By Lindsey Cooke
Toronto, Ontario — August 7, 2018 — While industry experts have long been in agreement about the fact that advanced drivers assistance systems (ADAS) and autonomous technology will significantly reduce the sales of repair parts, there has been little agreement on just how big an impact these cutting-edge technologies will have – until now. This week, KPMG released the results of their own investigation into the question, and concluded that sales will be cut by nearly half.
“KPMG has forecast that dealer crash repair parts sales will fall by 48 percent between 2017 and 2030 due to ADAS [Advanced Drivers Assistance Systems] and autonomous technology, so collision centres should expect business to slow by similar levels by that time,” said James Carter, consultant for Vision Mobility.
In an interview with Collision Repair magazine, Carter said that repairers must come to terms with the fact that new technological safety features will not only prevent collisions, but will become mandatory for new models.
“… and you know, it’s likely to reduce accidents when insurance companies start lowering premiums, even if the cost of an accident is higher due to sensors,” he said
Carter also mentioned another speedbump these technologies pose to the industry. Repairers can be locked out the software within vehicles, preventing even the facilities prepared to perform work from being able to.
“We personally had a situation where a major collision centre had difficulty completing a repair on our BMW because they were locked out of the software. This meant there were hidden faults that emerged just after the car was returned to us, and it had to be taken back, then sent to the dealer to work out the issues,” Carter said. “For us, this meant that the car was off the road almost twice as long as it should have been, and would have cost the insurer a lot more with the rental car.”
While it may be easy to suggest that OEM are making it more difficult for repairers to perform their duties, there are some legitimate reasons for their protectivity about data. By protecting access to data and information, they are protecting their vehicles from digital security threats.
