SAY IT AIN’T SO
With COVID cases resurging and exhibitors getting cold feet as November starts rolling around, AIA Canada has announced that they have decided to cancel Canada Night 2021. Originally scheduled to take place on November 2, 2021, at the Venetian Resort in Las Vegas, during the AAPEX conference, Canada Night brings together some of the biggest names across the Canadian automotive industry for a night of camaraderie and socializing. “It was a difficult decision to make, however, we know it’s the right decision based on the information we have today,” said AIA Canada President, Jean-François Champagne.
DRIVER’S ASSISTANCE? MORE LIKE DRIVER’S RESISTANCE
A new Léger survey revealed that in Quebec, only 35 percent of drivers claim to understand all of the features available on their car. “Vehicles today are equipped with a host of tools to improve safety on the road, but still many people don’t fully understand how to use them, get distracted by them or turn them off, especially on Quebec roads where orange cones in construction zones can cause an overabundance of alarms and warnings,” notes Carmine Venditti, Allstate Agency Manager, Montreal-East area. “Being knowledgeable about these assistance technologies allows for a better understanding of their usefulness. As a result, the driver can benefit from better visibility around the vehicle, and make safe decisions, potentially avoiding a collision.” AI will also allow for body shops to spend more time repairing vehicles and less time on estimating and ordering.
AGING AUTOS
The Automotive Recyclers Association (ARA) is encouraging vehicle owners, insurance companies and repair facilities to consider using Recycled Original Equipment (ROE) automotive parts because the age of vehicles on U.S. roads has gone up to 12.1 years, according to an IHS Market report. Sandy Blalock, ARA executive director, says because of the rise of light vehicle operations, everyone needs to do their part to make sure every vehicle on the road is in top quality shape. “The age of vehicles on the road is at a historic high, increasing from 11.9 years in 2020. Professional automotive recyclers play a vital role in keeping these vehicles in roadworthy condition,” stated Blalock. IHS market’s recent research suggests the rise in vehicle age is linked to the pandemic and a reduction in new vehicle sales, thanks to economic pitfalls on buyers.
THE ‘NEW NORMAL’
During a webinar held by CEICA, Driaan du Toit, the vice president of strategy and development at Solera, said that AI is going to be the next step in the automotive industry and body shops should embrace this new change. “This will be the new normal, don’t fight it,” he said. According to a survey, 72 percent of people said that they supported having a fully automated AI claims and repair experience, while 83 percent said they would trust automotive claims driven by AI. Most also said that they would switch insurers for a faster digital experience. DuToit believes that body shops can benefit from having the new technology by improving shop cycle times, productivity and customer service. AI will also allow for body shops to spend more time repairing vehicles and less time on estimating and ordering.
TRACKING TIME
Commercial trucks and buses travelling between provinces now must have electronic logging devices (ELD) that are used to track the number of hours they are driving daily. Having ELDs will help to be able to catch anyone who isn’t following the federal hours of service rules, which includes not driving more than 13 hours a day, and having at least 10 hours of off duty time each day – eight of those must be consecutive. Canadian Trucking Alliance president Stephen Laskowski says that ELDs will weed out any companies not following the protocol. “It’s going to force [non-compliant trucking companies] to get into the game and be compliant and be safe or face the consequences,” he said. “It’s going to make Canadian roads safer and it’s going to make it a better industry to work in.”
STUDIES SUGGEST
A study made by Frost & Sullivan suggests that one in five vehicles will have Level 2 autonomous driving features by 2025, and OEMs will have to do everything they can to get ready for the new technology. OEMs will have to work on their strategies, product roadmap and capital investments to be able to offer autonomous features. Varun Krishna Murthy, senior research analyst, mobility practice at Frost & Sullivan, says that over 11 million units will have the Level 2 autonomous driving features in just a few short years from 115,450 in 2020.
