Repair shops need to be positioning themselves as their customers’ one-stop shop. Otherwise, when the time comes, they will be back at the OEM dealership.
In recent days there has been much talk about the “driverless vehicle,” the autonomous vehicle and more. All of that sparked me to do research on the topic while looping the technology back to our aftermarket and future profitability.
A fair number of vehicle owners are still struggling with the actual use of this technology. That includes me. We have a newer vehicle with all kinds of those goodies. We have read the manual. War and Peace was easier to understand and nearly shorter to read.
To start, however, here’s a brief rundown of what’s happening in the autonomous vehicle world — or should I say, “assisted driving?” Which might be closer to the truth at this moment in time.
Globally there a number of autonomous drive programs at various stages of development. OEMs involved include Tesla, Ford, GM/Cruise, BMW, Toyota, Volvo and Mercedes-Benz. But the one frequently discussed is Waymo, which is not an OEM but a system. Currently Waymo has ride hailing programs in Phoenix, San Francisco, L.A. and soon in Atlanta and Miami.
Here’s where the water gets muddy. Some, if not many, call current programs offered by the OEMs as “autonomous” when in fact they are assisted driving packages. For the moment we’ll consider Ford’s Blue Cruise.
Presently available on the Mach-E and F-150, the option is, as of this date, $2,495 up front then $495 per year to cover software updates and all the rest. It is designed to provide all kinds of driving support. But in the end, it requires a driver.
Tesla offers two levels of service. The basic is essentially assisted driving. The next level is often referred to as “full self-driving.” They are $99 a month with an upfront expense. One doesn’t need go far and all of this will have you confused.
Currently, Waymo is a program that offers Level 4 (Perrone Robotics also has a system that is considered a Level 4). And they don’t build vehicles, but use already manufactured vehicles as the base.
Source: Autopilot Review
Aftermarket opportunity
Wrapping around to our aftermarket, all of this development means a number of things for our businesses. Here’s just a short summary.
There are companies that package aftermarket systems similar to those offered by the OEMs. For example, Comma.ai offers retrofit systems that appear to be Level 2. Perrone Robotics offers both OEM and aftermarket systems that are reported to be Level 4, such as Waymo’s. MobilEye (majority shareholder is Intel) is found in many OEM systems, but also sells an aftermarket system. And there are more.
According to estimates from a variety of sources, aftermarket growth in the segment is expected to grow 9% to 12% per year through much of what is left of the decade. As an old statistics guy I must point out that huge growth in the aftermarket is inevitable since it has been virtually zero until the OEM systems come out of warranty. The growth seems to be primarily focused on the sensors used — and there are many in these systems.
For the technician and their shop this means that you face much more training time and tool expense. There are a couple ways to save some money. If you have a longterm tech, they could become your shop specialist in this area until growth pressures additional tech time.
That way, you need only a single set of tools and one person for training. Do keep in mind that as OEMs redesign the systems, T&E redesigns the tools. As technology folks say, buy forward-looking equipment that has backward compatibility.
Begin marketing your services now. Part houses should be letting their installer base know what they are doing now to prepare and reassure their shop customers they are — and will be — ready for them. All along making more shelf space since your SKU counts are going to take a huge jump.
Repair shops want to be out there positioning themselves as their customers’ one-stop shop. Otherwise, when the time comes, they will be back at the OEM dealership. You may be able to differentiate yourself from the shop down the block by offering customer clinics. People could bring their vehicles and questions. You offer a short talk on how all of this works. Then comes the individual questions.
And if you don’t mind doing these things, you will be forever busy with all of your customers.
To this day, a year and a half later after purchasing our new vehicle, I couldn’t even begin to tell you what all the buttons are and what happens if you push them. I am good at disabling the automatic shutdown/restart. But that’s all. Methinks it will be a while until the entire population grasps and warms up to all of this.
I’ll leave you with this one thought. As my old boss used to say, “You can be part of the solution or cause the pollution.” Right now this entire issue is begging all of us to stand in the gap for our customers and provide education, support and, yes, even service, for them. Today is the tomorrow we were thinking of yesterday. Seize it.
At a young age, industry veteran Tom Langer started detailing cars for his family’s dealerships, which then led to work in the jobber and warehouse business, along with a machine shop and auto body shop. He held a variety of positions with an auto parts manufacturer for 10 years, and remained in the industry working with shops, warehouses and manufacturers in research and more
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