Out of sight, but out of mind?
Neil Pattemore looks ahead at the host of legislative challenges the aftermarket faces over the coming months and years
By Neil Pattermore |
Published: 01 February, 2019
Some people listen but they don’t hear, others are disbelievers, while others consider that if it worked yesterday it will still work tomorrow. Many of us don’t like change, but I am sorry to inform you, but change is a’ coming!
I was recently discussing with a workshop owner about the legislation that helped his business, but when I mentioned ‘the third mobility package’ his eyes glazed over like I was Kaa the snake from Disney’s Jungle Book and I was trying to hypnotise him!
However, this is not a work of fiction, but the serious issue of how you need legislation to support your business. Currently, there is a lot of discussion during the remaining tenure of this Commission in preparation for the next European Commission in September 2019, concerning how a whole variety of ‘mobility services’ around vehicles will be provided and what legislation will be needed, which will impact the future of the European aftermarket, but also the UK after Brexit.
Sorry to be the messenger of doom and gloom, but the automotive industry is changing and with it, the aftermarket. It may not be too long before you become aware of just ‘how good you have had it’ and to use another colloquialism, ‘you will miss it when it’s gone’. So, what’s going on in Brussels?
Vehicle technology is changing at an ever-increasing rate, but most critically this includes the connected car, where a vehicle and its data can be accessed remotely. This is great news for the development of new services, new diagnostic and repair methods, the vehicle has become part of the internet of things that enables traffic flow management, the implementation of intelligent transport systems to reduce accidents and ultimately, autonomous vehicles. In legislative terms this creates a whole new raft of challenges – but most critically, how to handle the safe and secure communication with the vehicle.
The third mobility package seeks to address some of these aspects, one of which is fundamental – who controls access to the vehicle and subsequently data. In simple terms, simply plugging in to a vehicle to conduct diagnostics or repair and maintenance will be controlled by the vehicle manufacturer unless the legislator does something. To most of the UK aftermarket, this is an ‘out of sight and out of mind’ scenario. However, we are at a crossroads and the only way forward is legislative action.
So, what else are the jolly Eurocrats in Brussels working on that may impact the aftermarket?
Although this may be an excellent example of how slowly the wheels of legislation can turn, one of the most important ‘left overs’ from the Euro 5 legislation that came into force in 2007, is the inclusion of a reference to ISO 18541, which standardises the access to repair and maintenance information via vehicle manufacturers’
websites. Additionally, and linked to the ISO 18541 implementation, will be the inclusion of the SERMI scheme – the Secure Repair and Maintenance Information which will provide accredited access to vehicle anti-theft information, data and parts for independent workshops. Both of these should significantly help in avoiding having to refer your customer’s vehicle back to a main dealer to finalise a repair job.
In another recognition of increasing vehicle technology, there will be the finalisation of the access and data requirements to test electronically controlled safety systems via the OBD port in Roadworthiness Testing – the MOT test to you and I. However, there is much discussion, both in Brussels and in the ISO standardisation, about exactly what the test methods will be and what data the vehicle will provide. There is some risk of the vehicle just testing itself without the ability to have independent functional testing. Oh what fun we can look forward to with older vehicles when inventive ways are found to avoid that pesky little MIL light coming on!
Multi-faceted
This also leads into another discussion around how access to the vehicle will be possible. The beloved OBD connector and the corresponding data for diagnostics, repair and maintenance is now referenced in the revision of the Euro 5 legislation (EU 2018/858), but it is by no means clear exactly what this means in technical terms, or indeed how the access may be controlled by using electronic certificates. No firm proposals are yet on the table and the corresponding menu of whether it will be a feast or just some crumbs will be a major subject of discussion. This is yet another example of how connecting to an object that is part of the internet of things is a multi-faceted topic that will impact the aftermarket. This moves into another sphere with the inclusion into legislation of remote diagnostic support (RDS) – originally from heavy duty vehicle legislation implemented in 2009 (!), but under the new EU 2018/858 it will also apply to passenger vehicles as well. This is intended to allow the remote diagnostics of a vehicle, but it is certainly not clear how this may be achieved independently of the vehicle manufacturer, as they would then know you and your customer, as well as charging you for this RDS service.
To better understand the vehicle manufacturers’ extended vehicle model that would be used to provide this RDS service, the Commission are currently monitoring a proof of concept that seeks to assess what is possible. From the outcome of this proof of concept, the current Commission are likely to make recommendations for the incoming Commission for future legislation. However, a recent study conducted by the aftermarket associations in Brussels showed that this extended vehicle model provided very limited data, with further costs and contractual restrictions, making it unusable for truly competitive services. The battle lines have been drawn.
Implementation
On a more tangible note, there is a request for a better implementation of the Machinery Directive. ‘Yeah’ I hear you say, but a recent study showed that out of 47 lifts inspected throughout Europe, 11 (23%) were found non-compliant with a total number of 24 non-conformities. The European Garage Equipment Association (EGEA) has therefore called on the Commission to stop dangerous and non-compliant workshop equipment being sold in the EU by imposing stricter and more effective market surveillance and thus avoid further deaths and serious injuries, as well as ensuring fair competition in the marketplace.
Although Brussels is ‘out of sight and out of mind’ to many UK workshops, there are many critically important discussions currently being held, leading to future European legislation that will be needed to ensure the continued ability to independently access, diagnose, repair, service and maintain objects that are part of the internet of things – which for the Aftermarket means vehicles. Much to think about and much to fight for!
xenconsultancy.com
- Past, present and cars of the future
Neil, we worked literally alongside each other in the RMI press office for years. What do you remember most about those days?
Oh, where to start? We used to joke that nobody ever leaves the motor industry, and here we both are 20 years and several kids later. I joined in early 2003. You were already the Press Officer and I was Website Editor. I also worked on Forecourt magazine and the fuel protests were huge news at the time. The poor petrol retailers took loads of stick, quite unfairly because they earnt very little from fuel sales. Imagine the outrage if the protestors had known what a gallon would cost today. There were a lot of strong opinions about Block Exemption, authorised repairer status and emissions too, so in some ways we’ve made incredible progress, and in other ways it’s the same old industry tensions.
Then one day you left to go freelance…
Yes, sorry about that. I completed my NCTJ journalism course by passing the 80-words-per-minute shorthand exam, admittedly at the second time of asking, and launched Featurebank in 2007, offering journalism and PR services. From the start the trade titles were brilliant. I got writing gigs with Aftermarket, among others, and ticked a few items off the bucket list – writing race reports for Autosport, interviewing legends like Sir Stirling Moss and covering a consumer court victory for Auto Express.
The PR side picked up nicely too. The Mail on Sunday naming MyCarCheck its “No.1 cash-saving app” was an important early win, and I worked for Euro Car Parts for years, back when Sukhpal was in charge. I wrote all sorts for them – internal and external comms, ad copy –press releases about landmark moments like becoming part of LKQ and buying up all those Unipart sites. Those were big deals which made international headlines. I’d admired ECP since a press tour of the old Wembley site – they had teams of people with headsets on selling like something out of Wall Street.
I hadn’t seen that in the aftermarket before – it was next level.”
Speaking of the silver screen, at some point you got into TV
The Dispatches? Superb experience. It was called Secrets Of Your Car Insurance, but really it was about the bodyshop industry. The heavy lifting was done by another old RMI contact, Andrew Moody, a panel beater who became a solicitor and barrister specialising in automotive law – quite a unique skillset. In 2012, he sent me a hefty bundle of paperwork outlining how some approved repairer networks were operating to the detriment of both bodyshops and consumers. I suggested it was either a book no-one would read or a TV programme, so we took it Channel 4.
It made waves and we ended up at the House of Commons with Andrew presenting to an All-Party Parliamentary Group. We stood up for what was right even though it involved taking on some seriously powerful organisations. I’m still very proud of that. To make you feel old, I’ve recently started doing PR for Andrew’s son, John. He’s 21, a qualified pilot and he’s built this fantastic In-House HR system, an online human resources solution developed specifically with repairers in mind.
We can’t go any further without getting into driverless cars. I can’t believe you haven’t mentioned it already.
What can I say? I’m obsessed. I was writing more and more about ADAS and in 2018 I wrote a cover story for the IMI, ‘Autonomous now: the shift to self-driving’, which was a gamechanger for me. The response was overwhelming and it convinced me to launch Carsofthefuture.co.uk to raise the standard of debate. So much of the coverage is misguided, overly simplistic or plain wrong, with driverless cars frequently presented as the harbingers of a Terminator-style apocalypse. I set out to promote informed voices of reason and now I’ve written over two hundred thousand words about it.
It’s a shame, given everything Tesla’s done for electric cars, that so many hyperbolic headlines are caused by its confusingly-named Full Self-Driving (FSD) package. It simply isn’t self-driving as the rest of the industry understands it. Conflating assisted and automated is dangerous, because it risks drivers misunderstanding what their cars are capable of. Things are coming to a head in America with a group called The Dawn Project taking out a full-page advert in The New York Times with the tagline “Don’t be a Tesla crash test dummy.” They’re offering $10,000 to “the first person who can name another commercial product from a Fortune 500 company that has a critical malfunction every eight minutes.” Ouch!
Honestly, I find Tesla’s approach so frustrating. It’s not only ill-advised, it’s counterproductive, because news of so-called driverless car crashes dents consumer confidence. Why gild the lily? True self-driving has seismic potential and it’s coming soon. If adopted sensibly it will dramatically improve safety and combine with zero emissions, mobility-as-a-service and active travel to completely transform road transport.
Notice the “if” there. None of these outcomes are guaranteed and now is a crucial time in terms of public perception. These are safety-critical issues and utmost clarity is vital. For the near future at least, the best advice is that drivers need to be alert at all times. To promote that message, I’ve just signed a new media partnership deal with Reuters for their flagship Auto Tech 2022 event. I get to interview Sammy Omari, vice president of autonomy at Motional, and Xinzhou Wu, head of Xpeng Motors’ Autonomous Driving Centre.
Now you’ve got me started! I’d like to emphasise that I still love cars and driving. However, I firmly believe that self-driving will be utterly transformative. It’s a fascinating area with unique selling points, increasingly distinct from traditional automotive, and it forces us to face some uncomfortable truths: that 95% of the time most cars are just taking up space and depreciating; and that well over a million road deaths occur worldwide every year. Connected and autonomous vehicles will need maintaining and repairing, of course, so the aftermarket absolutely needs to be part of this conversation.
Which brings us nicely to your new Aftermarket of the Future column
Indeed! From next month I’ll be bringing you all the self-driving news with implications for the aftermarket. This is such a fast-moving sector. Over the last few weeks alone we’ve had: the announcement of a major driverless trial in Milton Keynes, which on closer inspection turns out to be not quite as described; An opinion poll of 1,000 UK adults by BSI finding that 70% see benefits in connected and automated vehicles, but 59% would feel more confident with an onboard safety operator; Grant Shapps, Secretary of State for Transport, reiterating that he wants the UK to be a world leader in driverless; Lastly, Mercedes becoming the first automotive company in the world to meet the demanding UN-R157 standard for a Level 3 system.
We’ll look at the latest cutting-edge tech, some frightening proposed changes to the Highway Code and much more.
Alex Wells: “That’s great Neil. We are sure our readers will be fascinated. See Aftermarket of the Future in our next issue and for any queries please email neil@self-drivingpr.com”
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