Advanced Driver Assistance Systems Enter a New Era

How can businesses further expand into ADAS technologies, or add safety categories to their list of offerings? As the industry invites discussion, retailers discuss raising consumer awareness and finding a client base.

WORDS BY ROSA SOPHIA

In mid-June, the first ever Live Across America: SEMA Detroit Virtual ADAS Forum and Vehicle Review took place online. Three hundred and fifty people attended the 2.5-hour conference. Attendees were invited to learn more about ADAS technologies—Advanced Driver Assistance Systems—and to address any issues or challenges related to this category. Safety organizations also took a big step in May to agree to common terminology for ADAS, bringing these technologies into a new era.

John Waraniak, Vice President of Vehicle Technology with SEMA, said that until now, there were no common terms. Instead, he explained, “There were hundreds of terms just for lane departure warning, and hundreds of sensors that each of the OEMs were branding around what they wanted to call it. Each company branded safety because they saw it as a positive.”

This continues to open up many opportunities for the aftermarket, Waraniak added. As these systems become required in vehicles, 12-volt shops can further expand the category—or begin expanding if they haven’t done so already—in order to ensure another revenue stream.

Of the 280 million or so vehicles in the U.S. on the road today, 60 million of them are eligible for ADAS upgrades through the aftermarket, according to SEMA.

“Backup cameras are mandated,” he pointed out. “Of the 280 million or so vehicles in the U.S. on the road today, 60 million of them are eligible for ADAS upgrades through the aftermarket.”

New Opportunities for 12-Volt Businesses

Many businesses have remained open throughout the pandemic because they provide essential services. Not only is safety performance becoming a prerequisite, Waraniak said, “But from a SEMA perspective, it becomes a ‘cool factor.’ As people buy into ADAS systems and rely on them, it makes their vehicles much safer. It’s like the old racing adage: What was your best race? Often the next one.”

One example of a “cool factor,” Waraniak noted, might be customized lane departure warnings. Instead of a dash indicator, a blue LED light can be integrated with the side mirrors. These technologies have emerged from the racing world, according to Waraniak, who has over 25 years of experience in aerospace, as well as the automotive, racing and performance industries.

Tomas Keenan of Top Class Installations, based out of Long Island, N.Y. decided to focus entirely on ADAS and fleet work. The company is remote-based and installs dash cameras, GPS tracking and backup cameras, with their main focus being Mobileye installations. “We head out and service the customer at their location,” Keenan said, “which is one of the reasons we’ve sustained and survived through COVID-19.”

Keenan said now is a good time to get into the category. “I think it will continue to grow,” he added. “Especially since the new Mobileye is coming out. It’s a different program with different calibration.

Technicians should definitely go out and sharpen their skills. Get used to this— because it offers good potential for any 12-volt specialist.”

Mike Bartells of Extreme Audio in Mechanicsville, Va. said he hopes to focus more on this category in the near future. “We already do it, but I would like to market it more heavily,” he explained. “Between that and also wanting to expand into the radar category, we’ve been so busy I haven’t even had time.” Bartells feels his business will eventually have to bring on additional employees in order to focus on ADAS.

“We diversify across the board,” he said. “We do a little bit of Mobileye. We do blind spot detection. I would consider us an early adopter. We jumped on board expecting it to be a big deal, so we’ve been doing it for about five or six years, but we haven’t seen significant numbers yet.”

A Different Kind of Customer

In Anchorage, Alaska at Perfectionist Auto Sound & Security, owner John Schwartz believes it’s important to make sure the showroom is both inviting and interactive. “A lot of people preach about demo cars, and I feel the same way about the showroom,” he said. “We

have a backup camera display in the showroom with a live camera. We have a bumper sensor underneath, and it’ll beep when people get close. They’ll say, ‘What’s this?’” After explaining the product, Schwartz said the conversation often leads into head units because a customer might ask if there’s a larger screen available than the one shown in the rearview mirror. “If you don’t have good displays, clients will never know the product is available,” he added. “Make sure there are no empty holes. The display has to be working.”

Bartells agrees that it comes down to consumer education. “Our industry has always depended on enthusiasts, and that created demand,” he said. “Lots of people don’t know you can add ADAS after the fact. We need to get in front of them and explain it. Consumer education is the most difficult aspect.”

Additionally, he said, while diversifying across categories helps increase revenue, it also makes it harder to focus on one category to grow it. Bartells noticed the clients who want this equipment are often different than audio clients. “Maybe they have a car that has this equipment. They like it, and they want to have it for their wife or their husband’s car, but they don’t want to buy a new car,” he said. “They come into our store looking for it because the awareness has been raised.”

Keenan said the first thing he noticed when Top Class Installations began focusing on fleet vehicles and ADAS is that commercial clients were different. “From the retail side, you have a customer come in, and you give him an estimate for a nice audio system. Say it’s $10,000. And he says, ‘Oh my God, that’s so expensive.’ You get into the commercial side of the business, and you quote a customer $10,000, they say, ‘Okay, here’s the check.’ It’s a drop in the bucket to a company versus an individual,” he explained. “We just have to do the right thing, show up when we say we will and perform the work.”

To appeal to this type of customer, Top Class Installations also improved its image as a company. “We became more professional and transparent. As the business evolved and we dealt with executives, we realized we had to come off as business owners instead of installers.” Keenan said they dressed nicely for meetings and made sure every email was ultra-professional. They also started using tools like Grammarly to clean up email content. “We are appealing to a different type of client.”

Keenan said he discovered early on that working with an individual on a personal project wasn’t as profitable. As a result, the company focuses on fleets of five or more vehicles. “When we started running the numbers through the Excel estimator tool our CFO built for us— which ties directly to our P&L and our balance sheets—we realized we don’t make enough profit on those one-off jobs, so it’s more beneficial for us to say no and go to a larger job,” he said.

For shops who might be interested in focusing solely on ADAS from a fleet perspective, Keenan advised ensuring the business has the proper insurance, leverages the right software and utilizes meticulous pre- and post-check processes. Keenan also built an online course to teach people how to build custom data capture forms for field technicians, which readers can learn more about at www. paperlessprofits.com. “What information

Top Class Installations in New York State focuses entirely on ADAS installations in fleets. CEO Tomas Keenan advised retailers to reach out to an ADAS provider to get proper training if they wish to expand into this category.

do you need to capture in order to bill correctly? We record the company name, job number, the vehicle information and the serial number of any and all devices installed,” he explained, adding that any live devices need to go through a verification process to ensure they work. His team also utilizes checklists to ensure technicians don’t miss anything.

“If it’s a live device, we often have to call a verification phone line where they log in from the back end to make sure it’s working. Then the tech records that data. We check the vehicle before we touch it and when we’re done—same thing guys do in the shop, but we do it remotely in the field,” Keenan said. “The tech fills this out from an app on their tablet or phone. Once they submit the form, it comes to my billing team and we can invoice the work almost immediately.”

Raising Awareness and Nurturing Demand

Neil Young was once a guest speaker at SEMA, Waraniak said. “When we were walking together, he told me, ‘John, an old car can take you to new places.’ It’s the ‘cool factor.’ He pointed out that out of the 2,000 or so exhibitors at the show, each of them had their own interpretation of what was cool. He was right. It’s a great way to sum up the potential for aftermarket companies and OEMs to start retrofitting over-the-air updates or upgrading a vehicle,” he noted, adding, “ADAS is really in its infancy.”

Waraniak suggested that anyone interested in expanding further into ADAS should check out resources available at SEMA.org. “We couldn’t do this alone,” he stressed. “No association or company is rich enough or smart enough to do this alone. We need all our partners working together. We need to work together to help each other grow and prosper.” People will still have their hobby vehicles, though, he added. “They’ll still have what I call their Sunday car. It’ll have roll-down windows or a carburetor. And because of COVID, people are working on their cars even more while they have the time.”

Retailers who wish to further expand into this category to make it a larger part of their business should consider reaching out to Mobileye, NAV-TV or another ADAS provider, according to Keenan. “You’ll need ADAS training,” he said. “If you’re doing any kind of advanced dash camera or ADAS installations, you have to supply your tech with a laptop so they can calibrate and ensure these devices are working properly.”

Other training can be useful, too, Keenan added. “Some guys who are excellent techs may not be as skilled with a computer. They have to be able to use an app, send professional emails, load software and verify ADAS equipment,” he explained.

Bartells said Extreme Audio’s services are listed on the shop’s website, and those who are looking for safety installations find them easily. “I think we do good business in that category, but now I need to find out what I have to do to put myself in front of people who might not know it exists in order to drum up business for it,” he said. “We have to find out how to get in front of those people.”

Schwartz said it’s about putting oneself in the position of the customer and thinking like they do. “For a business to be successful, you have to look at every single aspect,” he said, adding that the average customer doesn’t care how something works—they just want to know how it will make their life better. Applying this idea to marketing and raising consumer awareness, he added, will help businesses increase revenue in the ADAS category.