What BG Products makes

BG Products, Inc. is a chemical manufacturer that formulates automotive maintenance products for professional service shops, not a parts supplier in the usual sense. Its catalog runs to more than 300 professional-use formulas: fuel and oil additives, engine and induction cleaners, specialty lubricants, greases, coolants, brake fluid, and the service equipment and tools that shops use to apply them. The best-known product, BG 44K, is a fuel-system and combustion-chamber cleaner sold as a poured-in treatment; other flagship lines include BG EPR engine performance restoration, BG DOC diesel oil cleaner, and BG 244 diesel fuel-system cleaner.

The products are built around vehicle systems rather than single chemistries. BG sells maintenance services for fuel systems, engines, transmissions, brakes, power steering, cooling systems, batteries, drivelines, and climate control, each pairing a formula with a shop procedure and equipment. That system-plus-service model is why BG reaches the driver through the repair bay: the company estimates its products are used by more than 100,000 fixed operations worldwide, meaning dealerships, independent shops, and franchise service centers, supplied through a network of distributors rather than sold on retail shelves.

BG is unusual among automotive suppliers in how much of its business is education. It founded BG University in 1999 and launched a certified service-advisor learning system in 2011, and in 2018 to 2019 it built a Technology and Training Center in Wichita with a chemistry lab, an on-vehicle testing facility, and training space. The company runs its own proving-ground testing on vehicles before products ship.

Ownership and history

Seven partners founded BG Products in Wichita, Kansas in 1971, six of them World War II veterans, with a stated goal of selling quality automotive products. The founding group, John Thompson, Sam Parks, Don Walton, O.J. Connell, Q.T. Williams, Don Broadbent, and Roy Leslie, released the company's first two products that year: Engine Tune-Up and RF-7. Sales passed half a million dollars by 1973, and the company grew 17 percent in 1973 and 20 percent in 1974.

BG has remained independent and privately held through its history, governed by a Board of Directors. Darin Greseth has served as President, and later CEO and Chairman, since April 2010; he came up through the BG distributor network, starting as a sales rep in Denver in 1984 and running the Michigan distributorship before moving to Wichita. Ron Garcia serves as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, and Dustin Willhite leads product technology. The company markets an international network of distributors and exports to more than 50 countries.

Manufacturing and facilities

BG manufactures in a cluster of plants around Wichita rather than a single site. It opened a roughly 400,000-square-foot fuel-manufacturing facility in El Dorado, Kansas in 2013, on a 40-acre parcel that also holds a distribution center and a tools-and-parts warehouse. It runs an automation operation in Derby, Kansas, and its corporate offices and original manufacturing sit in Wichita alongside the Technology and Training Center. In April 2025 the company acquired the former Vornado Air facility in Andover, Kansas, adding roughly 300,000 square feet of office and warehouse space; an executive said demand on the Wichita, El Dorado, and Derby plants had grown rapidly over the prior five to ten years and more space was needed. Keeping the added footprint in the same region reflects a deliberately clustered supply chain.

Certifications and quality

BG states that its products are manufactured to ISO 9001 quality-management and ISO 14001 environmental-management standards, and that its formulas carry endorsements from international original-equipment manufacturers. Product validation is a stated part of the model: the company performs on-vehicle testing at its own proving ground and chemistry lab before release, and has cited independent ASTM test methods in support of product claims. Certification dates are not published on the company's public pages. As with any self-described certification, these are the company's own claims; buyers running a formal supplier qualification process should request current certificates directly.

Known customers

BG sells through distributors into service bays, so most end users are individual shops rather than named accounts. One documented supply relationship is on the public record:

The Motorcraft relationship, in which BG-formulated fluids are sold under Ford's Motorcraft service brand, is the clearest documented customer link. Beyond it, the company's reach is best described by its distribution footprint rather than a named account list.

Sourcing evidence

BG's US import record is small and tells a consistent story: this is a domestic manufacturer that imports a few specific inputs, not a company that ships finished goods from overseas. Customs bills of lading show 166 sea shipments from April 2015 through September 2026, with the most recent on September 14, 2026, so the account is active. The overwhelming majority, 138 shipments, come from a single supplier, Orthene Chemicals in the United Kingdom, and the goods are almost entirely brake fluid.

Three shown of the recorded suppliers. Origins are the United Kingdom, China, and the Netherlands. Average container volume runs about 5.89 TEU per shipment, and customs-derived estimates put cumulative ocean-freight spend at roughly $1.2 million with cost data covering 88 percent of shipments, an order-of-magnitude figure rather than an audited one. Import volume in the most recent month was down about 16 percent year over year, consistent with a manufacturer that sources most raw material domestically and imports only select specialty inputs.

Coverage caveats: these are US ocean-freight records only. Air, truck, and rail movements do not appear, some records name freight intermediaries rather than manufacturers, and product categories come from declared manifest codes, which are noisy. Absence of a record is not evidence of absence, and BG's small import count reflects domestic production, not limited scale.

Frequently asked questions

What does BG Products make?

BG Products manufactures automotive maintenance chemicals and equipment for professional service shops: more than 300 formulas covering fuel and oil additives, engine and induction cleaners, specialty lubricants, greases, coolants, and brake fluid, plus the tools and service equipment to apply them. Its best-known product is BG 44K, a fuel-system cleaner. The company sells system-based maintenance services for engines, transmissions, brakes, cooling, and other vehicle systems.

Who owns BG Products?

BG Products is a privately held, independent company founded in Wichita, Kansas in 1971 by seven partners, six of them World War II veterans. It is governed by a Board of Directors. Darin Greseth has served as President, CEO, and Chairman since April 2010.

Where is BG Products located?

BG Products is headquartered in Wichita, Kansas, at 740 S. Wichita Street. It manufactures across a Kansas cluster that includes a roughly 400,000-square-foot fuel plant in El Dorado, an automation operation in Derby, and a roughly 300,000-square-foot facility in Andover acquired in 2025. It exports to more than 50 countries.

Who are BG Products' customers?

BG sells through a distributor network into more than 100,000 dealerships, independent repair shops, and franchise service centers worldwide, so most end users are individual shops rather than named accounts. One documented supply relationship is its partnership with Motorcraft, Ford's service-parts brand, covering brake fluid, coolant, and diesel products.

What is BG Products' annual revenue?

BG Products is privately held and does not publish audited financials. Third-party data providers model its revenue at roughly $250 million, which should be treated as an estimate rather than a reported figure. The company employs an estimated 610 people.

What certifications does BG Products hold?

BG states that its products are manufactured to ISO 9001 quality-management and ISO 14001 environmental-management standards, and that its formulas carry endorsements from international original-equipment manufacturers. Certificate dates are not published on its public pages, so buyers should request current documentation directly.

Last verified September 27, 2026. Is this your company? Request a correction.