I recently attended the CAWA (California Automotive Wholesalers’ Association) Leadership Meeting in Long Beach and presented on “The Connected Aftermarket: Why Wait on the Connected Car?” The major takeaway was to ensure your company is proactively pursuing how to adopt emerging connected technologies that are already penetrating the aftermarket industry and avoid waiting on connected cars to roll off the assembly line.
The connected aftermarket includes technologies that connect vehicles with motorists with repair facilities with the aftermarket supply chain. It is consumer-driven and technology enabled.
Categories of technologies and applications include the collection of vehicle data through the OBDII port with some type of device – typically called a dongle:
- communicating that information to a server in the cloud and back to the motorist’s smart device
- presenting vehicle information in an understandable format
- enabling motorists to select from a network of repair facilities
- pushing service information from a shop to customers’ smart devices and the use of smart phones to facilitate traditional supply chain transactions.
Many of the technology developers are building networks of either consumers and/or repair shops to assemble enough critical mass for the model to work financially for the developers and to provide sufficient value to users. This requires a lot of time, and in many cases first-to-market wins; therefore, there is a race to integrate as many motorists and shops into networks as possible before loyalties develop for a competitor.
I call this the MAD niche for two reasons. First, the dash to critical mass reminds me of the 1963 movie “It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World,” in which a diverse cast of characters race to find a stash of stolen cash. Second, the basis for many of the models and connectivity are mobile apps and dongles, or MAD.
MAD should not connate a negative impact to the aftermarket. There are many benefits to telematics and MAD solutions, including opportunities to reach motorists more cost-effectively than ever, development of customer stickiness by repair shops, enhanced information provided by customers to shops regarding troubles with their vehicles, prospects of increased streamlining of aftermarket supply chains and remote diagnostics. I have heard several shop owners state that their customers are now more educated about what’s going on inside the vehicle than the shops– at least when they bring the car in to the shop.
However, there are some MAD challenges. The attempt to garner a critical mass of shops across the country is no easy task. There are dozens of providers competing for shops to join their respective networks and to provide dongles to the motoring public. We all are accustomed to locating every site on the Web because of indexing, crawling and spidering techniques employed by our favorite search engines. Depending on the mobile app a consumer selects, he or she may or may not be accessing all the possible shops in a select region.
The OBDII is the gateway to the vehicle and ultimately to the motorist. It provides access to the onboard CAN-BUS and to various diagnostic information. We have fallen in love with something that was never meant to provide all this data – but it does. As with any network – especially wireless networks – there is a concern about security and protection against unauthorized access. OBDII was never intended for wireless transmission of data from the vehicle. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s US-CERT recent commissioned a study on the potential for OBDII ports to be accessed (hacked) by third-party entities unaware to a driver/consumer. The results of the study indicate that this represents an area of potential vulnerability to compromised access. The study’s authors recommended that encryption and security be added or strengthened by either device manufacturers or the device resellers, which are typically the mobile app providers.
All good things must come to an end. The OBDII will not last forever. It is reported that this method for accessing emissions information (the original purpose) and diagnostics data will sunset in vehicles in the near future. What will those depending on it for diagnostics do, and what will the MAD community do when it disappears? Granted, this will take some time because it will require decades for the car parc to turn over after vehicles without OBDII start rolling off the assembly lines.
Why should the supplier community care when it typically does not sell directly to consumers or repair shops? There are a lot of new touch points with both groups that could impact buying decisions. Eventually, consumers will be empowered through technology and access to data to directly influence the specific brands that will be used with a service job. Developing strategic relationships and partnerships with MAD providers could be critical to ensuring maximum brand awareness for suppliers.
There will no doubt be an increase in the number of innovations in the MAD space and an increase in the number of service/solution providers for a time. At some point acquisitions, competition and mergers likely will reduce the number of providers. It is important to track the direction of this growing segment.
Those who would like to understand the connected aftermarket and MAD technologies in more depth should register for the Automotive Aftermarket Suppliers Association (AASA) Technology Conference, which will be held October 2-5 in Clearwater, Fla. Details are at www.aftermarketsuppliers.org. Several of the MAD solution providers will present during the general session or will demonstrate their technologies on vehicles at the event.
Don’t get lost or left behind in the MAD dash!
About AASA
AASA (www.aftermarketsuppliers.org) exclusively serves manufacturers of aftermarket components, tools and equipment, and related products that support 710,000 employees in the United States. AASA is a recognized industry change agent – promoting a collaborative industry environment, providing a forum to address issues and serving as a valued resource for members. AASA is the light vehicle aftermarket division of the Motor & Equipment Manufacturers Association (MEMA).
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