Global aftermarket collective Nexus Automotive International has extended its reach into North America with the announcement of three new members, including the Automotive Distribution Network, truck parts network VIPAR Heavy Duty, and Automotive Parts Associates (APA).
The three companies will be the exclusive partners for Nexus in the North American market. Nexus is a global aftermarket program group with headquarters in Geneva and offices in Paris, Dubai, Sao Paulo, and Johannesburg. The company is represented in 65 countries and includes 59 member organizations.
According to David Prater, president of the Automotive Distribution Network, the decision to partner with Nexus was driven by competitive considerations. Nexus offers relationships with suppliers that would otherwise be unavailable, and serves as a gateway to emerging markets around the globe.
“Like everyone else, we see the aftermarket shrinking,” Prater says. “We are interacting more with suppliers that are not based in the United States. We have had a few opportunities in the, past, but we could not place a true value on the relationship. Nexus has a different model. It is not strictly a European group looking to move to the states. It is a true international group, on many continents.”
“There is wisdom in the multitude of counsel, and in a market that is changing as rapidly as we see now, it only makes good sense to take advantage of the many synergies available in a union such as this,” says Gary Martin, president and CEO of APA. “The opportunity to focus on all facets of our businesses and bring critical mass together to help facilitate synergistic changes for the good of all is noteworthy. We expect to see benefits in all aspects of our goods and services for the automotive aftermarket partners we work with and serve.”
Prater also says that joining Nexus will provide a unique perspective to help shape long-term product strategies. “Many of the trends here begin in Europe,” Prater says. “Specifically, on our last visit to Geneva, we had an opportunity to see their views on the connected car and how they are working for legal solutions in the European Union. Other trends have their beginning here that we can share, such as Right to Repair.”
“In a global marketplace, it is important to also be connected outside of North America so that we can understand changes in vehicle platforms, distribution trends, market shifts, business strategies, etc.,” says Chris Baer, executive vice president of VIPAR. “The [Nexus] community helps to create that connection and allows us to collaborate with other aftermarket professionals from around the world, while remaining focused on our North American strategies.”
In addition to gaining access to a broader base of international suppliers, the new Nexus North American partners will help the organization work more closely with suppliers in the region.
The Network was Nexus’ initial partner in the region, announced in 2015. Prater says his company pursued additional partners, including APA and VIPAR, and others may join later.
“NEXUS provides a framework for us to begin working together without the pressure of a merger,” Prater says. “[We] have discussed many areas where operational efficiencies could be gained. These include technology and sales collaborations specifically, but could involve more. We all face the same challenges; we just approach them differently. Our hope is to have honest conversations about the challenges and work together on a common approach, if it makes business sense for all of us.”
Baer adds that Nexus provides a way to understand technology strategies and gather information globally, while improving networking and collaboration efforts. “These connections and collaboration within the Nexus community have the ability to impact our organization across all functions, whether its identifying new distribution trends and strategies, streamlining operations, enhancing our technology capabilities, applying innovative marketing approaches, collaborating with other management executives, etc.,” Baer says.
Building on technology strengths
The Network has been a technology innovator; its Network Intelligence platform is an inventory management and data warehouse solution, and the company leverages sales and other data to create more accurate forecasts for the company and its partners and customers. Prater says that he expects those efforts will be enhanced through these partnerships. “Collectively, we should be able to provide more solutions to our membership,” Prater says. “The combined efforts of the three partners improves the overall data pool and provides much more feedback. Feedback equals ideas.”
Prater said he is impressed with the Nexus Connect communication platform, which Nexus uses to facilitate communication for members and suppliers. While there won’t necessarily be any major technology platform changes, the various organizations will likely be able to improve upon their existing efforts.
“Technology collaboration definitely has merit for exploration,” Martin adds. “Technology and related costs are huge for all three groups. In many cases we are going down the same roads. Collaboration as it relates to technology would allow us to benefit from knowledge bases with the potential for shared costing.”
According to Prater, Nexus and its North American partners will work to find the best ways to leverage their collective strengths in this mature market. “The key for Nexus is to make sure we are providing some value to the supplier community that they are not receiving today,” Prater says. “We believe aligning product selections and providing growth in emerging markets is the key. Many of the Nexus suppliers do not sell ‘traditional WDs’ in the North American market. We have to find a way to integrate these suppliers into our product mix as well as help our members to sell the product. We need to have a great impact on the import specialist repair facilities.”
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