Commentary: Who’s Going to Earn Your Parts and Service Business?
Denise Rondini
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Denise Rondini
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It’s always interesting to spend time with aftermarket suppliers and distributors and get their take on the truck parts and service business.
I did that late in January when I attended Heavy Duty Aftermarket Week in Las Vegas. One of the sessions, Battle of the Channels, featured both suppliers and fleets talking about trends, expectations and what will be needed to gain a fleet’s parts and service business in the future.
To set the stage, data from MacKay & Co. shows that dealers have 49% of the outsourced parts and service business, while independent repair garages have 19% and engine distributors 9%. OE dealers are gaining marketshare at the expense of independent shops. On the parts side, competition has expanded to include auto parts distributors and e-commerce.
Here are some of the trends the panel identified.
Expect more integration: Scott Davis, director of strategic partnerships and customer experience at Eaton, believes there will be deeper powertrain integration and vehicle systems integration. Lee Long, director of fleet services at Southeastern Freight Lines, says, “I believe in the next few years we will see replacement parts for an integrated drivetrain.” And according to Walt Sherbourne, vice president of marketing and partner, Dayton Parts, “Vertical integration is here, and it is not disrupting the aftermarket. Fleets still need parts when and where they need them.”
Technology will continue to be a challenge: According to Joe Mejaly, senior vice president and general manager, Denso, “The OEMs are not slowing down in developing technology. Independents need to be more entrepreneurial in order to catch up [to dealers].”
Training is even more important: Dwayne Haug, principal owner, Dwayne O. Haug Consulting LLC, said, “Complexity has added to the need for training.” He added, “We still have to have training and we are relying on other channels of repair …Read the rest of this story
