What Momentum USA makes

Momentum USA, Inc. is an American family-owned aftermarket undercar manufacturer and distributor that has been in business since 1945. It sells four core product lines: brake pads and brake friction, cabin air filters, exhaust systems, and disposable PPE face masks. Rather than run as a single factory, the company operates as a family of five businesses, a vertical-integration approach that lets it both manufacture and control its own distribution.

Brake friction is the anchor. Under the AmeriBRAKES brand, and through its Canadian manufacturing companies New World Friction and Max Power Friction, Momentum builds copper-free brake pads for severe-duty, medium-duty, and air-disc applications, covering fleet, emergency-service, and heavy work-truck use. The company says it was first to market with a 100% copper-free formula, a formulation that meets the copper-restriction rules adopted by California and Washington, and it markets its pads as exceeding Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) requirements. Its cabin air filter line, AirQualitee, is built to OE fit-form-function specifications with particulate and carbon media, and the company markets broad application coverage for the fast-growing filter category. Exhaust systems and welded exhaust assemblies come from its OEM Exhaust operation in Kentucky, and the First Line brand supplies Made-in-USA disposable face masks.

The customer base runs through the automotive aftermarket rather than the OEM assembly line: independent warehouse distributors, co-manufacturing and private-label partners, fleets, professional installers, and individual consumers. That channel mix, and the company's own vertical integration of both manufacturing and distribution, is the point of its structure.

Ownership and history

Momentum USA is privately held and family-owned, now in its fourth generation of the Amalfe family. It traces back to 1945 and grew from a small service garage in New Jersey into a multi-plant North American manufacturer and distributor. John Paul Amalfe is president and chief executive; the leadership bench also includes a vice president, a treasurer, and a fourth-generation operating team, with Andrew Rhea as chief financial officer and David Gonzales as senior vice president of sales and marketing.

The group has grown by acquisition as well as organically. In 2004, its AutoPartSource business acquired Qualitee International, which brought it into cabin air filters, the line now sold as AirQualitee. In December 2024, its friction company New World Friction acquired Max Power Friction of Toronto, a maker of medium- and heavy-duty and air-disc brake pads; the company said the combination lets customers buy a complete brake program from Class 1 through Class 8. The company describes itself as a solvent and profitable, privately held business that reinvests in its operating companies.

Manufacturing and distribution footprint

Momentum's operating companies are spread across the eastern US and Ontario, Canada. New World Friction runs a roughly 150,000-square-foot brake-pad plant in Cambridge, Ontario, and Max Power Friction operates alongside it in Ontario after the 2024 acquisition. OEM Exhaust manufactures welded exhaust assemblies on a five-acre site in Hopkinsville, Kentucky. AutoPartSource, the group's cabin air filter manufacturing plus national master-distribution and logistics hub, occupies a roughly 130,000-square-foot facility in Richmond, Virginia, which is also the corporate headquarters. AB&S handles regional undercar distribution out of Edison, New Jersey, with distribution centers in Connecticut, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. The company describes its brake friction, filtration, and exhaust products as produced in large, modern North American facilities.

Certifications and quality

Momentum's public quality claims are framed around regulatory compliance and OE specifications rather than a single dated third-party certificate. Its AmeriBRAKES pads are marketed as exceeding FMVSS requirements and as using a 100% copper-free friction formula that complies with state copper-restriction laws. Its AirQualitee cabin air filters are described as built to OEM media specifications, 100% test-fitted in OE housings, with filter media the company states is ISO-tested for efficiency and flow. These are the company's own claims. No dated third-party ISO 9001 or IATF 16949 certificate was found published for the company as a whole, which is why this profile reports quality as compliance and OE-spec claims rather than a certified quality system.

Known customers

Momentum sells primarily through distribution channels, so most end customers are not named. The evidence that is on the public record:

Beyond that, the company's disclosed channels are independent warehouse distributors, co-manufacturing and private-label partners, fleets, professional installers, and OES buyers. No filing-documented OEM program was found.

Sourcing evidence

Momentum's US import activity runs through its AutoPartSource entity, and it reads like an aftermarket filter-and-brake importer: 1,584 US sea shipments on record since January 2015, and still active, with the most recent shipment logged September 19, 2026. Declared manifest codes are led by cabin air filters (HTS 8421.39), with filter elements and brake discs and parts (HTS 8708.30) also present, matching the AirQualitee and AmeriBRAKES lines. The top suppliers by shipment count are Chinese filter and auto-parts makers:

Seven shown of the top suppliers on record. By origin, the record is Asia-heavy: China accounts for 1,413 shipments, with smaller volumes from Brazil (48), Turkey (43), and Hong Kong (35). The interesting movement is at the margin. The active 2026 lanes are not only Chinese: recent shipments come from Turkish friction and undercar suppliers Nex Global and SSP Otomotiv, and from Frasle Mobility, a major Brazilian brake-friction manufacturer. That is a real, if early, diversification of the friction and undercar supply base away from a single country, relevant to any buyer weighing tariff exposure and nearshoring options.

Overall import volume is down about 24% year over year, though the company continues to ship at roughly 21 TEU per month. Coverage caveats: these are US ocean-freight records only, filed under the AutoPartSource entity (which also appears under two dozen manifest name and address variants). Air, truck, and rail movements, and any Canadian plant sourcing, do not appear; some records name freight intermediaries; and product categories come from declared manifest codes, which are noisy. Absence of a record is not evidence of absence.

Frequently asked questions

What does Momentum USA, Inc. make?

Momentum USA makes aftermarket undercar auto parts across four lines: copper-free brake pads and brake friction (AmeriBRAKES, New World Friction, Max Power Friction), cabin air filters (AirQualitee), exhaust systems and welded assemblies (OEM Exhaust), and disposable PPE face masks (First Line). It both manufactures and distributes these products.

Who owns Momentum USA, Inc.?

Momentum USA is privately held and American family-owned, now in its fourth generation of the Amalfe family. It was founded in 1945 and is led by president and CEO John Paul Amalfe. It operates as a family of five operating companies across the US and Ontario, Canada.

Where is Momentum USA located?

Momentum USA is headquartered at 4605 Carolina Avenue, Richmond, Virginia 23222, which also houses its AutoPartSource cabin-filter manufacturing and national distribution hub. Its other plants are New World Friction and Max Power Friction in Cambridge/Ontario, Canada, and OEM Exhaust in Hopkinsville, Kentucky, plus AB&S regional distribution based in Edison, New Jersey.

Who are Momentum USA's customers?

Most of Momentum's customers are unnamed because it sells through distribution: independent warehouse distributors, co-manufacturing and private-label partners, fleets, professional installers, and OES buyers. AutoNation appears on the company's own partner wall. Momentum does not publish a customer list.

How big is Momentum USA?

Momentum USA is a mid-market private company operating three North American manufacturing plants (in Ontario, Canada and Kentucky) plus a Virginia manufacturing-and-distribution hub and a five-state East Coast distribution network. It does not publish audited revenue or headcount figures; third-party estimates place group revenue in a roughly $25 to $50 million band, which should be treated as an estimate.

What certifications does Momentum USA hold?

Momentum frames quality around regulatory compliance and OE specifications: its AmeriBRAKES pads are marketed as exceeding FMVSS requirements and using a 100% copper-free formula, and its AirQualitee filters are built to OE media specs with media the company says is ISO-tested. No dated third-party ISO 9001 or IATF 16949 certificate was found published for the company as a whole.

Last verified September 28, 2026. Is this your company? Request a correction.