From the Source: Jason Kencevski

Originally published in Inside Retail Weekly. Interview by Justin Grey, Managing Editor at Octomedia, Publisher of Inside Retail.

Jason Kencevski is CEO of Speedmaster, Australia's largest supplier of aftermarket automotive spare parts. At 34 years old, with over 15 years of experience in online retail, Jason implemented the business model that grew Speedmaster into a globally recognised brand after taking over global operations in 2005.

Company Profile: Speedmaster

Speedmaster's roots trace back to 1979, when Peter Kencevski - Jason's father - founded the company as Pete's Performance, operating from a small workshop in Wollongong. What began as engine building for customers grew into a global supply chain: manufacturing facilities in China, a 70,000-square-foot distribution centre in Los Angeles, a loyal US customer base, and over 400 employees. Speedmaster sells B2B and B2C.

Growing Up in the Business

"I've been involved since I could walk, I guess. I've got photos of me spending every weekend with my father around car parts - lifting car parts from when I could walk. So I've been around it since I can remember." - Jason Kencevski

Kencevski describes an early orientation toward both product and systems. While studying, he built computers for a living - then applied that IT mindset to Speedmaster, creating the company's first part number system at 16.

"Some people were studying for their HSC; I was creating part numbers that were future proof almost for the next 20 years. I've always been involved, always knew the product line, always knew what was coming next, and I future-proofed it in that sense." - Jason Kencevski

Digital-First from the Start

Asked how Speedmaster might have developed without his IT-driven approach, Kencevski points to the product cataloguing system he built for the US market - a structure that made the range accessible to American buyers unfamiliar with the brand.

"Being a brand, when you go to America, you just can't give the many skew. So I created a product series so the Americans would comfortably understand what that was. If we hadn't, it would've been a lot more difficult to understand what we had for sale." - Jason Kencevski

The digital trajectory started early. Kencevski opened his first eBay store in 1998 or 1999, selling computers. He saw the potential for online retail and launched an eBay store for V8 car spare parts in 2003 while working at the Commonwealth Bank, managing second-hand Speedmaster stock before and after work. By 2005, he had officially taken over Speedmaster in Sydney. Within a year, the full catalogue was listed - and Speedmaster became the number one seller of both second-hand and new automotive items on eBay, operating under the shop front name AT Racing.

His brother joined three years later, bringing IT qualifications from university and building the global ecosystem that connected Speedmaster's operations.

"Without his help, what we achieved in two years may have taken us five. And that's if we got it right. When you've got your brother and a close team, you've got the ability to be agile and get things done faster." - Jason Kencevski

Manufacturing and Innovation

Speedmaster began manufacturing in Sydney with three full facilities and over 200 CNC machines - sufficient for Australian demand. When US growth outpaced local production capacity, the company moved manufacturing to China in 2003-2004.

"We were early starters on the Chinese bandwagon. We saw the potential there, and moved ahead straight away. We work with factories, and our own factories over there. So we've been ahead of the game in Chinese manufacturing, but we've also been ahead of the Chinese manufacturing good versus bad. It's not about going to China; it's about how you go to China." - Jason Kencevski

Kencevski draws a clear distinction between commodity sourcing and Speedmaster's approach: the company does not simply replicate existing parts. It improves them.

"Something that you'd pay $300 from GM for, would probably be $225 or $250 - very close to a GM price, but you'd get current technology. Not technology that could potentially be 20 or 25-years-old." - Jason Kencevski

A Market That Keeps Building

"You could say it's a dying market, but the reality is, everyone still wants to do up their V8. So I think the market is just as strong as it's ever been." - Jason Kencevski

Kencevski sees the aftermarket as self-renewing. Credibility matters more in this space than in low-risk retail - customers need confidence in the brand before committing. And the audience replenishes itself.

"Everyday a kid is growing up and they've seen their father do up a V8 car and they want the same car as their father. And that is why it continues to be strong, and grow." - Jason Kencevski

Breaking the American Market

"It was my father's aim to break the American market. He's pretty good at defying odds and doing things that people say you can't do. No matter who you are, to say that you've broken the American market and that you're a household name in America and people know you and you're a threat to well-established American brands, is pretty much the biggest feather in the cap. And that's what he set out to do. And he nailed it." - Jason Kencevski

The US facility has been operational for nearly 11 years. Growth was deliberate and staged: from shipping to a US reseller, to a 5,000-square-foot facility, then 20,000, then 40,000, and now 75,000 square feet in Rialto. Each step matched capacity to demand.

"Our growth year on year has always been strong. Not only has it been steady, we can definitely increase our growth. The hardest part is we want to over deliver and under promise, so we try to pull the handbrake up on growth. So that we make sure that as we're growing, so does our customer service and our delivery times." - Jason Kencevski

Australia as the Proving Ground

When asked about balancing focus between Australia and the larger US opportunity, Kencevski is direct.

"Australia is a playground to create a structure and an infrastructure, to then take to the US." - Jason Kencevski

The Australian market, however, earned its place in Speedmaster's trajectory. Since 2005, the company has been delivering niche V8 parts direct to doors - a model that was then replicated in the US. Beyond the two core markets, Speedmaster operates in over 35 countries, with 11 to 14 percent of online business coming from Europe and storefronts as far afield as Brazil and New Zealand.

Family, Legacy, and the Long View

"I don't always agree with my Dad's decisions, but the reality is that we are where we are today and I always take his opinion on board and make sure we always work as a team to come up with something that he's happy with." - Jason Kencevski

The dynamic between father and son reflects the company's broader operating principle: Peter Kencevski's passion is creating products; Jason's is building the system that delivers them to the world.

"My father really has never had much interest in running the operation; his passion is creating fun, exciting and innovative products. So he is very comfortable in going, 'You know what you're doing'. I do have the hands on the reins, but he's the one that puts the horseshoes on, so I've got to be careful." - Jason Kencevski