The SEMA Truck & Off-Road Alliance (TORA) named Injen Technology as the council's newest member spotlight company. Get to know their story in the SEMA News interview with Jay Crouch, Injen Technology's director of global business, below.
SEMA News: Tell us the story of Injen Technology. How did the company start?
Jay Crouch: In 1988, a young entrepreneur named Ron Delgado was working late into the evening trying to find a better way to polish products for his contract manufacturing business, then known as RD Metals Works. RD Metals held contract manufacturing jobs within multiple industries, including polishing baseball bats for Easton. At the time, most polishing machines only polished along flat surfaces, but when Ron had the idea for a multi-axis machine that could polish better and faster than anything he had used before, he was determined to make it a reality.
What began as a mission to perfect the art of polishing soon grew into a full-fledged quest to develop industry-changing design and manufacturing solutions. In 1991, as the demand for high-quality aftermarket air induction products began to reach scale, Ron knew he had found an opportunity to make his mark on an industry he loved. RD Metal Works soon started building and polishing intake systems on a private-label basis for many leading brands in the industry.
In 1998, Ron knew that his team could design and build industry-leading intake systems and decided to launch and market his own brand of cold air intakes. Absorbing the experience, design capabilities and quality standards of RD Metal Works in 1998, Injen Technology was born. Ron and the team at Injen Technology quickly embarked on a never-ending quest to brand their own name and set new standards of quality and performance while constantly striving to improve our own engineering capabilities. Bringing together all phases of manufacturing under one corporate umbrella proved to be the equation for unrivaled success.
For the past 25 years, Injen Technology has led the way in innovation and design within the performance aftermarket. Constantly innovating and pushing the limits of design, Injen currently holds more than 10 patents, with four of those patents on the tuning process of an air intake system--something no other manufacturer can claim. Continually growing and innovating, Injen Technology is headquartered in Montclair, California, with production facilities in Pomona, California, and Coachella, California.
SN: What was Injen Technology's breakthrough moment?
JC: After 25 years of business, there are definitely a few noteworthy breakthroughs. First was the patenting of Injen's MR Technology. MR Technology is our patented venturi stepping process that enables our engineers to "tune" an intake for maximum power by adjusting airspeed at the MAF during the design phase. This opened the doors for endless design possibilities for maximum power without the fear of check-engine lights.
Another breakthrough was developing and installing our own air filter manufacturing line. This allowed our team at Injen to not only produce our own air filters right here in California, but it also allowed our engineering team more freedom to develop new intake designs without fear of having to use an existing off-the-shelf air filter.
One of our latest innovations is Injen's "Evolution" line of rotomolded intakes. Injen is globally recognized as a leader in cold air intake design and our DNA is forged in our traditional line of aluminum intakes. With the addition of our rotomolded line of closed box intake systems branded as "Evolution," we were able to use our decades worth of engineering and apply that the Evolution line. The Evolution line has really taken us to the next level. These designs have allowed our team to bring more focus to the Euro and truck market segments. By entering the off-road and truck market with unique intake systems designed specifically for the Jeep, Bronco, Tacoma, Silverado, F-150 and more, we opened up an entirely new market for Injen and followed along as our truck offerings quickly climbed as our number-one-selling products.
SN: Tell us about Injen Technology now and projects you are working on.
JC: 2023 is an exciting year for Injen. While we're continuing our current manufacturing in Pomona, California, we're also opening our new world headquarters in Montclair, California. As far as development is concerned, our team is heavy in the development of many new product lines for the off-road market, including new exhaust designs to help round out our product offerings. Stay tuned for exciting products for the new Tacoma, the new Tundra, the Jeep 392, plus much more. You might hear a whisper of our Carbon Fiber lineup coming at SEMA 2023, so make sure you stop by our booth to see if the rumors are true!
SN: Tell us about a product that you are proud of.
JC: I'm partial to our Evolution line. The development on this line was strong, as we needed to expand our offerings and overcome the design limitations of traditional aluminum intakes. With the addition of our Evolution line, we're now able to use 3D scans of a vehicle and develop an intake system that basically drops in for a factory fit and with a performance look and feel. It really is a best-in-class solution and the reason why our designs are so far ahead of the competition when it comes to power output and overall fitment. I have a feeling that I'll have a new favorite around SEMA time though, so make sure to follow us on social media to stay up to date on everything Injen!
SN: What advice do you have for young professionals contemplating a career in the automotive aftermarket?
JC: Like others have said in the past, it is imperative to carve out a niche and turn it into a career within this incredible industry. Being an enthusiast is only part of the equation, the key is to have a specialty or niche and then apply that to our industry, along with your automotive passion. Learn as much as you can to become an expert in your craft and mix in your passion at the same time. Before you know it, you'll be sought-after within this industry and beyond.