HOW THE AAAA CAR PARC TOOL CAN HELP YOU FUTUREPROOF YOUR BUSINESS How do you decide which scan tools, technology and equipment to invest in today, to set your business up for tomorrow? How do you know which training you and your team will need now, to ensure your workshop will be successful and profitable long into the future? The good news is you no longer need to rely on a best guess, based on the kinds of vehicles you see on the road in the local area, to make these critical (and expensive) investment decisions. The Australian Automotive Aftermarket Association’s Car Parc tool can help workshop owners and managers pinpoint exactly which equipment and training their businesses need today, tomorrow and well into the future – eliminating wasteful spending and helping futureproof their businesses.
Meet Ricky Monserrat from Blackwood Dyno Tune & Service in South Australia. It’s a Repco-authorised service centre and a European and luxury car specialist workshop. Ricky said studying Car Parc data is an essential part of his business planning, informing everything from advertising decisions to buying spare parts. But for Ricky, it’s training and equipment investment decisions where the information from the tool really comes into its own. “It’s giving you a snapshot of what cars were sold years ago that are coming out of dealership service warranties and, if they’re in your area, obviously it’s good to know the potential customers who are out there for you if you attract them to come to you,” he said. “If all of a sudden you get a spike in European cars, for example, you want to know so you can gear up for it. You can make sure you’ve got the right tools and the right training.” So, what is Car Parc and what is the data Ricky is analysing to make his investment decisions?
H o w Ca r Pa rc w o r k s a n d t h e d ata av a i l a b l e
AAAA’s Car Parc is a simple, interactive tool that uses real-world data to help you find out what vehicles are the most popular in your area. The tool generates a customised report, specific to your locality, using actual statewide and national demographic data. At a click of a button you can get information about the cars being used in any local government area in the country. You simply choose a postcode and Car Parc generates a series of graphical reports with detailed and useful data. Let’s look at an example of the data available, using the postcode for Ricky’s Blackwood Dyno Tune & Service — 5051.
8 CAPRICORN IGNITION SEPTEMBER 2021
The first screen tells Ricky how many vehicles there are in his local government area. It provides two snapshots — one from 2014 and one from 2019. Importantly, it also tells him how old the vehicles a re, which gives him a very clear picture of how many vehicles likely to be out of the manufacturer’s service warranty are driving around his neighbourhood and whose owners, therefore, are more likely to consider using an independent workshop. Ricky can also work out the long-term trend. By looking at the number of vehicles less than five years old, he can get an idea of the mix of vehicles coming down the pipeline. Already the data has been really useful. But from here, Ricky can really drill down into the data. The second screen shows Ricky a breakdown of the makes. Again, it shows him both the number and the age of the vehicles, and comparing 2014 to 2019 gives him the trend. Ricky can then compare the data for Mitcham (the local government area for Blackwood) to the data from any of his other local areas. For example, Ricky can see that Volkswagen’s are far more popular in his area than they are in the neighbouring council area, Marion, where they’re not even among the top 10 makes. Fr o m t h a t information, R i c k y m ay want to invest in some Volkswagen training for his team, while his competitors in nearby Marion council might not. Using this information, business owners with more than one workshop, across various local government areas, can work out which teams might need which tools and which training. Next, Car Parc presents users with a breakdown of the most popular models, across all makes, in the local area.
