KANSASCITY, Mo. (AP) – At 35, Sean “P.Diddy” Combs has already made his mark as a hip-hop musician, Broadway actor,marathon runner, fashion designer, celebrity boyfriend, gossip column favorite,voter registration booster and all-around entertainment entrepreneur.
Now, theformer Puff Daddy is going into the auto parts business — and it’s all aboutthe wheels.
Combs isjoining forces with a Kansas City manufacturer to produce a new line of custom,precision-forged aluminum rims for sports trucks, luxury SUVs and high-endAmerican- and German-made automobiles.
The 50-50joint venture between Combs’ Bad Boy Worldwide Entertainment Group and KansasCity’s Weld Wheel Industries Inc. was announced Thursday at the New YorkInternational Auto Show. SJC Wheels LLC will produce and sell “Sean JohnWheels,” named for the entertainer. They hit stores next month, retailing atbetween $700 and $3,000 each.
“Wheelshave become a fashion statement — a badge of taste and style,” Combs said. “Wesee an opportunity to bring excitement to the wheel category by delivering theSean John sophisticated design with the best quality production.”
Partner Greg Weld, the foundingpresident and chief executive of Weld Wheel, said Combs had told him he’d showhim how to “bring some sexy” to the wheel business.
Weld, a61-year-old former auto racing driver who started his wheel manufacturingbusiness in 1970, was a little overwhelmed at the attention attracted by hisnew partner, marveling at his ability to work a crowd and “build his brand.”
“He is anicon in the urban market and the urban market is huge, the single biggestsegment of wheel business,” Weld said. “But we did not know how to tap intothat market. Having a personality or high-profile person is a little like Nikegetting together with Michael Jordan. It increases recognition.”
“In theurban market, they call it ‘bling-bling’ which means showy, shiny and ‘Look atme, I have a lot of bling,'” he said. “The way we’ve designed spokes, holes,the features, it looks like it is aggressively moving when it’s not evenmoving.”
