Connected cars: between opportunities and risks for the aftermarket

“The connected cars will be a boon or a bummer for theautomotive aftermarket?”. One of the latest insights by. develops around this question Boston Consulting Group. The reference is to fchain of production, distribution and sale of spare parts for automobiles and also different types of accessories, from shock absorbers to value-added services for the car radio, just to name a few. In the after sales both original spare parts and compatible products made by third-party companies are included. Therefore a complex sector, considering that each vehicle is made up of thousands of components. Four categories make up the supply chain: producers, distributors, spare parts dealers and workshops.

The scenario is evolving

“The automotive industry is rapidly accelerating towards a future of software-defined vehicles, including advanced connectivity and high-performance computing,” reports the BCG study. “This change is generating a huge leap forward for new technologies,” the analysts add. However, they wonder: as these vehicles increase their market shares, will they become an advantage or an obstacle for the aftermarket industry, which last year only in the United States developed a turnover worth 357 billion dollars. Bcg spotted five areas of opportunity for new revenue generation: diagnostics and updates, new services and business models, operations optimization, data monetization and maintenance planning.

The new market trends

But success is far from obvious. The challenge will primarily be played out on the ability to guarantee a good experience for customers, minimizing visits to repair centers and on this front, advances in technology will be decisive. Who will be able to invest profitably in remote assistance will emerge.

Distributors and dealers will have the opportunity to compete by leveraging vehicle data to optimize their operations, but will be challenged to manage more complex operations through advanced data analysis and artificial intelligence capabilities. Independent installers have the opportunity to provide more technical repairs and compete for better customer service, but will need to be able to offer a value-added service.