Exploring industry trends

MOTORACTIVE WINS AGAIN

MotorActive has again taken out the SuperCheap Auto Retailers Choice Award

Announced at the 2021 Supercheap (SCA) Auto Trade Partner virtual forum, this is the seventh, consecutive time MotorActive has triumphed over the many other suppliers to SCA – which as part of the Super Retail Group has firmly established itself as one of Australia’s Top 10 retailers. MotorActive notes that this is quite an achievement to be the award’s only recipient since its introduction in 2014 (SCA did not conduct awards in 2020).

This annual award is voted on by team members across the SCA store network. “We’re over the moon to win it again,” MotorActive’s Managing Director, Bruce Morrison, said. “I believe it’s a great reflection on our hardworking, long-standing sales force and the highly-engaged way they support and motivate the people at the sales coal face.” MotorActive National Sales Manager, Michael Hogan, echoed this point. “A huge congratulations to our retail team for their continued efforts, despite all the challenges we’ve faced directly from COVID,” Michael said. “The focus, dedication and representation of MotorActive and its brands has been first class, I’m very proud.” This is not the only award MotorActive picked up during the 2021 SCA Forum – it also scored the Outstanding Strategic Partner Award. “We were especially delighted to also pick up the Strategic Partner Award,” Bruce said. “This is of particular importance right at this point, as having a solid strategic view is really important to both our businesses as we come out of COVID.” MotorActive represents Meguiar’s, Mobil 1 and ColorSpec. For more information, visit www.motoractive.com.au

EXPLORING INDUSTRY TRENDS

ACA Research takes a look at the latest trends in the Australian automotive space

The past five years have seen significant change in the Australian automotive industry. From a new vehicle perspective, we have seen brands entering the market, and some muchloved brands exiting. Technologies have changed, with features such as ADAS becoming common-place, and vehicle servicing has continued its progression to a technology-led process. While these trends are exciting and play an important role in shaping the future of the industry, focusing too much on them can sometimes result in losing track of the fundamentals of automotive servicing. Going back to basics, the last five years saw the Australian car parc increase from 16.8m to 18.1m vehicles, as an additional 1.3 million passenger and light commercial vehicles came on road. This increase in the market led to significant growth in the annual servicing task, increasing the demand for both workshops and technicians. Pleasingly, the aftermarket has clearly risen to this challenge, with 1,700 additional workshops operating now compared to five years ago.

With 24,600 aftermarket workshops now operating around the country, this provides jobs for almost 66,000 technicians and administrative staff. Despite this, we know that resourcing remains a challenge, with many of them actively recruiting for trained technicians. Furthermore, automotive apprenticeship completions are unsteady, which suggests this will continue to remain an issue for the foreseeable future. Our data supports this, suggesting that this trend is only going to accelerate, with the AAAA Critical Industry Issues Report forecasting growth of almost 10 percent in the Australian passenger and light commercial vehicle car parc over the next five years. Even though new vehicle sales have been inconsistent off the back of COVID-19 lockdowns and ongoing global new vehicle supply shortages, reduced vehicle scrappage means annual growth rates have held largely constant as consumers and businesses put off replacing existing vehicles.

Figure One. Source: ABS Counts of Australian Businesses From an aftermarket perspective, this also means the average vehicle is getting older, which should shift more of the servicing task away from dealerships and into independent or chain workshops.

Figure Two. Source: ABS Census of Motor Vehicles In addition to this, by mapping supply and demand against each other, we can project that servicing these additional 1.6m vehicles in 2025 will require an additional 2,300 workshops on top of those currently operating, staffed by 5,300 technicians and support staff. While we know that many chain workshop operators are targeting growth, achieving this outcome will require a concerted effort across the industry.

Figure Three. Source: ABS Census of Motor Vehicles, ABS Counts of

Australian Businesses, ABS Census of Population and Housing. This projected demand is concerning given workshops already cite the shortage of trained technicians as one of the most significant challenges they face. Ultimately, while international borders will reopen and workshops will again be able to source skilled technicians from overseas, migration caps mean this strategy cannot fully solve the problem. This highlights the importance of the work being undertaken by independent and chain workshops, training organisations, and industry bodies such as the AAAA to increase the appeal and consideration of a career as an automotive technician, building the workforce of tomorrow, today. This column was prepared for AAA Magazine by ACA Research, our partners in the AAAA Aftermarket Dashboard which is delivered to AAAA members each quarter. For more information, visit www.acaresearch.com.au or contact Ben Selwyn on bselwyn@acaresearch.com.au

WIN THE ULTIMATE SUMMER SET UP WITH ALCUIS

Climate control specialist Alcius has launched a national trade promotion

The promotion will run from 1 November 2021 to 31 January 2022, across the entire Alcius product range. Any Alcius purchases over $200 will earn a trade customer an entry to win the Ultimate Summer Set Up, along with weekly prize draws from November 1st until the end of January. The major prize on offer to one lucky Alcius Complete Climate Control trade customer is the Ultimate Summer Set Up, valued at $19,165. It includes: • Gasmate Galaxy Black Hood LPG Outdoor

Kitchen • Samsung 65-inch The Terrace 4K QLED Smart

TV • Marquise 9-Piece Outdoor Rectangular Dining

Setting • Cyrus 300cm Square Cantilever Outdoor

Umbrella • Masport Woodfire Pizza Oven with Cover • Fire Pit BBQ 30-inch Grill / Portable Fireplace Bapcor trade customers who select Alcius parts, tools, and equipment of over $200 in value during the promotion period will also be in the running to win a host of weekly quality outdoor entertainment products. These include Alcius BBQ Kits, Beefeater BBQs and Husky 46L fridges. Since the release of the Alcius Complete Climate Control product catalogue in October 2020, Bapcor’s Thermal Parts Program has introduced more than 500 new parts. Australasia’s largest automotive aftermarket company’s dedication to the ongoing expansion of the Alcius range now includes more than 1,500 compressor applications, including a major injection of new models, consisting of quality Alcius aftermarket and OE Genuine brands. The Alcius and Genuine brand TX Valve and Receivers / Driers range has expanded to meet growing compressor application listings with more than 600 condenser applications now featured, including matching radiator and condenser fans. The Alcius range also includes over 200 new evaporator, TX Valve, and blower motor parts, as well as major growth to the existing portfolio of applications. After making Alcius product purchases from Bapcor network suppliers including Burson Auto Parts, BaxtersMTQ, WANO and JAS Oceania of $200 or more, Bapcor trade customers simply enter online at www.alcius.com.au to place themselves in the draw. For more information, visit www.alcius.com.au

TOGETHER IN MOTION

ZF Aftermarket shapes new era of collaboration and reveals product highlights

As part of a very different looking Automechanika 2021, ZF Aftermarket shared an increased offering for cars, commercial vehicles, trucks, trailers and buses, following the recent acquisition of WABCO. Enabling an attractive mobility experience for everyone, new products such as the WABCO Modular ABS Sensors and the TRW Electric Brake Booster for e-vehicles were presented at the Digital ZF Aftermarket at Automechanika 2021 event which was held from September 14 to 16. A key topic of the digital trade show was sustainability. Offering remanufacturing, repair and retrofit solutions to save materials and reduce emissions is one aspect of ZF’s sustainability roadmap and continuing to source green energy for its factories is another. For the first time, ZF Aftermarket will introduce the #greenaftermarket label for a range of TRW brake pads. The digitisation of mobility is picking up speed. As a result, customers’ individual demands for flexibility, speed and comfort are increasing. More efficient combustion engines, hybrid- or purely electric drives require modular and scalable solutions for the braking system. The TRW-branded Electric Brake Booster (EBB) uses a special electronic system to provide improved brake actuation, replacing the vacuum brake boosters and, if necessary, the vacuum pump with its associated cables, sensors, switches and control units. With this TRW system, ZF Aftermarket says it is offering a genuine OE innovation at an early stage, which not only meets high comfort requirements and safety standards, but also supports the recovery of braking energy and thus the range of purely electric vehicles. A software function also ensures that the vehicle is held securely in parking mode by the electric parking brake, meaning that a mechanical parking brake can be dispensed with. Also announced at the Digital ZF Aftermarket at Automechanika 2021 event was the WABCO modular ABS Sensors. Customer-centric, resource-saving, and costeffective, the latest WABCO product solves a common problem. When commercial vehicles come to the workshop with a defective ABS sensor, a specific version of this part has to be ordered, which may not be in stock at the dealer. A modular ABS sensor concept which counteracts this problem has been developed for independent workshops. It consists of a short ABS sensor with the standard KEA connector that is attached to the wheel, an extension cable in various lengths, and a range of adapters that cover the main electronic control units (ECUs) available on the market. Once the modular concept is installed on the vehicle, only the defective component needs to be replaced, which significantly speeds up the repair process, reduces downtime and lowers costs. Thanks to the special flexibility in application, workshops no longer need to keep a large inventory of different sensors. Depending on just three parameters (sensor type, length, and connector), they can replace hundreds of variants with just a few products. A combination of two existing ABS sensors, ten extension cables and eight adapters can replace over 400 OE references. For more from ZF, go to www.zf.com

ZF Aftermarket passes this experience on to its service partners - for example, in training courses on topics such as high-voltage drives.