New steel and aluminum tariffs, scheduled to take effect March 12, represent a significant shift in US trade policy. The tariffs were announced by President Trump on Feb. 10, and they expand the 2018 measures imposed under Section 232 aiming to protect domestic industries. However, the tariffs are expected to increase costs for the automotive sector, which would ultimately lead to higher consumer prices. Additionally, the potential for retaliatory trade actions introduces further uncertainty and...

The ongoing automotive right-to-repair debate in the US saw heightened activity in February with a new federal legislative proposal called the Safety as First Emphasis (SAFE) Repair Act presented to Congress by a group of three organizations representing service professionals and automakers. The move triggered sharp reactions from other organizations that also represent the service industry and the independent aftermarket who are pushing for another right-to-repair proposal called the REPAIR Act...

The US automotive aftermarket ended 2024 with a tempered performance compared to the significant growth experienced over the past three years. While the sector has benefited from a steady increase in vehicle miles traveled and an aging vehicle population, which has driven demand for maintenance and repair services, the growth rate is expected to have moderated last year, reflecting a broader trend of slowing economic momentum. The aftermarket is forecast to have grown 5.9% ($414.1 billion) in...

Vehicles are already becoming increasingly intelligent and connected, driving change across the automotive ecosystem. Consumers have seen how easily their mobile and digital devices are upgraded and faults are fixed with over-the-air (OTA) software and are demanding smartphone-like in-vehicle experiences, setting the stage for SDVs. What are SDVs, and what benefits do they offer? SDVs are designed around software, rather than hardware, and are seen as the next evolution of the automotive i...

The European Union has set a target to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. It hopes to meet its targets with the widespread use of electric vehicles, as road transport accounts for nearly a quarter of its emissions. The EU wants at least 30 million zero-emission cars on European roads by 2030, or about 9% of the current car fleet. Share of EVs in the on-road fleet While the overall sales growth in EVs has slowed in the EU, especially in its largest market Germany with the phasing out of go...

The Automechanika Frankfurt 2024, a much sought-after trade fair for stakeholders along the entire value chain of the automotive aftermarket, concluded last week at the Messe Frankfurt in Germany. Organizers said the five-day trade fair from Sep. 10-14 saw participants from over 170 countries, including about 4,200 exhibitors from industry, workshops and trade. As is the norm, participating companies used the event as a launchpad to showcase several of their aftermarket innovations across the...

The number of EVs in operation is growing at a considerable pace in India, especially in the last three years. The expectation from industry stakeholders is that the EV market is going to grow more aggressively in the two-and three-wheeler space, however the electric four-wheeler ecosystem is also fast growing, especially from a volume perspective. According to government vehicle registration data, new battery-electric vehicle sales jumped from 3,260 in 2020 to 73,256 vehicles in 2023, a ...

In a significant development aimed at promoting India's circular economy, the Indian government has made fresh efforts to encourage the scrapping of old vehicles. Nitin Gadkari, the Union Minister for Road Transport & Highways, held a summit last week with a delegation of CEOs from the country’s apex automotive industry body, the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers. Soon after, Gadkari announced that several commercial and passenger vehicle manufacturers agreed to offer discounts fo...

According to S&P Global Mobility data for the country, 5.4 million EVs are expected to be in operation by 2030, growing from only 185,000 at the end of 2023, at an expected compound annual growth rate of 62%. The first experience for an EV owner out of the showroom would be their charging event, either domestic or at fast-public chargers. There are a number of aftermarket charging companies including large energy companies, but also small and medium enterprises looking to expand their...

The Indian government has intensified its efforts to improve participation on its Right to Repair portal that was launched in 2023. On July 6, Nidhi Khare, secretary, Department of Consumer Affairs (DoCA) convened a meeting with automobile associations and companies in the automobile sector to on board them onto what they term the Right to Repair Portal India. Subsequently, in an announcement, the government made a fresh effort to reiterate the launch of the portal (https://righttorepairindia...

The US light vehicle automotive aftermarket, also known as the auto care market, exhibited above-trend growth in the past year as it continued to power out of the pandemic-enforced dip of 2020. It did this despite the challenge of persistent inflation in the year, the latest industry data has revealed. The segment grew by 8.6% in 2023 to $392 billion — surpassing the previous year’s projections of 8.1%, according to the channel forecast provided annually by S&P Global Mobility to the US ...

A key takeaway from the recent ACMA Automechanika New Delhi 2024 show is that original equipment manufacturers in India are looking to target an increasing share of the aftersales business in the market. Here we examine how OEMs are executing this strategy and the future ramifications for the country’s burgeoning aftermarket. Over the last four years, India’s automotive aftermarket has grown moderately. Turnover increased from $10.1 billion in the fiscal year 2018 to 2019 to $10.6 billion...

Mainland China has launched an extensive trade-in scheme to upgrade the stock of automobiles on its roads. The scheme, aimed at urging consumers to replace their old vehicles with new ones, is part of the nation’s efforts to boost investment and consumption and reduce energy consumption and emissions. The initial announcement was made at a press conference on March 6 on the sidelines of the second session of the 14th National People's Congress by China’s Minister of Commerce, Wang Wentao....

Over the years, the opinions on the feasibility of battery swapping technology have ranged from one extreme to the other with some stakeholders being optimistic about its future, and others believing it to be too niche and complicated to be a mass-market solution. The technology has come under spotlight again with Stellantis and Ample announcing a partnership in December 2023 for battery swapping solution. The two companies signed a binding agreement to establish a partnership under which Amp...

Usage-based insurance (UBI), also known as telematics insurance, is a type of automotive insurance that uses real-time information about a driver's actual driving ability and habits to assess actuarial risk. This information is collected via a tracking device, such as a professionally installed black box; an on-board diagnostic (OBD-II) device or dongle; a smartphone; or, increasingly, a car's factory-installed connected platform that connects the car to a local wireless network, enabling data t...

The US automotive aftermarket (consisting of light vehicles) has continued to strengthen its position on the back of its ability to meet demand in an increasingly dynamic market. The segment is forecast to grow by 8% in 2023 to $389.4 billion — exceeding 2022’s expectations of 5%, according to the channel forecast provided annually by S&P Global Mobility to the US aftermarket industry through a collaboration between Auto Care Association and Automotive Aftermarket Supplier’s Associatio...

For automotive players, planning for the transition to electrification is complex. First, they must retain a grip on their market share by developing solutions for electric vehicle applications and yet, they must continue to innovate with combustion vehicle components as many vehicles in the fleet will continue to have an internal combustion engine (ICE) after 2035. The Motion Technologies Value Center of US-based ITT Inc., a manufacturer of critical components for the transportation, indust...

The innovations in automotive technology have led to the proliferation of an array of automated driver assist systems (ADAS) in the United States to compensate for driver inattention, which is helping to reduce crashes, injuries and deaths. ADAS includes features such as adaptive cruise control (ACC), lane departure warning (LDW), automatic emergency braking (AEB) and more, which are becoming increasingly common in modern vehicles. The proliferation of this technology will create several opportu...

German automotive supplier Schaeffler AG announced on October 9 its bid to take over electric mobility and powertrain components supplier Vitesco Technologies in a move to strengthen its position in the electric vehicle supply chain. The Schaeffler family, which owns 75% of Schaeffler AG, already own 49.9% of shares in Vitesco and 46% of German automotive supplier Continental. Announcing the move, Schaeffler AG said it is offering €91 per share to Vitesco shareholders, reportedly valuing the c...

At the Davos 2023 earlier this year, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz made a prediction that by 2045, Germany would be “one of the world’s first climate-neutral industrial nations,” its sourcing of energy supplies would be “almost exclusively from green electricity, heat and hydrogen” and its roads will be “emission-free.”  In 2021, Germany set out the national goal of achieving climate neutrality by 2045, five years earlier than the previous target of 2050. On the way to the ...

The push to electrify both vehicle fleets and the automotive industry is gathering pace around the world. Countries worldwide have announced targets for the percentage of new vehicles sold that will be electric by a certain date. Others have been more unequivocal: Norway’s banning the sale of internal combustion engine (ICE) light vehicles by 2025, the UK’s following suit by 2030, while the EU is looking to 2035. Outside of the national and regional mandates, the COP26 Declaration signato...

It is well known that Greater China is swiftly transitioning to electrification and the region is by far the largest market for battery-electric vehicles. Here is an interesting statistic: for every three new cars sold in mainland China in May 2023, one was powered by alternative energy. New car buyers are witnessing a rapidly expanding product range, and technology iterations in BEVs are appearing at a much faster pace than before. NEVs accounted for 33.3% of mainland China’s passenger veh...

In Brazil, intermodal transport is limited, with average truck trips spanning more than 2,000 km. Combine that with a commercial truck fleet averaging 12 years of age, and a lack of affordable options to replace with new vehicles, and Brazil is facing a truck-emissions timebomb. Brazil has a truck parc of 2.2 million units, and the movements to modernize the fleet by agribusiness, e-commerce and construction have contributed to reducing the fleet average age. However, while the emission restr...

In March 2023, the European Council (EC) formally signed off on one of the most ambitious aspects of its Green Deal: a legislation that effectively bans the sales of new petrol and diesel cars in the EU from 2035. The EU law will require 55% CO2 emission reductions for new cars and 50% for new vans from 2030 to 2034 compared with 2021 levels and a 100% CO2 emission reduction for both new cars and vans from 2035. However, the EC pledged to create a legal route for sales of new cars that run on...

Our digital world is inundated with human language, and Natural Language Processing (NLP) is the technology that aims to use AI to process and leverage such information automatically. Recently, ChatGPT (Generative Pre-trained Transformer) has caught the world’s attention. Heralded as the next big thing, ChatGPT is a deep learning model that has found multiple use cases in fields ranging from law to publishing. It can generate articles, student dissertations and even transcripts for used car ad...

The transition to battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) and alternative fuel powertrains is perhaps the most significant market trend facing the remanufacturing industry around the world, especially in Europe, the United States and mainland China. The transition has the potential to reshape the industry in the long term, and while we expect minimal impact before 2030, investments into research and development and formulation of strategies will be critical in the near term to ensure a smooth tran...

Through restricted mobility, caused by the pandemic, many vehicle users have found stay-at-home alternatives to everyday requirements. As people are settling into a new normal, many have begun exploring more services that can be provided at their doorstep and are expanding their search to include categories such as vehicle maintenance and repair. This is being reflected in the early signs of an automotive service evolution, and one such example of this is doorstep vehicle servicing.  ...

Digitalization has had a significant impact on the automotive aftermarket, including new business models, new digital services, and better access to information. The easier access to the internet has allowed consumers to make more informed decisions about vehicle repair and leverage data for predictive maintenance solutions. As for workshops, the greater internet penetration is enabling online ordering of spares and allowing vehicle diagnosis and repair through augmented reality. Aftermarket sup...

In an attempt to sharpen its focus on electric vehicle (EV) technologies while accelerating growth under the “Charging Forward” strategy, the Michigan-based automotive component supplier BorgWarner Inc. said on 6 December 2022 that it plans to spin off its fuel systems and aftermarket businesses into a separate, publicly traded company (NewCo). The announcement comes amid the ongoing global shift to EVs as both automakers and component suppliers transition supply chains and their respecti...

Ever since his first days in office, US President Joe Biden and his administration have proposed a sweeping climate agenda, including investments in clean energy and electric vehicles (EVs), to address the climate crisis and increase energy security in the US and around the world. The administration aims to deliver policies to accelerate deployment of zero-emission vehicles and charging infrastructure but is aware that several challenges and barriers, such as high costs for electric technologies...

The French government is determined to speed up the improvement of air quality and decarbonize urban mobility. France was one of the first to adopt the target of phasing out the sale of new light-duty vehicles that use fossil fuels by 2040, and the country wants to accelerate the conversion of the car population to electric, hydrogen, and hybrid with an aim to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. In 2021, the French parliament adopted a law that includes measures such as ending sales of new passen...

In an effort to boost technology-enabled insurance, India’s insurance regulator, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI), in July this year permitted general insurance companies to introduce concepts such as “pay as you drive” and “pay how you drive” for own damage (OD) coverage. Following the announcement, activity in the usage-based insurance (UBI) space, a type of motor insurance that tracks mileage and driving behaviors, has picked up and should gather p...

India’s automotive aftermarket industry returned to growth in fiscal year (FY) 2022 (April 2021–March 2022) after coming under pressure in the previous FY owing to the slowdown in the auto component and the overall automotive industry. In FY 2022, the aftermarket industry revenue grew at the fastest pace in five years, indicating a return to normalcy with the industry size surpassing pre-pandemic levels.   In FY 2022, the turnover of the automotive aftermarket stood at INR742.03 bill...

The US automotive aftermarket (consisting of light vehicles) has shown resilience and agility in the face of the downturn in demand and vehicles miles traveled (VMT) caused by the COVID-19 pandemic since 2020. In 2020, the automotive aftermarket decreased by 5.3% to USD286.2 billion, a stronger performance than originally predicted (down 8.8%). In 2021, it is estimated to have rebounded by a robust 14.8% to USD328.5 billion, considerably higher than previously forecast (11.2%), according to the ...

As the shift toward battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) gains momentum in key automotive markets around the world, the lifespan of BEVs vis a vis that of internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles is increasingly coming into focus. Typically, ICE vehicles that have completed about 12–15 years of registration are designated end-of-life (EOL) in most countries. However, because electric cars are still relatively new to the market, it is still early to arrive at tangible data on how long an electr...

Vehicle miles traveled (VMT), which refers to the total annual miles of vehicle travel in a state or an urbanized area, is often looked at as a key indicator for the aftermarket. In addition to being a primary indicator of travel for policymakers and transportation professionals, VMT can be leveraged to derive opportunities for the vehicle service and maintenance sector. How the pandemic-induced work from home impacted VMT The year 2019 was the sixth consecutive year during which the US wi...

The average age of light vehicles in operation (VIO) in the US rose to 12.2 years this year, increasing by nearly two months over the prior year, according to new research from IHS Markit. This is the fifth consecutive year that the average vehicle age in the US has risen. This year’s average age marks another all-time high for the average age, even as the vehicle fleet recovered, growing by 3.5 million units in the past year. The global microchip shortage, combined with associated supply c...

The remanufacturing industry has existed for several decades, but while operations began as small businesses, the past few years have seen participation from OEMs and tier-1 suppliers, which have begun to see its economic and environmental benefits. Remanufacturing makes an important contribution to achieving the carbon dioxide (CO2) reduction targets that the European Commission is striving for with the Green Deal, and its role has been recognized in the European Commission’s Circular Economy...

The automotive industry of the future will need to be more integrated and offer on-demand and personalized services. In their quest to better position themselves in that environment, vehicle manufacturers have started looking at blockchain technology to better track and protect vehicles' true identities. If adopted widely, this is expected to affect the traditional model of service and repair. Blockchain technology offers several benefits such as improving supply chain processes, streamlining...

The battle over access to vehicle repair information has been playing out in the court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States over the last few years and has gained further momentum in the past year. The commonwealth has delayed implementing the proposed law, which would require motor vehicle owners and independent repairers to get expanded access to vehicle maintenance and repair data, until a final ruling from the US District Court judge for the District of Massachusetts, whose de...

The European Commission on 14 July unveiled its much-anticipated roadmap designed to support the European Union's (EU’s) commitment to reduce net greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% from 1990 levels by 2030. Dubbed "Fit for 55", the legislative package sets the EU on course to become the first climate-neutral continent by 2050. If fully implemented, the Fit for 55 proposals would imply an emissions reduction of 42% from 2019 levels by 2030. Until then, they are just that—proposals. T...

The global shortage of semiconductors began a few months into the pandemic, setting off a perfect storm in the auto industry from Asia to Europe to the US. Driven by the continued parts shortages caused by chip supply constraints, carmakers were forced to cut production with no early solution in sight. VW stopped production of various models in Europe, China, and North America with 10,000 employees furloughed. A...

The mobility ecosystem is driving several megatrends such as connected services, vehicle autonomy, shared economy, and electrification. The role of tires in this future mobility environment will involve delivering a safer, smarter, efficient transportation experience, while also improving social and environmental outcomes. The convergence of these megatrends will place unique demands on tires beyond the ability to roll at high speeds and maintain grip under any road condition. Tires will also...

The automotive aftermarket in India is undergoing a significant change with consumer sentiments, mobility requirements, and supply chains all experiencing transformation. There is an enhanced focus on localization and the pandemic has brought to the fore a need to have innovative solutions. To be successful, it will be important for each stakeholder to understand the impact of the disruptive effects and recognize the opportunities that the automotive aftermarket presents. Aftermarket overview...

So far battery swapping has been unable to make the transition from being a niche offering to a mass-market service. Battery swapping offers many advantages to customers, including the potential to overcome range anxiety and slow charging times. According to the IHS Markit Consumer Survey in 2019—conducted in eight major automotive markets with 8,000 participants—35% of consumers expect their vehicle to fully charge in less than 30 minutes, out of which 11% wanted a full charge in less than ...

Mainland China is the world’s largest market for battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and is expected to remain for the foreseeable future. The continued push toward new energy vehicle (NEV) adoption both for corporate and private Chinese buyers along with heavy subsidies by the central government have, to a large extent, driven this quick transition to electrified vehicles. In the Chinese context, NEVs refer to BEVs, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), and fuel-cell electric vehicles (FCEVs...

The car repair and service segment in India can be broadly divided into three verticals that cater to the Indians car owner’s maintenance needs. According to Mahindra First Choice Services, a chain of organized workshops, which quoted data from a 2016 aftermarket study by Automotive Component Manufacturers Association (ACMA), these verticals are the unorganized garages, which account for about 64% market share; OEM-authorized repairers, which constitute approximately 32% of the market; and org...

The United Kingdom recently announced its plans to ban the sales of petrol and diesel cars and vans by 2030, superseding the previous goal to ban new internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicle sales by 2040. The sale of plug-in hybrid (PHEV) cars and vans that have zero-emission driving capability will be allowed until 2035. While the government’s announcement is seen as a step in the right direction, it is going to impact the plans of automakers, electric vehicle (EV) charging point operators (...

China, the world’s largest auto market, has for long grappled with air pollution. Many of its key cities such as Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen have seen air quality deteriorate over the years. A rising number of vehicles on its roads is seen as one of the main factors contributing to the air pollution. Emissions from around 6.2 million vehicles were responsible for 45% of Beijing’s concentration of small, breathable particles known as PM2.5, a key indicator of air pollution, acc...