A successful first-ever virtual Independent Automotive Aftermarket Federation (IAAF) conference has taken an in-depth look at the opportunities and threats affecting aftermarket businesses in a post-Brexit and post-Coronavirus world.

Held on Thursday 3rd December, the ‘IAAF Virtual Conference, The Year No One Predicted’,  sponsored by Alliance Automotive Group and Impression Communications, welcomed a record-number of ‘attendees’, reaching a bigger audience than ever before.

Wendy Williamson, IAAF chief executive, welcomed members and heaped praise upon the automotive aftermarket, applauding how well the supply chain has adapted to changing lockdown measures to ensure vehicles could remain on the road safely and securely. Wendy then spoke of IAAF members support and its lobbying successes before giving an overview on Type Approval and BER legislation.

Keynote speaker, David Smith, who has worked for The Sunday Times as economics editor for more than 30 years provided an insightful overview of global economic recovery.

Quentin le Hetet from GIPA then went on to interpret trends in the aftermarket and how the car parc will age with the 5 to 9 year old category growing especially, something that will be good news for the independent aftermarket. While recognising the transition to electric vehicles, currently running at 20% of new registrations across Europe, he also pointed out that petrol and diesel vehicles would remain in circulation for many years beyond the 2030 new car cut off and this will also create opportunities for independents particularly with regard to diesel issues such as injection repairs and DPFs. Quentin also made the point that garages will need to develop a good electric vehicle aftermarket offer in terms of equipment, expertise and training, as well as ensure they have an effective online presence to meet changing consumer needs.   

Glen Shepherd from Glen Callum Associates, Andy Lees from PG Automotive and Rachel Clift, the health and wellbeing director at automotive charity BEN, then discussed the issue of metal health in the industry and the growing need for support.

Ronan McDonagh from FIGIEFA, then outlined some of the challenges that the aftermarket will face with the UNECE legislation on cyber security. As we see software replacing many components on vehicles this is an area that will be of critical importance in the future.

Mike Smallbone, head of membership development at IAAF, concluded the conference by providing a round-up of the federation’s activity in 2020, while outlining plans for 2021 and new member benefits. Despite a difficult year, the membership continued to grow, with many of the usual networking events, including the Industry Briefing sessions, going virtual, enabling IAAF to connect and liaise with as many members as possible.

Wendy Williamson, IAAF chief executive, concluded, “Despite this year’s conference looking very different to what our members are used to, I’m delighted that we were still able to come together and celebrate the hard work and commitment of dedicated aftermarket businesses throughout such an unprecedented year.”