Spanning the globe to bring you the constant variety of sport

Spanning the globe to bring you the constant variety of sport

by Steve Sharp

Chances are you recognize this as the opening statement from ABC’s Wide World of Sports, a show where each week we tuned in to see the thrill of victory, and of course that poor guy who experienced the agony of defeat. A show where one week we could watch a boxing match from South Africa, and the next week the 24 Hours at Le Mans. A show that in its own way made the world seem just a little bit smaller

Like most good things, they become dated and are replaced with something that most feel is better. Today technology has transformed what were once far away lands into live broadcasts via satellite. Think about this statistic; it’s reported that throughout the world, more than one billion people tuned in to watch live coverage of the 2006 World Cup final between Italy and France, a statistic that would have been un-imaginable thirty years ago.

Technology truly has changed the way the world thinks, acts and feels about what is possible. As a result, broadcast “spanning” has become live “globalization.”


Our industry is no different. There once was a time when you could count on an “American car” coming from Detroit , a Japanese car from Japan and a European from Europe . Not so anymore.

Today, Hondas are produced in Ohio, Toyotas in California, BMWs in South Carolina, Mercedes’ in Alabama, and Pontiacs in Australia and Chevrolets in Mexico. Certainly not all models for these carlines fall into this category, but all are examples of automotive globalization.

The globalization of our industry is not limited to new car production, parts have also become “globalized”.

During a recent visit by a prominent European piston manufacturer, they explained that some of their piston production will transition from Germany to China, India and South America. Industry insiders report that more than 50% of all brake rotors sold in the US for Domestic and Asian vehicles (combined) come from China. And none of us should forget that it wasn’t all that long ago that oil filters for Japanese cars actually came from Japan. These days you hear a lot of countries mentioned, but seldom is “ Japan” one of them.

Motivations for automotive globalization run the gamut. Lower costs, better quality, geo-political considerations are all reported to be factors for parts globalization, but regardless of the reason, it’s here to stay and not limited to “aftermarket” products.

Even genuine parts (OES) from the new car dealer may not be the parts that actually came on the car, or from countries in which the car was first assembled.

As new car manufacturers have moved their production from their homeland to elsewhere in the world, many of their suppliers have also moved their production away from their homelands. This means that a new “Japanese” car produced in the US may have a part on it from India, it means that a new “German” car produced in China may have a part on it from Malaysia, and the list goes on and on.

The trick to navigating the globalization challenges of our industry is to understand the one constant; the need for quality. The country of origin is secondary to the need for quality. Just ask the average American how they feel today about “Made in Japan vs. Made in the US” compared to thirty years ago. Again, the trick is choosing quality products from quality vendors.

All of us as custodians of the aftermarket all have an obligation to provide consumers with a quality experience that includes, but is not limited to, parts that meet or exceed OE specifications. This is the central reason we offer multiple OE brands, as well as high quality aftermarket products, our way of spanning the globe to bring you the constant variety of parts.

While nobody knows the future for sure, it’s a safe bet that as time and progress march forward, parts production will continue to shift to countries that are not traditionally known by the automotive market. WORLDPAC will continue to work vigilantly to fulfill its role by providing “ the right part at the right time”, regardless of where the part comes from.

Steve Sharp - Executive VP Enterprise Brand Management

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Today’s Shop Must Appeal to the Ladies

Today’s Shop Must Appeal to the Ladies
by Jim Phillips

Marketing your shop properly has become a critical element for growth not to mention survival. Traditionally, we have relied on yellow pages and word of mouth to sustain our shops. Today, with increased competition and significant changes in consumer behavior (welcome to the information age) we have to be aware of how to reach new customers, retain existing customers and meet the ever changing needs of the consumer.

That said, one of the most immediate opportunities we must address as an industry is the female consumer. By understanding the wants and needs of the female consumer, we will improve aspects of our shops, and the industry as a whole, which will grow your business and help to change the negative image or perception associated with automotive repair.

The facts are that the majority of the car buying and maintenance / repair decisions made in American households are now made by the lady of the house. Be it a female college student, a young profession lady, a career woman, a single mom, a soccer mom, a widow or a highly productive wife in a mutually busy relationship, the women are the ones making the automotive related buying decisions.

• Women purchase about two-thirds of vehicles and influence 80% of all sales. (Business Week, 2004)
• Women accounted for 53% of auto purchases ($81 billion worth) in 2002. (Dealer Marketing Magazine, 2003)
• Women bought 65% of new cars in the U.S. in 2002. ( USA Today, 2003)
• Women influence about 85% of all new vehicle purchases, according to Women Motorist, a
• Web site dedicated to women car buyers. (WomenMotorist.com, 2004)
• Women make up 18% of the compact sports car market, according to the Specialty
• Equipment Marketing Association (SEMA). The number is expected to reach 25% in 2004. ( USA Today, 2003)
• Women make up 65 percent of the customer base for service centers, and few feel satisfied with the service they receive. Eighty percent (80%) of these customers are not satisfied with the service and repairs they receive, and 89% feel they are treated differently because of their gender. ( American Woman Road & Travel, 2003)
  The number of women customers is growing at 97% at all car repair garages. (The New York Times, 2003)
• Fifty-four percent (54%) of collision repair customers were women, according to a survey by the Automotive Services Association. (The New York Times, 2003)
• Two-thirds of the women who patronize aftermarket businesses are college educated, and 15 percent of these women hold postgraduate degrees. (American Woman Road & Travel, 2003)
• Trust is by far the most important fact to the female auto service consumer and convenience is secondary. ( American Woman Road & Travel, 2003)
• Twenty-five percent (25%) of women responsible for maintaining their vehicles tackle light jobs like changing wipers and batteries and checking and refilling fluids. ( American Woman Road & Travel, 2003)

So what do women want? Not unlike what most people want, the ladies are looking for a shop owner / manager they trust, good communication they can understand, not to be spoken down to or treated like an idiot and a clean and functional service center. Because women are better multitaskers and more social than men, they purchase from and refer friends to service centers that help them accomplish their long list of tasks. Shops need to have a clean and safe area for children (toys, TV w/ Disney DVDs and a changing area for babies) clean bathrooms, internet access, vehicle maintenance reminders (one less thing to worry about if you manage the lifecycle of their car) convenient hours, a professional and child friendly atmosphere (no girly pictures, and no rough language) and services like a shuttle, loaner cars and niceties like a tow service and car wash.

The benchmark for us, and the proof that the investment pays off, is Lexus. I strongly recommend you visit a Lexus dealership and see how well they have addressed the buying power of the female consumer. As you already know, Lexus offers fantastic service for their customers and charges appropriately. Lexus is one of the most profitable dealer franchises because they sell quality and value.

For us in the aftermarket, raising the bar and becoming the female friendly shop loaded with value added services will provide the opportunity we need to charge more for our products and services. By improving the appearance of your service center and offering more female friendly services that all customers benefit from, will allow you to raise and justify your labor rate which funds the tools, marketing, and training necessary to make a living maintaining and repairing the complex cars of today and into the future.

Jim Phillips - Director of Marketing

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Understanding WORLDPAC’s Product Philosophy

Understanding WORLDPAC’s Product Philosophy

by Jim Phillips

There’s no question a key support element to running a successful shop is product quality and availability. In fact, topping the list of industry surveys of independent shops for as many years as I can remember is product quality and availability. At WORLDPAC we understand that and have committed ourselves to the edict “the Right Part at the Right Time”. We also understand how well we live up to these words will be reflected in the actions of our customers.

To understand our product philosophy is to know the recipe. Our product strategy team (each a car line specialists) is dedicated to be first to market in developing and cataloging new product. Our purchasing team is committed to global sourcing the OE/OEM part from the original mfg, not from a middleman or another distributor. We buy our product part number by part number using sophisticated systems, something we call SKU management. Others will buy a cooling system program. At WORLDPAC, we buy each water pump, radiator, hose, belt, stat, etc. from the manufacturer who made it under contract to the car mfg, not from a company that sacrifices OE quality for full line convenience. That is a service we provide our customers. The recipe is fairly simple. The investigation, formulation, preparation, documentation, sampling, monitoring and refinement is a bit more tricky.

The Simple Recipe

WORLDPAC stocks over 100,000 parts for 26 car lines both foreign and domestic. The sweet spot for active development are for cars 15 years and newer. We are committed to have extensive product coverage for even brand new vehicles long before the shop typically has a call. We do have extensive coverage for older cars, but our new product development is our forte. We are focused on a few hundred product classes for each car line, ranging from ABS sensors to Zenon lights. As each new model is introduced, our team is quick to populate each product class for that specific model, catalog the new items, and start the quest of identifying the original manufacturer of the item.

Finding the OE Part

As you know the car manufacturers don’t make parts. For the most part, car companies build cars from parts they buy from part manufacturers like BOSCH, DENSO, Delphi, and hundreds of others. Additionally, the car OEMs will award contracts to multiple part vendors for the same production run often documented by VIN or engine number. To complicate the identification process, and add confusion for you in the shop, the Car mfg will often award a contract for a particular part for a particular car to one vendor at a production line assembly in one plant, and another vendor in another plant. Then the car mfg will award a contract to even a different vendor for replacement parts made available at the dealership parts dept. For example purposes, let use a German car brake pad example to illustrate this scenario.

Let assume for example purposes, Mercedes Benz built the 2003 “ML” suv in the US. MB contracts for production line assembly with Textar for front pads for the V8s and Pagid for the 6-cylinders. In the rear, Teves won the contract for all version of the ML. Now fast forward three years and the car comes into your shop needing brakes. Wanting only the exact OEM part, because you can’t take a chance, you go to the dealer to get the front and rear pads for this 2003 ML 500 that came in this morning. You open the factory MB box and find a Jurid pad manufactured in China with a MB star on the backing plate. Is it original? It’s in a MB box, but it’s not the same as what’s on the car.

The fact is all these parts are OE. They call them OEM (original equipment mfg) if they went on at the assembly line and OES (original equipment service) if you buy them from the dealer. We have been navigating this set of circumstances for years and have processes in place that help us find, buy and catalog these items to give you the choice you need.
To that end, we at WORLDPAC pride ourselves on 30+ years of developing OEM relationships, identifying who has the OE contract with each car manufacturer, cataloging and identifying these products by part mfg so that you can buy exactly the brand, quality and / or price that best meets the needs of your clientele. We give you the choice.

Jim Phillips - Director of Marketing

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