The automotive aftermarket business is committed to retailing, distributing, reprocessing, and installing car components and equipment after a vehicle has been sold. The European automotive aftermarket business is predicted to grow consistently with the rise in demand for production. The automotive aftermarket and aftersales industry is not an easy ballgame. It is multifaceted and has diversified segments covering the complete repair, service, and maintenance spectrum from parts supply to servicing and fitment. The industry is highly competitive and robust. It provides a way to support the network for millions of cars, trucks, buses, and vans across the European region.
The vehicles serve as a rich data source, and millions of transported vehicles generate swaths of helpful information that automakers figure out how to monetize. Creating the business value from the corresponding vehicle data is a technical challenge that machine learning, AI, and data analytics solutions can help the industry to solve and move ahead with the growth. Failure to get the vast data stores to lose value-added for customers may lose revenue and business intelligence.
Market Insights – Automotive Aftermarket EU
The automotive aftermarket is a part of the automotive industry sector with services and parts businesses. The service businesses are mainly on maintenance and repair of the vehicles, which generates more than 45% of total aftermarket revenues in Europe. At the same time, retail and wholesale vehicle parts are making up the remaining 55% of the revenue. These businesses are significant in the overall automotive industry and deliver substantial income. When we look into the product side, aftermarket executives indicated that about half of the revenues come from wear and tear parts, crash-relevant parts, diagnostics products, and services. It is expected that wear-and-tear parts will slow down due to increased quality, mobility, and price pressures.
According to the market data forecast, a leading research firm revealed that the automotive aftermarket industry would be valued at $256 billion in 2021. It is expected to grow to $369.2 billion by 2026 at a CAGR of 3.1%. A report from Frost and Sullivan says that the European the automotive aftermarket is a 100 billion euros sector for components suppliers from Ireland to Russia, with a 2.4% yearly growth in overall sales.
Value of Data in Automotive Aftermarket
Numbers apart, one of the significant challenges in the automotive industry is handling data silos. There is a large amount of data about thousands of vehicles and millions of automotive parts. You may come across the terms ACES and PIES and how businesses solve their data problems.
After checking these words, you may be an independent business in the aftermarket parts if you feel the pressure. It’s not just about the standards; many other challenges are involved. But, companies in the automotive aftermarket industry are finding the best solutions available in the market for almost every problem they are going through.
First things first,
What are ACES and PIES?
ACES (Aftermarket Catalog Exchange Standard) and PIES (Product Information Exchange Standard) are standardized data formats in the automotive industry. These two standards manage and exchange the automotive application fitment and product parts data. It will be easy to manage and handle large data silos if you adhere to these standards. However, the truth is that ACES and PIES data are not online tools or some master database of parts or fitment data. Manufacturers are not using these standards completely and have incomplete data.
The challenge with Data Silos
The vehicle parts dealers are looking into a simple eCommerce website that makes it easy for customers to buy, and businesses expect an automated purchase process. They would also like to reduce the total returns due to incompatibility in the vehicle parts and fitments, which alleviates problems in customer service.
To get this in line, businesses must be able to manage timely, accurate product information about all the parts, vehicles, and parts fitments. The data is the major problem, and the other one is choosing a good eCommerce platform to support large volumes of data and keeping good vehicle fitment options for customers. Until this standardization is sorted, businesses will face many challenges in cleaning up the data and mapping out the different databases and the information they have from multiple sources.
Quick snapshot of Data challenges
- Lack of enhanced vehicle information and vehicle identification – merchants are losing revenue due to improper data about the vehicle as customers return them due to lack of fitment. If merchants have this accurate data, they can reap benefits.
- Car configuration issues – data is unorganized and unable to trace the right brand, model, variant, equipment, price, and manufacturer codes in the data set. The lack of good APIs to access accurate data leads to confusion and makes the process very complex.
- Inaccurate information for dismantling, damage assessment, and auto parts – management of data about dismantling, lack of good online sources and data leads to warehouse, integration, and market mismanagement.
Solution for uncovering the hidden value of data
Several comprehensive and best databases are available for purchase, but they might not be that important for practical implementation and solutions. Finding the best DaaS provider is the best option that most automotive industry merchants are looking to address their challenges with data.
What can you expect from a DaaS provider
DaaS service providers help you handle a large amount of data in an organized way. For example, it helps you with the spare parts catalogs, market volumes, prices, and technical information. The data sources can be combined and laid as the base for all the analytics is enriched with the information.
Unlocks the Potential Benefits
- Provides adequate vehicle management support
- Helps in visual damage assessment
- Solves the dismantling and used parts data challenges
- Simplifies integration and eases handling warehouse management
- Intelligent data management and remarketing solutions
- Workshop maintenance solution
- Insurance handling and more
Trends disrupting the automotive aftermarket
According to Mckinsey, the overall global aftermarket industry is expected to grow 3% per annum throughout 2030, shaping the European region’s new growth.
Mckinsey’s top 6 trends that will change the Aftermarket domain:
- Easy access to car-generated data
- Higher transparency in price and diversity in supply for customers
- Enhancing digital channels and interfaces
- Aggressive expansion of OEMs into aftermarket
- Consolidation of spare parts distributors
- Influence of digital intermediaries
Wrapping up
The European market has a more extensive scope for innovation and growth. Getting your hands dirty with the perfect strategy by using the value of data brings significant results. Your organization can embrace its full potential by changing the aftermarket strategy and connecting with good DaaS services to unlock the potential of the data in a better way. The hidden value of the data is unboxed only if you connect with the right technology solutions for your business which helps you grow beyond the limits.
So, how ready are you to handle the data challenges? What DaaS or databases are you using, and how is it working for you?
Talk to AutoFacets about your Data Monetisation needs and share your experiences.
