February 2018

www.aftermarketonline.net FEBRUARY 2018 AFTERMARKET 3 CONTENTS BUSINESS 8 Big issue: Where will we be in a year? 12 Adam Bernstein: Powering down – Part two 14 Neil Pattemore: Who owns your business? 16 Paula Tighe: GDPR TECHNICAL 18 John Batten: New year, fresh perspective 20 Ian Gillgrass: The good and the great 22 Barnaby Donohew: Knowing me, knowing you 24 Frank Massey: Fighting tech with science 26 Peter Coombes: EVs and hybrid vehicle tech 28 Karl Weaver: Glowing, going, gone! IN FOCUS 30 Top Technician / Top Garage 2018 32 Diesel 36 Batteries and chargers 40 Brakes 44 MOT 46 General products PLUS... 13 NOCO 47 Competition: HELLA Hengst 48 Autoelectro 50 IAAF Conference 52 Case Study – Katy Malia 54 Autoinform Live 56 On the road: Lesjöfors 58 Automechanika Shanghai review 60 Training 64 New appointments 66 Teabreak A ‘TOP’ START Editor | Alex Wells alex@aftermarket.co.uk | +44 (0) 1732 370 345 Sales Manager | Claire Hodder claire@aftermarket.co.uk | +44 (0) 1732 370 349 Contributors John Batten | Adam Bernstein | Peter Coombes | Barnaby Donohew | Ian Gillgrass | Frank Massey | Neil Pattemore | Karl Weaver Commercial Director | Ryan Fuller ryan.fuller@dfamedia.co.uk | +44 (0) 1732 370 340 Operations Administrator | Chelsea Moss chelsea.moss@dfamedia.co.uk | +44 (0) 1732 370 340 Finance Manager | Clare Jackson clare.jackson@dfamedia.co.uk | +44 (0) 1732 370 340 Publishing Director | Ian Atkinson ian.atkinson@dfamedia.co.uk | +44 (0) 1732 370 340 Published by | DFA Media Ltd 192 High Street, Tonbridge, Kent, TN9 1BE Aftermarket is published 10 times a year and is sent free of charge to applicants meeting the publisher’s criteria. All others may subscribe at £60 per anum, £120 Europe and £150 rest of the world. While every care is taken to provide accurate information, the publisher cannot accept responsibility for any errors or ommisions, no matter how caused. All rights reserved. No part of the publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without prior consent of the publisher. The views of contributors do not necessarily represent the views of the publisher. Copyright: DFA MEDIA LTD 2017 Alex Wells, Editor Average net circulation July 2016 to June 2017 23,577 W e all want a top start to the year, but wouldn’t a ‘Top’ start be even better? That’s what we are providing, via Top Technician and Top Garage. Both the Top Technician and Top Garage 2018 competitions are now underway, and entering is a great way to get your year really moving. To find out how to register for both competitions turn to pages 30-31 . You will also see what’s going to be happening over the next few months. It’s very exciting! Continuing the Top Technician theme, we have an exclusive technical article from 2017 winner Karl Weaver. Head for pages 28-29 to take a peek inside the processes of last year’s winner. It’s very educational. Here we are in the early days of 2018 – but where might the industry be when the year comes to a close. Yes, we know we’ve barely got started but knowing where we are heading helps us plan. On pages 8-11 we ask where we might be with some of the big issues by the end of the year. At least we know there will be bills that need paying, and on page 12 we have the second and final part of our two-part report into reducing energy bills. Just think, you might not have to yell “Turn that light out!” quite so often… Everything’s changing, as the saying goes, including notions of ownership and on pages 14-15 Neil Pattemore is asking how this will affect your business. Change is a constant, and we like to keep things fresh. With this in mind, Ian Gillgrass has joined our merry band of contributors and begins on pages 20-21 by asking what separates a good garage from a great garage. Customers are changing too, all the time and Barnaby Donohew asks how if understanding the motivation of customers can help you plan. That’s on pages 22-23 . Meanwhile, John Batten is on pages 18-19 talking about the Laws of Diagnostics while Frank Massey checks the vibrations on pages 24- 25 . While all this is going on, Peter Coombes gives us the latest in his series on EV and hybrid technologies on pages 26-27 . A lot has been going on since our last issue hit doormats in early December. Turn to pages 54-55 for our review of Autoinform Live, while our report on the IAAF Conference is on pages 50-51 . We visited a few companies during the last couple of months too. Find out what’s new at Autoelectro on pages 48-49 , and how a move has helped Lesjöfors on pages 56-57 . Going a bit further afield, there is a review of Automechanika Shanghai on pages 58-59 . Coming a bit closer to home, we speak to a female mechanic who is helping to train the next generation of techs. You’ll find that on pages 52-53 . We also have all the latest on diesel, batteries and chargers, brakes and the MOT. We hope you enjoy it. Alex Wells Editor aftermarketmagazine @aftermarket01