Would the person who left their teeth and hearing aid in the men’s restroom please come to the information desk” was the announcement I heard while waiting at McCarran Airport in Las Vegas for my flight back to Cleveland following Automotive Aftermarket Industry Week. And with the timing of Jay Leno, a moment later the announcer added, “That is if you can hear this announcement.”
Must have been a rough show for some guy...or an even rougher one for a confused lady who wandered into the men’s restroom.
For me, it was a great week not only because I saw hundreds of new and exciting products, greeted old friends and made some new ones, but also because of what was discussed in numerous conversations and presentations. Curiously, though, what I think is the most serious issue of all — one that could debilitate the industry — was not even raised with the exception of our own Editorial Advisory Board meeting (look for complete coverage of our Editorial Advisory Board Roundtable in February).
If you think I’m talking about bloated inventories, you’re wrong. If you think I’m talking about offshore competition, you’re wrong. If you think I’m talking about the Right to Repair Act, you’re getting warm. You’re getting warm because you, too, realize that any discussion about what’s going badly or could go badly in this industry one way or another ties back to the OEMs.
The attempt by OEMs to withhold needed service data and tools from independent service providers is bad enough, but that pales in comparison to their next technological leap forward: on-board vehicle diagnosis. It’s not like we didn’t see this coming. GM, the world’s biggest automaker, has not tried to hide that it wants the buyers of its cars as lifetime customers.
Even though GM may be faced with some severe problems at the moment, it is on the technological forefront with OnStar, its satellite-based vehicle communications system. There’s no doubt that the other OEMs will head in the same direction. In fact, Toyota already has a similar, though not as comprehensive, system in Japan.
Key to the OnStar “Safe & Sound” plan is automatic notification of air bag deployment. Get into a crash where the airbag is deployed and an OnStar advisor will try to notify you. If you don’t respond the advisor will contact the nearest emergency service provider and send them to your location. I’m thinking, if I’m going to have a close encounter with a disoriented deer, I might want to be driving a Buick.
What’s more with the “Safe & Sound” plan, the consumer gets roadside assistance, remote door unlock, stolen vehicle assistance with the police and a deep muscle back rub.
OK, so you don’t get the back rub, but you do get the Vehicle Diagnosis plan in which hundreds of diagnostic checks on key operating systems (engine/transmission, ABS, airbags and the entire OnStar system) are conducted and reported to the customer by e-mail. If you don’t want to wait for the monthly reports, you simply push a button inside the vehicle.
In essence, GM is telling customers, “Let us do the thinking for you. All you have to do is drive. We’ll handle the rest.”
Why waste your time going someplace else when GM can diagnose a problem while you sit at home doing what you want to do? In a society where time is precious, online shopping, online banking, online bill paying makes sense. And so does online car care.
What do we in the aftermarket tell the customer? Well, we don’t really tell them anything; we ask customers to take responsibility for their cars, which requires a time commitment. We ask them to learn a maintenance schedule and to adhere to it by keeping track of their mileage and scheduling needed appointments. For comparison’s sake, consider just one of the OnStar vehicle diagnostic features that tells customers how much oil life they have left, which, incidentally, may or may not be related to mileage.
Presently, some of the independent service providers eke out a few e-mail service reminders, but most of those who send reminders do it by mail. Hmm, let’s see, do I wait for a postcard or push a button for a full vehicle diagnosis? Tough choice.
But the industry hasn’t been sitting on its hands. The Car Care Council (CCC) has run a superb car care public relations campaign over the last few years and should be commended for its efforts. You’ve read about the “Be Car Care Aware” (BCCA) campaign here and, hopefully, you have participated in it in some capacity such as hosting a Car Check Lane during National Car Care Month or Fall Car Care Month. If you haven’t participated, please go to carcare.org to see how you can help your customers, your potential customers and, of course, your own business.
BCCA gains traction every day inside our industry and with the motoring public. And although I can’t share the details with you now, I’m happy to report that you’ll be seeing additional efforts by the CCC to keep pace with the OEMs’ technological advances.
Good thing because the OEMs have the wherewithal and the determination to get more of our business. Right now, GM is advertising its Vehicle Diagnosis plan in high-powered print media such as the Wall Street Journal and Car & Driver. Our industry can’t match that kind of advertising clout, but I’m willing to bet we can match its competitive intellect. After all, that’s why we have the lion’s share of the maintenance and repair business. Let’s all keep working together to keep it that way.
