Who owns Sunstar?
Sunstar is owned by Sunstar Suisse S.A. (Switzerland).[1]
This ownership is reported in official statements but has not yet been matched to a regulatory filing.
Evidence: Sunstar Group — Our Story, Sunstar Suisse S.A. Last checked .
Key facts
- Current owner
- Sunstar Suisse S.A. reported
- Owner HQ
- 🇨🇭 Switzerland, Etoy
- Origin
- 🇯🇵 Japan
- Founded
- 1961
- Category
- Automotive › Motorcycles
- Last verified
- · 3 sources
About Sunstar
Sunstar is the motorcycle parts brand that carries the company name, distinguished by a yellow and blue logo, and covers sprockets and brake disc rotors made both for manufacturers and for riders. It grew out of bicycle gear cranks produced from 1954 and motorcycle sprockets from 1961, won a large Harley-Davidson order in 1976, and gained an Italian brake disc plant with the purchase of Braking S.p.A. in 2004.
Ownership timeline of Sunstar
Where Sunstar sits in Sunstar
Controlling ownership as of . Brands grouped under the entity that owns them; large groups are collapsed.
Open the full Sunstar ownership tree →
See the full Sunstar brand portfolio (8) →
Other brands owned by Sunstar
Sunstar controls 8 brands on Brandtree.
Other brands in motorcycles, and who owns them
The 52 brands in motorcycles on Brandtree belong to 12 owners. The largest is Bajaj Auto, with 13.
| Brand | Owner | Owner based in |
|---|---|---|
| Avenger | Bajaj Auto | 🇮🇳 India |
| Destini | Hero MotoCorp | 🇮🇳 India |
| Norton Motorcycles | TVS Motor | 🇮🇳 India |
| Can-Am Off-Road | BRP | 🇨🇦 Canada |
| Ape | Piaggio | 🇮🇹 Italy |
| BSA | Mahindra & Mahindra | 🇮🇳 India |
| BMW Motorrad | BMW Group | 🇩🇪 Germany |
| MODENAS | DRB-HICOM | 🇲🇾 Malaysia |
About the owner: Sunstar
Sunstar is a privately held company headquartered in Etoy, Switzerland, founded in 1932. Brandtree records 8 brands under its control.
Sunstar is a privately held group run by the Kaneda family, with its global headquarters at Etoy in Switzerland and its Japanese headquarters at Takatsuki near Osaka, where Kunio Kaneda founded it in 1932 selling rubber cement in a portable metal tube for mending bicycle tyres. It moved into oral care in 1946 with toothpaste in a tube, and the Sunstar name was coined as a reminder to brush with the sun in the morning and the stars at night. It employs about 4,000 people in 21 countries and runs a consumer oral care business and an industrial one making adhesives, sealants and motorcycle parts.
🇯🇵 Sunstar and other Japanese brands
Brandtree records a controlling owner for 437 brands that began in Japan. 21 of them (5%) are now controlled by a company headquartered in another country, Sunstar among them.
Frequently asked questions
Who is the parent company of Sunstar?
The parent company of Sunstar is Sunstar Suisse S.A., a privately held company headquartered in Switzerland.
Is Sunstar Japanese or Swiss?
Sunstar originated in Japan in 1961, but it is owned today by Sunstar Suisse S.A., which is headquartered in Switzerland. So Sunstar is a Japanese-origin brand under Swiss ownership.
Is Sunstar still owned by Sunstar Suisse S.A.?
Yes. As of 27 September 2026, Sunstar is still owned by Sunstar Suisse S.A. The ownership record was last checked against primary sources on that date.
Sources (3) & corrections
Last verified . Every ownership fact above is backed by one of these primary documents. Numbers in brackets in the text refer to this list.
- [1] Sunstar Group — Our Story — Sunstar Suisse S.A., Official document; retrieved 27 September 2026.
- [2] Sunstar Group — Chemical and Material Core brands — Sunstar Suisse S.A., Official document; retrieved 27 September 2026.
- [3] Sunstar Group — Global Network — Sunstar Suisse S.A., Official document; retrieved 27 September 2026.
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