Change, challenge, opportunity dominates 2014 IAAF conference

The IAAF Annual Conference, sponsored by Autoparts UK, addressed some of the major issues affecting the automotive industry in line with the theme “change, challenge & opportunity”.

Wendy Williamson, IAAF chief executive, kicked off the conference – held at the ICC, Birmingham – highlighting the numerous changes that have taken place in both commercial vehicle and passenger car aftermarkets in 2014. Williamson also issued a warning that the sector “must not underestimate the power and influence that the VMs have with government, at home and throughout Europe.”

This was echoed by Figiefa’s Neil Pattemore in his afternoon presentation, stating that the VMs had become “far more aggressive with their agenda” in the past two years.

Andy Savva, managing director Brunswick Garage, drew on his experiences of managing a busy garage underlining some of the pressures facing his business in areas such as recruitment, the internet and HR. He also urged other garages to ‘work smarter not harder’ by investing in tooling and training.

In terms of changes to recent automotive service trends, Chris Oakham of Trend Tracker highlighted an ageing UK vehicle parc, but that there were fewer people adhering to annual servicing schedules, opting instead to fix items that have failed.

Figiefa’s Sylvia Gotzen and Neil Pattemore highlighted the challenges to future car repair with the emergence of eCall and vehicle telematics. Ms. Gotzen pointed out that the OBD connector route to repair would become “less relevant”. The Connected Car Video was also shown to the 100-strong audience, detailing the challenges and subsequent response by IAAF and Figiefa to support a member’s business.

Opportunities for the aftermarket were spelt out by Laurence Harrison of Digital Radio UK, who said that there were 15-20million vehicles that would need to be converted to digital radio when everything finally switches over.

Scott Sinclair, Google Industry Head – Automotive highlighted how some companies have used the internet to create business opportunities but encouraged others in the trade to use data rather than just collecting it. “Data makes your suitcase heavy, but insights make you rich,” he said.

In between speeches, the IAAF conference provided advertisement breaks from companies in the IAAF supplier village, Duocall and April UK, IAAF’s lifestyle protection partner.