Blue Print: The Bilstein Group's Specialist for Asian Vehicles

History

The company behind Blue Print, Automotive Distributors Ltd (ADL), was originally set up in 1983 in the United Kingdom as a subsidiary of Mazda Cars Ltd, distributing spare parts made by third-party manufacturers for Mazda and other Japanese vehicles. In 1988, ADL became an independent company through a management buyout from the Mazda organization. The Blue Print brand itself was created in 1994 to bring ADL's various parts ranges together under a single name, and the brand grew over the following years into one of Europe's more comprehensive parts ranges for Asian-market vehicles. On January 4, 2011, Ferdinand Bilstein GmbH + Co. KG (the German group behind the febi brand, commonly known as febi bilstein) completed the purchase of ADL, becoming the sole owner of the company, its subsidiaries in Spain and Italy, and the rights to the Blue Print brand; ADL and Blue Print now sit within the broader bilstein group alongside brands including febi and SWAG.

What they make

Blue Print's range is built specifically around parts for Japanese, Korean and other Asian-market vehicles, along with coverage for some American models, spanning light vehicles and light commercial vehicles up to 7.5 tonnes. The brand's core categories include filtration, braking and clutch components, and it markets more than 25,000 parts covering upwards of 160 different product types, positioned as one of the more complete Asian-vehicle parts ranges available in the European aftermarket.

Where they fit — OE vs aftermarket

Blue Print operates purely as an aftermarket brand rather than an OE supplier, sourcing and cataloging parts specifically to fit Asian-brand vehicles sold in markets — like Europe — where those manufacturers may not always maintain the same depth of dealer parts availability as their home markets. Its positioning within the bilstein group complements febi (which historically has focused more on European makes), giving the group a combined range that spans both European and Asian vehicle parcs.

Buying guidance

Because Asian vehicle platforms are sometimes shared, badge-engineered or regionally varied (the same nameplate can differ significantly between European, US and home-market Japanese or Korean specifications), always check a Blue Print part against the vehicle's chassis or VIN-derived specification rather than the model name alone. For clutch and filtration parts in particular, confirm the exact engine and transmission code, since these systems tend to have more regional variants on Asian-brand vehicles than on many European models.