AUTOMECHANIKA – IT’S ALL ABOUT YOU
In 1240 – the Emperor Frederick II granted Frankfurt the right to hold fairs and exhibitions in the autumn of each year. The first international fair for Frankfurt was held in 1919, and by 1951 the motor show – ‘IAA’ – moved from Berlin.
Much as the automotive business expanded to reach more and more consumers, so the aftermarket expanded as well. The emerging European automotive business relied on a gaggle of component and sub-system manufacturers spread right across the region, ranging from companies that only manufacturers through to what we would now call ‘full-service’ suppliers.
The automotive aftermarket – component manufacturers, businesses that service or repair vehicles and the activities around that have tended to be in the shadow of the vehicle manufacturers. After all, if they did not make new vehicles, the business would be rather different.
How was Automechanika born?
Until 1971 the vehicle manufacturers exhibited on the same showground as the automotive aftermarket, holding the event once every two years. On 20th January 1971 the VDA – the German automotive manufacturer trade body – announced the membership needed to cut costs and so would cancel the autumn show of that year.
The aftermarket was not consulted. The aftermarket was supposed to bow and walk away.
The expectation was nobody could put together a show in under eight months specifically and only for the aftermarket. However, from trade associations through component manufacturers to the thousands of businesses looking after client vehicles, the answer was – forgive me – ‘damn you!’
So, in September 1971 Automechanika opened. Literally the aftermarket, exhibiting for and to the aftermarket.
The vehicle manufacturers were stunned, thinking this was going to be a huge flop – but it wasn’t. In time, as the IAA re-opened in Frankfurt, it alternated with Automechanika. Of course, now the light vehicle part of IAA is to be found in Munich, but Automechanika remains in Frankfurt. It has opened without fail every two years since 1971.
Codes
So, now we know Automechanika is all about building better business by sharing ideas. Let’s turn our attention to another odd organic device… diagnostics.
This was born out of on-board diagnostics (OBD) which was a system to trace faults in internal combustion powertrain emission control systems. This grew up in the 1980s and gained significant traction during the 1990s as all functions of engine control and elements of transmission control merged into an ‘engine management control unit’.
If I tell you, as some of you know already, each of the main four groups of code have a letter:
P = Powertrain
B = Body
C = Chassis
U = Undefined.
Since the primary reason for the codes was related to powertrain, it was this which got the biggest exposure first. Consequently, as those who repair whole vehicles know, the other magic letters were not as widely distributed.
As OBD morphed into OBD II, which meant capture / storage of fault codes in real time, so the sophistication of those codes grew exponentially. For a single sensor fault there can be anywhere from one to four items.
Then another revelation – humans (calibration engineers) – not only make the bare ‘train set’ work by creating multiple data maps, they then induce a variety of fault scenarios and create the associated codes. This is done within, for powertrain, a huge library of possible codes.
So, this should be pretty predictable and uniform? Yes. Is it? No. When we stray away from this arena into electrified powertrains, the codes could appear… here, here, here or… here.
Is this openly available to the aftermarket? Yes, except where a supplier developed or even wrote the codes but didn’t secure the correct aftermarket contract, which means they know but can’t publish. Like all other providers, they have to reverse engineer the fault codes.
That’s why unless there is an agreement in place, the generic tools may not have new model information for six to nine months after start of sales.
The vast problem
The ‘code’ situation shows how an electrical system talking to itself with an informed expert can unravel faults. This requires use of the evidence and some lateral thinking – and no, AI won’t solve this.
A sensor maybe working properly but failing to interact with coolant/ air / oil, leading to malfunction or oil whereas the diagnostic tool ‘computer’ says ‘yes’. Why bother with this? Because as sub-system costs fall, so more of them appear on more vehicles.
Four letters that caused a firestorm – ADAS.
There are three possible calibration routes, of which usually only one will be specified by the vehicle manufacturer. While the cost of windscreen-mounted video streaming cameras with real time data analysis for lane keeping, adaptive cruise control, road sign recognition and autobrake – have fallen in cost, retail prices have not done so yet.
Forward RADAR has become an array of three modules, with a variety of calibration routes, and again cheaper but not cheap. Rear RADAR has become an array of two modules, and calibration is becoming less common.
Auxiliary services such as 360-degree view cameras and even ultrasonic sensors have become part of the ADAS mix.
Two dangers:
1. If the system is not re-commissioned properly, the last workshop to have worked in the vehicle may become liable for the consequences.
2. Clients who may not know much about automotive engineering do tend to know how the systems work, and expect them to work – so for an automotive aftermarket business ‘winging it’ is not an option.
The spirit of 1971
Another big issue looms. The shift in the automotive manufacturer power from West to East. The overnight revolution which has cost a fortune and taken four decades, is well and truly underway. Not for the first time the consumer and the aftermarket are in the very same boat – limited information, poor access to spare parts, uncertain residual values no clear idea of what is ahead.
Consider energy storage. Batteries have gone through immense changes, but still only offer circa 20% of the energy per litre of ‘system’ compared to a litre of petrol. Sure, internal combustion engine waste of circa 60% plus narrows this gap, but batteries will not – simply will not – be hurried to do anything.Yet, the China manufacturers introduce new models as often as they shower, while the downstream support remains eerily quiet.
The result? A new vehicle which will be disposed of at the first sign of major trouble. The rest of the automotive sector is in a similar position. So, what will make the difference? Well, again, forgive me – ‘damn you!’
The spirit of 1971, to do the ‘impossible’, is there for the asking.
Solutions to the apparent disasters are in our own people. Of course, money, training, information access and more are all crucial, but the aftermarket by exchanging ideas, by building better commerce between us all, can tackle this.
Leave the vehicle manufacturers to do battle as they see fit. We must embrace the Frankfurt of 1971.
By Andrew Marsh
