The Changing Marketplace Continues - Now What?

The trend in the Aftermarket continues it metamorphosis and we must figure out what to do.

Consider these points:

1). The consumer continues to challenge us and displays little patience. Their personal lives are stressed.

2). We have moved from 90 day oil changes to 180 day oil changes which revolves around winter and spring tire changes.

3). The rush at tire change over means billed hours per invoice plummet.

4). The consumer wants anything done on their vehicle only when they are in the shop at those 2 times a year. How does a shop schedule for preventative maintenance?

5). Parts suppliers are swamped with parts orders and must sort out inventory issues for a 90 day period and a short 60 day period then figure out how to survive the rest of the year.

What does this mean for the next number of years for a typical Independent shop and parts suppliers?

We are now coming down to 2 seasons which will give a shop 60 days when the weather turns nice in the spring and perhaps as much as 90 days in the Fall (about mid Oct to mid December) in which to make the necessary net income to carry a shop for the year. In between those periods we will experience a struggle to generate business unless the shop and the industry finds a solution that serves the consumer professionally and the consumer is willing to accept. It won't be easy but it means our Aftermarket business model must be re-invented once again.

Due to increased quality within the vehicle, breakdown just doesn't constantly occur. The consumer will be in to get the tires changed over from winter to all season in the Spring and back to winter tires in the Fall. When will you have time to inspect the vehicle for safety and reliability if that is the only time you see the consumer? It is therefore very important to communicate and educate the consumer to a minimum of annual but preferably semi-annual vehicle inspection. The reality is however, the consumer says fine, do it when you change my tires. How can we do that?

The problem here is, the shop can't function that way. The shop can no longer work like a dentist office with a visit every six months such as January and June visits because in reality the consumer reacts to the weather to have their vehicle looked after and that is the Spring and when the weather turns bad in the Fall. Exact dates do not exist.

Does the Aftermarket have the answers for this yet. No we do not BUT we must diligently work on it and solve this problem. If we don't, the Independent shop will be, if not already, in serious trouble along with their parts suppliers.

Open the discussion at every level of the industry to discuss this and let ideas roll out because it is about vehicle safety and reliability for the consumer coupled with financial survival of the Aftermarket.