Sept. 16, 2016—A global meeting was held at Automechanika Frankfurt this week to discuss global consumer’s freedom of choice and effective competition in the market for vehicle replacement part; tools and equipment; and service and repair.
Representatives from Australia, Brazil, Europe, South Africa, the U.S., Southeast Europe and more participated in the meeting.
The first part of the meeting focused on the common experiences representatives have seen from their various backgrounds. The group discussed the challenges that are being faced to safeguard access to the technical repair and maintenance information required to correctly service and maintain increasingly sophisticated vehicles throughout the world and the efforts to clarify that consumers have the right to have their vehicle serviced and repaired by independent operators.
The second part of the meeting focused on the growing threat to competition in the repair industry that is being caused by embedded telematics systems on vehicles and the effect on the aftermarket. It also discussed the common aim to create an interoperable platform with interfaces and direct access to the in-vehicle data ensuring innovation and effective competition.