What Premium Guard makes

Premium Guard Inc. (PGI) designs, manufactures, and distributes aftermarket automotive filters. The company started in 1996 with the five core filtration categories, oil, air, cabin air, fuel, and transmission, and has since built an all-makes, all-models program that it says covers more than 98% of the light, medium, and heavy-duty vehicle market. The heavy-duty line adds coolant, hydraulic, DEF and urea, fuel-water, and heavy-duty air, cabin, and transmission filters for trucks and off-highway equipment.

Around the filter core, PGI sells a broader parts catalog: Premium Vision wiper blades, PWR Steer power steering racks, pumps, and gearboxes, disposable gloves, hose clamps, oil filter housing caps, drain plugs and gaskets, and cabin air fresheners. It also runs several sub-brands, including PUREFLOW cabin and home air filtration, HIGHFLOW performance engine air filters, and the ViAQ cabin-air diagnostic tool. Much of the business is private and white label: PGI supplies reverse engineering, packaging design, contract manufacturing, quality control, logistics, and ACES and PIES catalog data to retailers, buying groups, and independent warehouse distributors under their own brands.

The go-to-market position PGI emphasizes is speed. The company describes itself as a first-to-market leader that releases coverage for late-model applications ahead of competitors, so its private label customers get the newest SKUs first. Supply runs on a hybrid model: a direct-import channel backed by domestic backup inventory, sized to handle both container-load volume and slower-moving long-tail parts.

Ownership and history

Anan Bishara founded Premium Guard in 1996 and remains its Founder and CEO. The company is privately held and independent, and it has been the acquirer, not the target, in its recent deals. In January 2022 PGI completed the acquisition of IPC Global Solutions, and in 2022 it expanded domestic operations with a distribution investment in Columbus, Ohio.

The larger structural change came in 2025 and 2026. In May 2025 PGI moved its corporate headquarters from New York City to Memphis, Tennessee, consolidating around its main distribution base, per the Memphis Business Journal. It kept a marketing office in New York. Then, across two phases in 2026, PGI acquired key assets from the bankrupt First Brands Group. The first phase, signed in March and closed in April 2026, covered intellectual property and 12 legacy brands including Autolite, which Bloomberg reported at about $25 million. The second phase, closed in June 2026, added US filter production lines in Albion, Illinois, manufacturing equipment from the legacy FRAM plant in Greenville, Ohio, a dedicated filtration R&D center and laboratory, and US and Mexican inventory. PGI said it would initially reinstate close to 300 jobs and leased a 730,000-square-foot distribution center to support the integration. Today the company operates from Memphis with a distribution footprint it describes as close to 1.5 million square feet across North America.

Certifications and quality

PGI states that its products are built from premium components in ISO-certified facilities and validated against OEM fit and performance standards through systematic supply-chain auditing and field testing. The current company site describes ISO-certified manufacturing but does not publish a specific standard number or certificate date, so the certification is reported here as a company claim rather than a verified document. The 2026 acquisition of a First Brands filtration R&D center and laboratory gives PGI in-house engineering, materials science, testing, and validation capability that it did not previously operate at that scale.

Known customers

PGI sells primarily through the aftermarket retail and warehouse-distributor channel, and it supplies private label programs whose end brands it does not disclose. Two supplier relationships are documented through PGI's own award announcements:

These are buyers that recognized PGI as a supplier, documented in the company's own press. The identities of PGI's private label program customers are not public and are not listed here.

Sourcing evidence

PGI's US import record matches the profile the company describes: a diversified filtration supply base concentrated in Southeast Asia. US customs bills of lading show 4,920 sea shipments from December 2018 through September 2026, and the company was still actively importing as of September 25, 2026. Volume is rising, up roughly 15% year over year in the most recent month on record. The goods are filters and filter elements, not finished vehicles or unrelated parts, which is consistent with a manufacturer and packager of aftermarket filtration.

The most active foreign suppliers on the record:

Seven of the largest suppliers are shown. By HS code, the mix leads with oil and fuel filters (8421.23), other filters (8421.39), and intake-air filters (8421.31), with cabin filters, hoses, hose clamps, and power steering parts behind them. Origins are spread across Vietnam, China, Thailand, and Malaysia, a multi-country base that gives PGI room to shift volume between suppliers as tariff exposure and lead times move. The company also cites Latin American and North American sourcing, and its 2026 US manufacturing acquisitions add domestic production that ocean-import records do not capture.

Coverage caveats: these are US ocean-freight records only. Air, truck, and rail movements do not appear, some records name freight intermediaries rather than factories, and product categories come from declared manifest codes, which are noisy. The free customs page exposes the largest suppliers rather than the full list, so the true supplier count is higher than the seven shown. Absence of a record is not evidence of absence.

Frequently asked questions

What does Premium Guard Inc. make?

Premium Guard Inc. (PGI) makes aftermarket automotive filters: oil, air, cabin air, fuel, and transmission filters for cars, trucks, and heavy-duty equipment. It also sells wiper blades, PWR Steer power steering products, disposable gloves, hose clamps, and the ViAQ cabin-air diagnostic tool, and it runs the PUREFLOW and HIGHFLOW sub-brands. A large share of its business is private and white label filter programs for retailers and distributors.

Who owns Premium Guard Inc.?

Premium Guard is privately held and independent. It was founded in 1996 by Anan Bishara, who remains Founder and CEO. The company has grown partly through acquisition, buying IPC Global Solutions in 2022 and key assets of the bankrupt First Brands Group, including the Autolite brand and legacy FRAM manufacturing equipment, in 2026.

Where is Premium Guard Inc. headquartered?

Premium Guard is headquartered at 4770 Hickory Hill Road, Memphis, Tennessee 38141. The company moved its headquarters from New York City to Memphis in 2025 and operates a North American distribution network it describes as close to 1.5 million square feet.

How many employees does Premium Guard have?

Premium Guard reports a workforce in the 201 to 500 employee band. Headcount has been growing, and the company said its 2026 acquisition of First Brands Group manufacturing assets would initially reinstate close to 300 additional jobs across engineering, manufacturing, product management, and operations.

Who are Premium Guard's customers?

Premium Guard supplies aftermarket retailers, buying groups, and independent warehouse distributors, often through private label programs whose end brands are not disclosed. Documented relationships include O'Reilly Auto Parts, which named PGI a Top Supplier, and Advance Auto Parts, which gave PGI its Professional Excellence Champion Award.

What certifications does Premium Guard hold?

Premium Guard states that its products are manufactured in ISO-certified facilities and validated to meet or exceed OEM fit and performance standards through supply-chain auditing and field testing. The company does not publish a specific standard number or certificate date on its current site, so the certification is reported here as a company claim.

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