Why Continuing Education Never Stops

Jim Doyle of Audi and Chris Chartron of Toyota share perspective on EVs, vehicle networks, and technician development.
July 22, 2026
5 min read
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Key Highlights

  • ASE certification is foundational, not final. OEM trainers emphasize that ASE certification represents an important level of competency but is not the endpoint—technicians must continue learning throughout their careers to stay competitive.

  • EV systems and vehicle networks are now core competencies. High-voltage safety, battery management, and complex vehicle network architecture are becoming defining skills that technicians must master alongside traditional ICE knowledge.

  • Training ROI must be explicit and financial. Technicians engage more readily with continuous education when they understand the direct connection between advanced knowledge, repair efficiency, and earning potential.

  • ATMC creates an essential community for educators. The ASE Training Managers Council provides OEM trainers and educational leaders with a space to address shared challenges, discuss emerging technologies, and reinforce a culture of continuous learning across the industry.
Chris Chartron
6a60423501d3b038080b9e45 Chris Chartron Formatted

In today's automotive repair industry, "good enough" knowledge doesn't stay good enough for long. Advanced driver-assistance systems, increasingly complex networks, and electric vehicles mean technicians can't rely on what they learned five years ago.

"Any good technician worth their while continues their education from the day they start to the day they retire," Jim Doyle, lead technical instructor at Audi of America, said. "They never stop learning. If you don't stay up with technology, especially every year—you're going to get passed by fast. I can't think of strong enough words to say how important it is that you keep learning."

Doyle and Chris Chartron—manager of the Technician Training and Education Network (T-TEN) at Toyota Motor North America and a member of the ASE Board of Directors—say that's exactly why continuous learning—supported by ASE certification and programs like the ASE Training Managers Council—has become essential to a successful career in the automotive industry.

 

From Certification to Career Development

For Doyle and Chartron, ASE certification is an important level of education for their technicians, but it's not the last stop.

"ASE certification is just another level showing how competent our technicians are in the field here," Chartron said. "Technicians are doctors of the automotive world. They must keep up on everything—not just ASE certification—and they must continually practice and educate themselves on everything."

Beyond upkeep of foundational knowledge and ASE certifications, technicians also must constantly absorb new information on evolving technologies.

"Obviously, the EVs, that's the big thing right now," Doyle says. "Technicians must get on board with that, whether they like them or not. They're not going to go away."

According to Chartron, even if internal combustion remains part of the mix, EV systems, high-voltage safety, and battery management will define a growing share of the workload, and technicians need to learn about all categories. Parallel to that is the increasing complexity of vehicle networks.

"Repairs are going to rely heavily on knowledge of the networks, how they work, the architecture, and how the modules communicate with each other," Doyle said. "Vehicle network knowledge is only going to continue to grow in importance. No matter how high in the technological we get, you're never going to be good at the technology without knowledge of vehicle networks."

Now more than ever, it is important for technicians to know how to balance cutting-edge knowledge with relentless reinforcement of the basics.

Jim Doyle
Jim Doyle, lead technical instructor at Audi of America, said, good technicians continue their education 'from the day they start to the day they retire.'

Jim Doyle, lead technical instructor at Audi of America, said, good technicians continue their education "from the day they start to the day they retire."

 

Helping Technicians See the Value of Training

As OEM trainers, Doyle and Chartron have found that one of the biggest challenges to continuous learning for technicians is getting them to understand why base-level knowledge isn't enough.

"If we just train to train and nobody sees the value in it, nobody's going to care," Doyle said. "If I walk out of training after all that investment, and I don't see how to apply that to make myself better or for me to make more money, then the attitude goes downhill really, really fast."

For Doyle, getting technicians to understand the importance of training often means making the payoff explicit.

"We can all talk about loving our jobs, but we work because we have to make money and we want to make more," Doyle said. "I often tell them, 'You need to know stuff so you can make more money, and being more educated will help you get there. It will help you be more efficient with repairs and diagnoses.'"

Encouraging education is a constant challenge for technical trainers in the automotive industry, but a necessary evil. With the technician shortage, knowing how to encourage future learning is needed to help the industry continue to thrive.

Fortunately, there are programs like ATMC that can help educators and managers build connections between training and technician success.

 

Creating a Community for Automotive Educators

Chartron, who has participated in ATMC activities for about a decade, describes it as a place where OEM training managers and other transportation educators can be candid.

"We talk about different opportunities to resolve those concerns and bring up new technologies and ideas on how to create better training for technicians," Chartron said.

Chartron is also a part of a niche section of ATMC called the OE Managers Training Council. On this council, manufacturers can discuss topics that are specific to their experiences.

"I joke around every year that the ATMC is my therapy session," Chartron says. "As I'm going back to Toyota and Lexus and working on things, I'm kind of on a little bit of an island there. But when I go to ATMC, I find people have the same concerns I do. To be able to come together and talk those things at ATMC is helpful."

ATMC helps keep everyone aligned on the purpose behind training: reinforcing a culture of continuous learning that extends beyond initial ASE certification.

When that culture takes hold, it doesn't just benefit technicians. It strengthens shops, stabilizes staffing, improves repair quality, and builds customer trust—all of which the industry needs to prosper through its rapidly changing environment.

"To me, I guess if I had to say anything, if technicians can walk out of my training knowing how to do better repairs, make fewer mistakes, and make more money, then I've done my job as a trainer," Chartron said.

About the Author

Emily Kline

Emily Kline

Emily Kline is a Special Projects Editor for FenderBender and ABRN, ABW, Motor Age, and Ratchet+Wrench. She also produces an annual publication for SATA called Painter's Playbook, is a Senior Contributing Editor for NAPA INSIGHT, and oversees Ratchet+Wrench's Shop Goods issues and FenderBender's Ultimate Collision Repair Shop.

She has worked in the Vehicle Service & Repair Group at Endeavor Business Media for over 3 years, learning about vehicle repair and the automotive industry as a whole. She has a bachelor's degree in English from Saint Mary's University of Minnesota in Winona. As a writer, she enjoys her fair share of reading and has no shame in using the long Minnesota winters as an excuse to stay indoors and cozy up with a good book.