Automotive technologies abound, and you need to be ready

Think about all of the new technology you’ve seen on vehicles in the last five years. Or the parts you’ve had to request that you might not have been asking for just a few years ago. That technology isn’t going to stop any time soon, either.

“As shops or as parts distributors, whether their distributors or jobbers, we can’t ignore all the stuff that’s going on,” says Bill Haas, vice president of divisions, education and training with the Automotive Service Association (ASA). “I understand that at the same time it’s hard to concentrate on some of it because most of what we hear today regarding the auto industry is not real positive. But even in all this turmoil and dysfunction that the manufacturing side is experiencing today, we’re still seeing new technology develop.”

So as vehicle technologies change, develop and improve, you need to be ready. And he plans on tackling some of these technologies during this year’s Global Automotive Aftermarket Symposium (GAAS).

Haas will present “Vehicle Technology — You Ain’t Seen Nonthin’ Yet” on May 6, the first day of the GAAS. The presentation will highlight a number of technologies, like diesel issues, selective catalytic reduction, electric and hydrogen powered cars and more. He plans to tie in the green aspect of these technologies, as well.

While Haas notes that he won’t specifically highlight parts distributors will need to stock or shops will need to use, attendees will be able to make a correlation between these technologies and how they’ll need to prepare to change their business model. The majority of what is discussed in the presentation is available today, but other technologies covered will be those that are available, just not mainstream yet, and some we might see way down the road. 

So to help attendees prepare for the technologies Haas will discuss, he explains that the training behind them also is changing and that the industry needs to migrate more toward online and Web-based training courses. That can help keep a shop ahead of the curve when a vehicle comes in with something the technicians might not have seen yet.

“In my mind, what I imagine, is it’s a new system, recently developed by a car company on a car that’s for sale now and they create a training course that’s available online and it’s only 30 minutes or 45 minutes,” Haas explains. “And so now, because it’s online, I can access anytime from just about anywhere. So now when I’m presented with this vehicle with this new system that I’m not familiar with, I can go online, sign on and in 30, 45 minutes be exactly up to speed with everything that I need to know to understand this system to be able to diagnose it and repair it.”

That preparation and access to training will help keep the bottom line in line when working on these new technologies. Haas says the key is to be prepared to keep your business profitable no matter if you’re a distributor, jobber or repair shop.

“If we’re going to be satisfied with doing what we did yesterday, then we’ll have to be satisfied with a business model for yesterday as well,” Haas says. “But we’ve got to start to look at what’s the business model for tomorrow and what are these technologies driving us to consider in changes to that business model so that we’re able to have profits to sustain and drive our business.”

GAAS is May 6 and 7 at the Hyatt Regency O’Hare in Chicago. For more information, visit www.globalsymposium.org.