Q: What are the challenges faced by the members of the Auto Care Association during the COVID-19 induced scenario?

Hanvey: While our association’s Government Affairs team was able to successfully lobby and petition all levels of Government here in the United States to categorise our industry as “essential,” which allowed our members to continue operating their businesses, there are still a number of challenges facing our members right now. The overall decline in Vehicle Miles Travelled by Americans we saw in March/April this year has had an impact on the demand for parts and services in the aftermarket.

Additionally, all businesses—not just auto care industry businesses—have to navigate continuously changing health and safety regulations, a bureaucratic process for receiving emergency relief or stimulus funding, figuring out how to pay back emergency Government loans, and the increased potential for lawsuits if a customer or employee becomes ill.

Despite these challenges facing our industry, we’ve seen some positive trends in the aftermarket since the spring, including a rise in Vehicle Miles Travelled, an increase in the forecasted sales of light vehicles, and an increase in Do-It-Yourself (DIY) activity.

Q: What are the leanings for Auto Care Association from the COVID- 19-induced new normal and how it supported its members during this time?

Hanvey: As an association, we remain optimistic, despite the obstacles our industry has been facing. We’ve been fighting for our members on all fronts, including providing a dedicated and comprehensive Coronavirus resources webpage, lobbying all levels of Government for “essential” status, assisting members with navigating Government regulations and loans, as well as surveying members and tracking industry trends to keep both our association and our members informed on the latest developments in this battle with COVID-19 on our industry and our country.

Q: How has the ‘Be Car Care Aware’ campaign helped during COVID-19?

Hanvey: The Car Care Council has continued to inform and instruct vehicle owners on how to maintain their vehicles during COVID-19, even if their cars are spending more time in their driveways than on highways.

Q: What kind of role does the Auto Care Association play when the geopolitical imbroglio between different nations erupt leading to changes in the tariff, affecting the business of your members?

Hanvey: The Auto Care Association’s priority is and will always be the protection of our members and our industry’s future. Our Government Affairs team works year-round to defend the interests of our members, whether it’s for vehicle data access in Massachusetts or testifying before Congress about the impact of tariffs on complex global supply chains. We, as an association, also work extensively to facilitate meetings between our members and their congressional representatives to form meaningful relationships that can result in the prioritisation of our industry’s needs. We also work with our sister associations in-country to further demonstrate the impact of tariffs on multiple economies and get those messages to lawmakers.

Q: Can you update on the issues related to tariffs and their implications?

Hanvey: Our association continues to engage with the United States Government to seek means of relief for our members and industry from the negative impact of tariffs. We have been able to assist many of our members with obtaining exemptions from some of these burdensome tariffs, but we will continue engaging with the Government on this issue until the elimination of these tariffs is achieved.

Q: How do you see the growth of the US aftermarket vis-à-vis the global aftermarket industry?

Hanvey: Despite COVID impacts, forecasts for GDP growth in other countries for 2021 and 2022 show countries emerging from the pandemic and returning to positive growth, according to IHS Markit. Demand was improving for light vehicles as much of the world reopened, but of course, with new closures happening as a “second wave” permeates, that could obviously be affected. In the US, August sales were advancing recovery in auto demand since April as incentives, reopenings and stimulus helped auto demand defy economic indicators.

Again, the second wave happening now is likely affecting that. The aftermarket continues to demonstrate that it’s a recession-resilient industry and forecasts show a quicker recovery than expected due to more DIY and more preference for personal rather than public modes of transportation. More reliance on the current VIO means the vehicle age will continue to grow as people keep their cars for longer meaning more opportunities for the aftermarket to keep money in wallets and offer more convenience in a newly inconvenient world. While what is happening now is referred to as a V-shaped recovery, the emergence of a second wave could possibly point to a W-shaped recovery.

Q: What kind of changes do you see in the aftermarket with the automotive industry being triggered by either legislation or regulation?

Hanvey: The aftermarket continues to change and adapt to new technologies, and it absolutely presents an opportunity to standardise repair procedures to keep consumers safe as well as a level playing field for the industry. In fact, the Auto Care Association Emerging Technologies Workgroup has been working to identify these challenges and turn them into opportunities for the aftermarket as well as working to ensure that the aftermarket is included in the evolving transportation ecosystem and that there is a level playing field for all.

An Auto Care Emerging Technologies workgroup is defining a set of best practice recommendations to standardise safe and efficient ADAS sensor recalibration processes for all passenger vehicles. That workgroup is also defining standards recommendations that ensure fair and equitable access to embedded device software needed to maintain and repair today’s vehicles.

Secure Vehicle Interface (SVI) – our work to standardise the transmission of wirelessly generated vehicle data is critical to the future of the aftermarket.

Q: Today, almost all the vehicles, including trucks, are connected in one way or the other. What are the new challenges that emerge out of these connected vehicles?

Hanvey: The foremost challenge our industry is facing with “connected” vehicle technology is ensuring access to the telematics data generated by today’s vehicles for the aftermarket and vehicle owners. Without access to this vehicle data, the vehicle manufacturers are able to shut out vehicle owners and their independent repair shops, which stifles competition and increases prices. This is precisely why we returned to the battleground of Massachusetts this year to present a ballot question to voters intended to amend the original Right to Repair law and put consumers in control of their vehicle. We were victorious with a 75% yes vote.

Q: The Auto Care Association has been working on developing the adoption of the secure vehicle interface to access data cyber-securely utilising ISO standards. What is the update on this?

Hanvey: The Auto Care Association, along with Michelin and Enterprise Holdings, produced a demonstration in September for the European Commission and other interested constituents around the world on the Secure Vehicle Interface (SVI). SVI is a standards-based technology that enables secure cyber access to in-vehicle data to trusted third parties. The European Commission is currently working towards delivering a legislative proposal on the critical topic of access to in-vehicle data, which will define the future of the mobility ecosystem in Europe and around the world.

Viewed globally by over 300 participants, the webinar included a live demonstration of the capabilities of SVI, examples of potential applications and new opportunities presented by the technology.

Q: How is the Auto Care Association preparing its members to cater to electric mobility?

Hanvey: This is an important development that the entire industry needs to work together on to prepare future technicians. We work with partners such as TechForce, ASE and our community programmes to provide scholarships to young professionals looking to pursue careers in the industry and share information that showcases what the “new” reality of incoming technicians and why these jobs are so viable.

Q: What is the feedback to ACES (Aftermarket Catalogue Exchange Standard) and PIES (Product Information Exchange Standard); do they need any amendments?

Hanvey: The Auto Care Association recently received a federal award that will grant the association $299,000 from the International Trade Administration’s (ITA) Market Development Cooperator Programme (MDCP) award to help the automotive aftermarket industry facilitate the implementation and adoption of ACES and PIES technology standards in China and key Latin American markets.

We also continued to expand our standards coverage this year. On the ACES front, VCdb South America will soon become available, providing vehicle content in our VCdb database for Chile, Colombia, Argentina and Brazil. Spanish Translations for the VCdb, Qdb, PCdb and PAdb will also be available as an add-on. We’ve expanded the catalogue and access for North American companies to do businesses in Latin American countries despite closed borders.

Q: Can you update on UniLink?

Hanvey: The UniLink dataset is available and now includes 96 percent of the 1.4 billion global VIO. The UniLink database contains 23 years of information that is constantly growing and extending and is organised into 16 high-level original equipment manufacturing attributes. Serving as a high-level bridge to ACES so users can see which parts fit with their product portfolio, UniLink allows users to identify new countries, makes and models to sell existing parts already in their portfolio – eliminating redundancies in the supply chain. Aftermarket companies can now determine new markets across the globe for underperforming inventory parts that are sitting and collecting dust in the warehouse and connect product data under a unified platform approach to reduce redundant, time-consuming research and avoid costly errors. Our market feedback tells us that UniLink will help increase sales (five to fifteen percent).

Q: Can you update on Auto Care Association’s working model of the secure vehicle data from OEMs?

Hanvey: Now that we have won the Right to Repair ballot for the second time in Massachusetts, we hope to work with the automakers to implement SVI.

Q: Reports are doing the rounds that with more electronics and software entering cars/trucks, the OEMs might do away with the OBD port and will store data wirelessly, exempting them from the current law. Has the Auto Care Association taken cognisance of this as this move may bother your members / independent repair shops?

Hanvey: The Auto Care Association is aware that the OEMs are currently and actively opposed to allowing third parties to access the data generated by vehicles today and that they are spending millions of dollars to prevent independent repairers and vehicle owners from gaining access to this data. After a decisive victory for the Right to Repair initiative in Massachusetts this November, the public has put the OEMs on notice that they want access to their vehicle data. Should the OEMs move to an entirely cloud-based system and do away with the OBD port on vehicles, we will continue to fight for the rights and abilities of the American people to access their vehicle data and service their cars wherever they see fit.

Q: Can you tell us about your initiatives in building professional skills to your members?

Hanvey: The Auto Care Association’s education resources include networking and conference events, market research reports and analyses, publications, websites, scholarships and a partnership with the University of the Aftermarket, all with the goal of providing continuous professional development opportunities. The Auto Care Association also recognises and celebrates members of our industry each year who go above and beyond to equip their employees with the education and skills they need to be successful in today’s auto care industry through the Automotive Career and Education (ACE) Award.

Q: Can you tell us about the initiatives taken to support the sustainable growth of your industry?

Hanvey: COVID really accelerated a lot of things for the industry. A shift to digital and needing even more data to make better business decisions was crucial the moment our world changed earlier this year. Our industry has always been driven by a commitment to innovation and agility, and this has been an even bigger part of the aftermarket’s identity during the pandemic. We continued to build on our foundation of innovative products and services to keep the supply chain running efficiently, provide dynamic access to the real-time marketplace and help companies run their businesses at top capacity.

Our TrendLens platform, which houses our Demand Index tool is a prime example. The aftermarket needs to know how the changing economic world is impacting their businesses:

• Day to day changes to vehicle miles driven.
• Record highs and lows in temperatures across the US.
• Consumer confidence fluctuations that shift with every news cycle.

Searching for the latest economic and industry data (like the ones mentioned) to help inform business decisions can be frustrating: multiple data sources, inconsistent data, out of date data, and costly subscriptions. We tackle those big questions with TrendLens.

TrendLens puts curated and current interactive industry insights at the fingertips of all of our users. The platform enables users to understand how market influencing factors are affecting the industry with the most complete and up to date data sets available, all in one place with innovative ways to compare and contrast data to give it context.

We accelerated the production timeline of TrendLens by several months in response to the COVID crisis, and it should be an absolutely invaluable tool in the industry’s arsenal. But we took it a step further with Demand Index.

Demand Index lets aftermarket companies compare their performance to the market. It provides sales performance data with both a unit index and dollar index for 38 different product groups, from air filters to shocks and struts, and growing.

More data and better value are provided by the Demand Index than any other tool, and what we’re hearing is that buyers and manufacturers are finally coming to the table and speaking the same language and correlate efforts to ROI thanks to the tool. (MT)

Japanese automaker Nissan Motor Corporation has announced the appointment of Cedric Ratinaud as the new Global Head of Brand, Nissan.

Ratinaud previously served as the Director of Creative and Campaigns for Global Communications at Nissan Motor Corporation, a role he held from April 2024. Prior to that position, he worked as General Manager of INFINITI Global Communications. His background includes two decades in the automotive sector across communications, marketing communications, and brand management roles.

His career at Nissan spans operations across Europe, Asia, and Oceania. Most recently, he served as General Manager of Brand, Marketing, and Communications for Nissan Motor Asia Pacific, operating out of Thailand.

TVS Supply Chain Solutions has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Japan-based Sankyu Inc. to collaborate across supply chain and engineering services.

As part of the agreement, Sankyu intends to acquire a 0.5 percent equity stake in TVS Supply Chain Solutions, subject to regulatory approvals.

The partnership combines TVS Supply Chain Solutions' logistics network in India with Sankyu's engineering capabilities and corporate connections in Japan. Initial operations will focus on serving manufacturing and industrial clients in India, where over 1,400 Japanese companies operate.

Future plans include expanding joint operations into regions across Asia, the Middle East, Africa and additional international markets where both firms hold established infrastructure.

To manage operations under the agreement, the companies will form a joint steering committee with representatives from both organisations to identify operational opportunities and oversee joint initiatives.

R. Dinesh, Chairman, TVS Supply Chain Solutions, said, “This partnership represents an important step in our strategy to strengthen our capabilities and create greater value for customers. Sankyu's engineering expertise and deep relationships across the Japanese industrial ecosystem complement TVS Supply Chain Solutions' integrated supply chain capabilities, strong customer relationships and market presence. We share a strong commitment to long-term value creation, and together we are well positioned to deliver more comprehensive solutions, support the evolving needs of manufacturing and industrial customers, and unlock new growth opportunities across India and other strategic markets.”

Kimihiro Nakamura, President and CEO, Sankyu Inc, said, "Since our inception in 1918, Sankyu has been dedicated to supporting the progress of the manufacturing sector, underpinned by our core philosophy of valuing our people. We are profoundly honoured to enter into this partnership with TVS SCS, an organisation that shares our philosophy and commitment to the highest ethical standards. Our two companies possess a strong strategic alignment, and by integrating and complementing our respective strengths, we look forward to achieving collective growth in the global market and contributing to sustainable industrial development."

Vietnamese automotive company VinFast has expanded the role of its India Chief Executive Officer, Tapan Ghosh, to oversee operations in Indonesia, uniting the company's management structure across both regional markets.

Interestingly, Ghosh becomes Chief Executive Officer for VinFast Operations across both countries, making him the first executive from India to manage multiple markets for the Vietnamese company.

Since joining the Vietnamese brand in 2025 from Hyundai Motor India, Ghosh has managed local manufacturing setups, dealership distribution expansion and product strategies. His new responsibilities will include overseeing the development of a complete knock-down (CKD) assembly operation in Indonesia.

The dual-country manufacturing and distribution setup establishes operational hubs for VinFast across South Asia and Southeast Asia, supporting its strategy to expand production beyond Vietnam.

Chinese automotive major Geely Automobile Holdings has announced changes to its board of directors and executive leadership structure, effective 18 August 2026, as part of its succession planning framework.

Li Shu Fu has resigned as Chairman of the Board and Executive Director to focus on other business commitments. He has accepted an appointment as Honorary Chairman for Life, a role outside the formal corporate governance structure. Li remains a controlling shareholder of the company and confirmed that he has no disagreement with the board regarding his departure.

On the other hand, Executive Director An Cong Hui has been appointed Chairman of the Board. The board cited An's operational experience within the group and strategic alignment with the controlling shareholder entity as factors supporting the appointment. Independent non-executive directors will continue to oversee potential conflict management protocols under Hong Kong Stock Exchange listing rules.

Further board adjustments include the resignation of Li Dong Hui, Daniel, from the role of Vice-Chairman. He retains his seat as an Executive Director. Gui Sheng Yue has stepped down as Chief Executive Officer and assumed the role of Vice Chairman while remaining an Executive Director.

Following Gui's transition, Executive Director Gan Jia Yue has been appointed Chief Executive Officer. Gan assumes responsibility for managing the group's operational activities and executing long-term business objectives.