upcoming designs.
