June 8, 2022—The Certified Automotive Parts Association has announced that global automotive supplier HELLA is the first CAPA approved manufacturer to participate in the Tier 1 Replacement Parts Verification Program.
According to a press release, this program through CAPA is available to any Tier 1 supplier that produces an alternatively branded version of a car company original or car company service parts in-house used for automotive repair.
"Historically, Tier 1 replacement parts have lacked clear definitions and been classified as aftermarket parts, making it difficult to determine which parts are truly equivalent to CCOs or CCSs," said Clark Plucinski, Chairman, CAPA Board of Directors in the press release. "The CAPA Tier 1 Verification Program helps clarify these parts by ensuring the same factory, tooling, materials, and manufacturing processes are used during the production of the car company part and the Tier 1 Verified replacement part."
CAPA Tier 1 Verified parts have to demonstrate compliance to applicable federal regulations to further ensure that there are no differences when a supplier makes a production change from manufacturing the car company parts to the Tier 1 branded version of that part.
"We are pleased to be the first manufacturer to receive CAPA approval in the Tier 1 Replacement Parts Verification Program. We believe that having a CAPA class for original equipment (OE) products that clarifies what the product is for the market is a large step forward. This allows stakeholders in collision repair to fully understand and trust what is being sold and installed. For an OE supplier that is also heavily involved in the aftermarket, this clarity that it is OE quality in the box is paramount," said Fred Snow, President of HELLA Automotive Sales, Inc. in the press release.
HELLA is a subsidiary of Faurecia responsible for aftermarket business in the United States and Canada. Both HELLA and Faurecia operate under FORVIA, which is the seventh-largest automotive supplier worldwide with over 150,000 employees and over 300 locations.
