LAS VEGAS — The American Petroleum Institute (API) is launching a new initiative to ensure the right oil for vehicles is installed every time.
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API has expanded the Motor Oil Matters (MOM) campaign to include more consumer education and licensing within the industry. Kevin Ferrick, manager of global industry services, certification programs at API, says the first part, education, encompasses a redesigned website to appeal beyond those people within the industry to consumer as well as marketing materials for shops and distributors.
“At the heart of it, we want to make consumers aware of the importance of using quality oils and that they should demand it,” Ferrick says.
The marketing materials are part of a voluntary licensing program that starts Dec. 1. This licensing revolves around a motor oil chain of custody standard, which tells those in the industry that you have to say what the oil is on bills of lading from manufacturers, invoicing from distributors and receipts for consumers. The chains of custody will include the brand name, viscosity and performance level of the oil.
“It will benefit the installer, because the installer will have confirmation of the product their getting,” Ferrick says.
Consumers will be able to prove what oil was used in their vehicles to help uphold manufacturer warranties. API also will benefit from the licensing when it tests product in the marketplace.
Those who are licensed will be put in an online directory for consumers, which can be used as an advertising tool, Ferrick states. API notes that the licensing will serve as a certification that these distributors and shops, quick lubes, dealerships and other installer locations that have implemented API’s chain of custody standard.
He notes that API hopes this will help lessen problems the organization sometimes finds in the industry when it tests bulk oil and the claims of “that’s not my oil.”
Distributors can be licensed for $3,000 a year, while shops can be licensed for $400 a year for the first location and $100 a year for each additional location. They will receive marketing materials and a listing in the aforementioned online directory.
“We hope it makes people more aware of what they’re getting in their cars,” Ferrick says. “They deserve to know what they’re getting.”
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