On Thursday, 27 November in Ministry of Economy, there was a conference of Automotive Spare Parts Distributors and Manufacturers Association. The meeting was participated by almost 350 representatives of independent automotive aftermarket. During the conference, another year of the industry was summarized, and the participants discussed development opportunities for automotive aftermarket.
- Poland is and important manufacturer of passenger cars, commercial vehicles, buses and European basket of automotive components and spare parts for many world makes - said Janusz Piechociński, vice-premier and Minister of the Economy. - I hope that such events as Conference of Independent Automotive Aftermarket will be promoting Polish technical idea and influence the good image of the industry in the country and abroad.
The most important information regarding the automotive industry in Poland and Europe and law regulations influencing its development were discussed during the conference. Alfred Franke, the president of SDCM emphasised the need of constant update of knowledge on the industry, which results efficiency and safety of dynamically developing automotive sector. A lot of attention was given to such matters as: competition on the market of spare parts, telematics (remote communication with the vehicle), Repair Clause which can guarantee a market balance and regulations influencing the Automotive Independent Aftermarket.
- I am happy that we managed to gather so many people from the independent automotive aftermarket in Poland - said A. Franke. - Our aim is common cooperation in working out fair rules of free competition and guaranteeing the customers a freedom of choice on the automotive market. Surely carmakers need support, but we are sure that this cannot be done on the expense of independent automotive aftermarket, and as a result, drivers.
During the meeting, also the biggest threats for the market were discussed, such as: limited access to telematics, not obeying the law regulations on freedom of choosing the place of repair of the car in warranty period, limited access to technical information, inhibited identification of spare parts and no access to monopolized parts of manufacturers of cars.
Essential point of the discussion during the conference was taking up activities which are to increase effectiveness of law enforcement, so that small and medium companies and consumers could count on support in fighting for their rights, and thanks to this independent garages would be able to offer their services in compliance with fair and free competition.
The participants of the conference emphasized the fact that creating a Europe-wide eCall system is right, but current telematic systems offered in vehicles have a closed character, and access to information is only granted to the manufacturer of it. Because of this, it is necessary to implement such law regulations, which will make it possible to make the systems open, to which an even access will be granted to all participants of the automotive market. This way it will be possible to guarantee a free and fair competition.
The conference also hosted a debate between manufacturers and distributors. It was on different aspects of threats for the independent aftermarket. Lots of attention was also given to the e-commerce. It has been emphasized that e-commerce is a great chance for development of independent market. But in current shape, where auction websites are flooded with used parts, especially those having big influence on safety, this is not the best direction for development.
More about the conference can be found in "Przegląd Oponiarski" magazine.
Source: przegladoponiarski. pl
2014-12-01
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