At the 2022 ETI ToolTech event, Chris Gardner, senior vice president, operations for AASA, explained how AASA members wanted a research project conducted on ADAS – what opportunities are there for the aftermarket, what challenges, what consumer acceptance is like, etc. To take on this research project, AASA called on Jim Fish, managing partner for New Hammer Ventures, and his team to get the job done.
Fish provided a summary of the report covering key findings and the top ADAS problems within the industry.
Fish partnered with a large team of students from the University of Michigan to put the report together. To gather this information, the students spoke with 350 repair facilities, read 91 journals, articles, or academic papers, and held an in-person focus group of shops that perform ADAS.
Repair shops and ADAS
What they found…
- One million vehicles required ADAS service in an aftermarket shop in 2021.
- Ninety percent of ADAS work coming into mechanical shops is outsourced.
- ADAS parts and services will experience 17 percent CAGR through 2030.
Fish notes that this is a huge opportunity for the aftermarket – the work is coming in, it’s just not being done in those shops. The work is being outsourced to the dealerships. Even collision shops, where most ADAS work is done, outsourced $177 million worth of ADAS calibration work, and only 30 percent of collision shops are capable of ADAS component replacement.
“I really see ADAS as J2534 on steroids,” Fish says. “J2534 was a learning curve. There were many of the same problems that ADAS faces in the field.”
When the shops were asked why they’re outsourcing the work, three responses kept popping up.
- It’s too hard.
- There’s no demand for it.
- It’s too expensive.
Consumer usage
The report states that 45 percent of ADAS systems are deactivated by the consumer, even though by 2030, ADAS systems will lower crash rates by 20 percent.
Further breaking down the helpfulness of ADAS, the report notes that:
- Reverse vision (back-up cameras) decreases backing crashes by 42 percent.
- Automatic emergency braking decreases rear end striking crashes by 46 percent.
- Lane keep assist decreases lane-change crashes by 20 percent.
Additionally, Fish notes that 51 percent of crashes are the front end of one vehicle hitting the back end of another, so utilizing these ADAS systems is beneficial to the consumer.
So why are people deactivating the systems? The report breaks it down into three reasons:
- Forty-one percent of people do not believe the ADAS systems work.
- Thirty percent of people believe the systems are not needed.
- Forty-one percent of people say they find the systems’ noises/lights too distracting.
“Last year, it’s believed about 8,800 people died from distracted driving,” Fish says, “and those deaths could be reduced dramatically.”
Problems worth solving
To wrap up, his summary of the report, Fish states the top three problems worth solving with ADAS in the aftermarket.
1. Cost of ADAS repairs
The cost of parts and equipment is out of reach for most shops. Aftermarket alternatives are needed as only OEM parts are available in many cases.
2. Low shop competency in ADAS services
More training is necessary to help technicians understand this new and intimidating technology, but aside from requiring high-end diagnostic skills to service these systems, shops aren’t seeing the necessity of doing this training because they’re not seeing the volume in repairs making it essential to bring this service in-house.
3. Consumer usage of ADAS
Consumers need to be educated on the benefits of using these ADAS systems so they do not deactivate them. They also need to understand that though the systems help keep them safer, it does not mean they can drive more recklessly, as the systems can only do so much.
