ADI Newsletter June 2023 (GB)

Beauty, PROFESSIONALISM AND CONVIVIALITY

These three words alone sum up our ADI Summit held at the beginning of May on the shores of Lake Como: incredible beauty of the landscape and the Villa Erba, 50 suppliers present, over 420 business meetings, lots of informal exchanges, a prestigious gala dinner and a collective culinary experience that will live long in the memory: Bravo to the whole ADI team for this fantastic organization, and thank you all, suppliers and members alike, for your active and positive participation.

In the following pages, you'll find a number of articles highlighting the Summit's best moments. This gives me the opportunity to congratulate once again the teams at Valeo, our Supplier of the Year, and Juan Carlos Martín, "Aftermarket Professional of the Year", whose commitment to our profession and to ADI over many years is rightly acknowledged: Bravo compañero!

The awarding of the CAR IAM trophy to AD Ukraine simply reflects our admiration for the courage of our colleagues, the support we wish to show them, and our wish for a return to peace and respect for all peoples.

ADI is a dynamic community!

The brand's new visual identity bears witness to this: in keeping with its predecessor, it brings modernity, dynamism and freshness.

The AD flag continues to be flown in Finland, and... in Marrakech for the French network, while our colleagues at Carat are investing in product availability and proximity by inaugurating their "southern Germany" warehouse in Nürnberg.

All these initiatives demonstrate our determination to take our destiny into our own hands, and our confidence in the future.

Happy reading and good business development!

Stéphane Antiglio ADI PRESIDENT

“ Thank you all for your active and positive participation. “

Valeo Service TRIUMPHS AT THE 2023 ADI SUMMIT

During its 2023 ADI SUMMIT on May 3 rd and 4 th , 2023, in Como (Italy), Autodistribution International (ADI) chose Valeo Service for their “Supplier of the Year” award. By doing so, ADI rewarded the longstanding collaboration between Valeo Service and members of the ADI network, including Grup Eina, the European training and technical hotline of ADI.

In receiving the award, Eric Schuler, President of Valeo Service, explained, “We are very proud to receive this award. At Valeo Service, customer satisfaction is our main objective and the key driver of our teams’ efforts.”

Achieving such recognition validates the relevance of Valeo Service’s strategy and acknowledges the robust, trusting, and lasting relationships that Valeo Service has built up with ADI over the years.

The Aftermarket Specialist

Valeo Service, a branch of Valeo, serves the independent aftermarket with parts and accessories for passenger cars and commercial vehicles.

With a worldwide presence in all aftermarket channels, Valeo Service also provides digital solutions, technical assistance, advanced training, and sales and marketing support to car dealers, spare parts distributors, and independent garages.

Menno Schönlank

100 Years of Innovation for A Changing World

The scale and pace of change in the mobility sector has become unprecedented in recent years and is boosting Valeo’s innovation strategy. The fight against climate change is accelerating the development of electric mobility; innovative

advanced driving assistance systems (ADAS) are delivering improvements in road safety; the interior experience and lighting are also being reinvented for increased comfort and safety.

Valeo has managed to anticipate many of these changes. As it stands, one in three new cars worldwide is equipped with Valeo’s driving assistance technology, as well as Valeo’s CO2-reducing electric systems.

Mobility and Infrastructure

Not stopping at the automotive industry, however, Valeo solutions are now being used in all forms of mobility, from electric micro-mobility (bikes, e-scooters, e-motorbikes, etc.) to new forms of mobility (driverless taxis, delivery droids, etc.).

The use of Valeo’s technologies has even extended beyond the automotive world to infrastructure and other services; examples include traffic management, pedestrian safety, smart lighting in public spaces and data centre cooling.

Back to the Future

The Valeo adventure began in 1923 in a workshop near Paris, France, where the first brake linings were manufactured. Since then, that small workshop has grown to become an international operator in 29 countries, with a workforce of 109,000 employees.

Looking forward, Valeo will continue to innovate to make mobility cleaner, safer, and smarter. As the leading French patent applicant (according to INPI’s June 2022 rankings), Valeo is fully committed to helping achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.

Being honoured with “Supplier of the

year”

at the 2023 ADI Summit was a wonderful way to celebrate its centenary year .

From left to right: Eric Schuler, Menno Schönlank, Nicolas Berne and Damien Martin

Annual AD WORKSHOP CONGRESS IN FINLAND

On 15 April AD Finland organized its annual AD Workshop meeting in Helsinki. At long last after the removal of the Covid restrictions the ca. 300 workshop owners, mechanics, AD distributing partners and the AD Finland could meet again, to exchange, learn, resolve issues and… to have some fun. The topic of the motivational keynote was “The DNA of a great team and success”.

During the event the participants were invited to visit the mini fair where a number of close partners of AD Finland had the opportunity to present their products, concepts and services.

At the same time several educational and informative presentations on new technologies in the automotive sector, MyCAR-workshop management system, new concepts and opportunities for AD workshops

and updates in legislation took place. The Eure!Car trainings were busily attended.

Next to the official programs, the participants enjoyed all the networking opportunities.

We are already looking forward to the next edition!

Aftermarket

PROFESSIONAL OF THE YEAR JUAN

CARLOS MARTÍN

What a great honour it is to receive such a prestigious award, especially if you consider that the voters - the ADI Summit audience - are all professionals, each and every one with a reputable track record in the Aftermarket themselves!

My sincere gratitude goes to all Suppliers and ADI Partners for this recognition, and to the members of AD Parts in Spain and the whole AD International family for their unwavering support during my career at AD. My Aftermarket journey started at Monroe in 1991, in the region where I was born and raised: Bilbao. I am grateful to Tenneco (now DRiV) since this is where the seeds for my later aftermarket career were planted. Tenneco offered excellent training opportunities, and little by little I became familiar with the “posventa” (the IAM, independent aftermarket). My responsibilities at Tenneco brought me to the heart of Catalunya, Barcelona, where I have built my life and still live with my family.

My next move, 8 years later, brought me to Remy, a reman specialist for starters and alternators that unfortunately meanwhile disappeared from the market. At Remy I was in charge for Spain and Portugal during 5 years, and later could extend my field of action to southern Europe (France, Spain, Portugal and Maghreb), adding an international dimension to my young aftermarket career.

During one of the worst crises the world had ever seen, in 2008, I moved to a technology leader in the automotive sector, Valeo. Being at an industry leader in challenging times like this, was all the more exciting, learning to seek and achieve progress and growth despite market situations that were not at all favourable.

Finally, in 2011, I found my true vocation at AD Parts, joining a man who had already led the

27 AD Parts distributors to a leading position in the Spanish market and among the top 5 Partners in ADI, Josep Bosch. Receiving this Aftermarket Professional of the Year Award today is just as much a credit to Josep, the AD Parts Team and our “socios” who gave me the opportunity to do what I am doing today: continuously seeking the best possible ways to lead AD Parts on their path to success and continued leadership, together with a great team of professionals in our Gerona headquarters. Today I am proud to say that AD Parts has reached a sell-out volume of more than 1 billion euro in the aftermarket in Spain and Portugal!

My position at AD Parts gave me also the chance to play a high level role in the preservation of the interests of the aftermarket as VP at Ancera, our National Distributors’ Association, and

indirectly in our European Federation Figiefa that is striving everyday for a level playing field for independent distributors. Today’s recognition during the ADI Summit is the perfect motivation to continue my journey, as a member of this great ADI family that I appreciate so much, and as a member of the ADI Board, always in a spirit of co-operation, with ADI Partners to be as efficient as possible in supporting independent installers, and with ADI suppliers to provide us with the best possible service to satisfy the demand of our customers!

Technology, climate, economic and geopolitical instability, those are the main threats we face today, but it is my firm belief that through co-operating, weparts producers, distributors and installers – will be able to fulfil our common mission: driving mobility!

Stéphane Antiglio concluded with ADI’s focus for the future: growth (optimization of the supplier portfolio and improved footprint), customer support (digital applications, technical support, AD Garage), ESG (Sustainability) and a firm commitment to sustain and improve the aftermarket legal framework through Figiefa.

In a real-time online session Oleksiy Mitskevich, Marketing Director of AD Ukraine, received on behalf of the ADI Board and Partners the CAR IAM award to honor the immeasurable resilience and for being an inspiration to the ADI community during the last year.

ADI President, Stéphane Antiglio and Managing Director, Manuel Van Royen jointly presented the achievements in fields of logistics, footprint, customer support, AD Garage and ESG.

The evening was marked by the proclamation of the Aftermarket Professional of the Year (won by Juan Carlos Martín, General Manager of AD Parts), for personal contribution and achievement to the aftermarket and to AD International, and the Supplier of the Year, awarded to Valeo for their exceptional performance with the ADI Partners during 2022.

The ADI Summit 2023 was concluded with a gala diner in the exquisite settings of Villa Erba, at the shores of Lake Como.

Keynote speaker Inma Martinez, digital pioneer and AI scientist, chair and co-chair of various high-level committees, and advisor to the European Commission, national governments and private companies, gave the audience a dynamic, interesting and revealing exposé about the impact of Artificial Intelligence on our lives and businesses.

EU, PARTIALLY HARMONISED LAWS ON DESIGN PROTECTION

From its headquarters in Brussels, the European federation of the automotive aftermarket distributors, Figiefa, monitors and accompanies the development of European and International legislation affecting the automotive aftermarket. Figiefa represents the interests of its members towards European and international institutions.

In a series of articles in this newsletter, Figiefa and ADI, who is assisting Figiefa in various dedicated working groups, intend to give you an executive overview of key topics that are bound to affect tomorrow’s IAM playing field.

In this edition

EU, PARTIALLY HARMONISED LAWS ON DESIGN PROTECTION

The European Union has partially harmonised national laws on design protection under the Design Directive (98/71), which ensures equivalent protection to right holders in all EU Member States. However, this Directive does not address the case of mustmatch visible spare parts (e.g., car body panels, windscreens), which must exactly match the design of the original component. This results in a patchwork of national legislation differing on this particular point, and also in significant limitations for European consumers when it comes to having a visible part of their cars replaced, frequently forced to purchase original parts.

The European Commission already issued a first legislative proposal to address this problem thirty years ago (1993), followed by two more in 1997 and 2004. Each of these times, FIGIEFA alongside other ECAR supporters, has defended the liberalisation of the visible spare parts market.

In May 2014, however, despite the fact that the Commission and the European Parliament majority had fully supported the Repair Clause, the European Commission withdrew its proposal to introduce a Europe-wide Repair Clause in the Design Directive due to the 10 years of discussion, delay, postponement and blockage, from some Member States in the Council of Ministers.

The consequence of this withdrawal today is a still non-harmonised market for automotive visible spare parts, a patchwork of conflicting national laws. Member States which do not have a repair clause in their design law will continue to allow protection and enforcement of the vehicle manufacturers’ design rights on visible must match parts against producers or related spare parts. On the other hand, in Member States with a repair clause in their design law, the consumers can choose between competing suppliers of parts and repair services – the vehicle manufacturer network and the independent aftermarket, at prices kept low by competition.

Now, twenty years later, we finally have a EU legislation on the horizon. On the 28th of November 2022, the European Commission published proposals for the revision of the EU Design Directive (COM (2022) 667) and the EU Design Regulation (COM (2022) 666). FIGIEFA appreciates the proposals, especially the introduction of an EU-wide Repair Clause in the Design Directive (Art. 19) and the confirmation of a permanent Repair Clause in the Design Regulation (Art. 20a).

Both legislative proposals ensure on one side full protection to manufacturers’ design rights over their products (such as a vehicle), and avoid on the other side monopolies in after-sales markets on visible spare parts (such as vehicle body panels, headlights, and windscreens) by excluding those for the purpose of repair and replacement from such protection.

FIGIEFA strongly supports the intention of the European Commission to deploy this approach throughout the entire

European Union. Harmonised rules for design protection and exemptions are a major step forward to simplify the EU regulatory framework, and a well-rounded Repair Clause would ensure competition and consumer’s choice for visible spare parts, submit their prices to competition, promote innovation and make the right to repair becoming a reality for all European consumers.

However, FIGIEFA believes that the benefits of the proposed Repair Clause could materialise more efficiently with some targeted improvements, such as a reduction of the proposed 10-year transition period for the protection of the existing designs and a clearer consumers information requirement. This is why, FIGIEFA will continue working vis a vis the European Parliament, the Commission, and especially the Council of the EU, to make sure that all or a majority of Member States back these proposals and that European citizens won’t have to wait 10 more years for a real ‘right to repair’.

Find out more about the Repairs Clause under the Design Protection Directive here:

• Explanatory video: https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=iIhTfnewWsc&t=6s

• AutoMotives Podcast episode: https://soundcloud.com/figiefa/automotives-episode-3-design-protection-the-repairs-clause-a-chat-withlouis-shakinovsky

• ECAR website: https://www.ecar-alliance.eu/

PHE - Autodistribution France

AD CONGRESS MARRAKESH 2023

• On the technician’s side: new technologies and ongoing changes in the car parc are being anticipated. The aim of “Engagement 2027” is to accelerate so that all repairers keep pace with the changes taking place in new technologies such as ADAS and PASS thru (giving access to the manufacturer’s data through the new remote Pass thru service of Grup Eina).

• On the entrepreneurial side: Daring to develop new initiatives (on tires, second-hand vehicles and business performance optimization initiatives), while enhancing attractiveness as an employer.

• On the retail side: the individual or professional customer will be at the heart of the project, deepening the bond of trust between the motorist and the repairer, thanks to a more digitized customer journey and experience. For example, with predictive maintenance for private customers, the Mobitech solution for managing framework agreements in the mechanical sector, or the new active reception tablet in the body repair sector

The strategic plan rests on 3 pillars

The AD Congress was concluded with an exquisite dinner at the “Palais El Badii” and a show by the French performer Patrick Bruel. Bravo to the AD Network team for this impressive organization!

THE AD CONGRESS IN FIGURES

• Nearly 4.000 participants

• 40 flights to ensure the transfer of all participants

• 24.000 trees planted to compensate the CO2 emissions due to the flights

• 2200 rooms booked at 15 hotels

• 80 buses (2.5 km of buses end to end)

• 72 exhibitors, suppliers and partners of the AD network

• 6 containers of equipment transported

• 200 people of technical staff and organizers

Carat CELEBRATES MILESTONE WITH OPENING CEREMONY

On March 11 2023, our German ADI partner officially opened the new regional warehouse at Nürnberg. The new logisticshub offers over 5,000 m² of space for the storage and distribution of the extensive range of parts. The modern and efficient storage and logistics systems ensure that orders are processed quickly and reliably.

With this capacity expansion, Carat is responding to the continuing growth in parts demand and ensuring stable availability, especially in times of supply bottlenecks. "The new logistics centre in Nürnberg enables us to organise the storage and delivery of our products even more efficiently," said Christian Gabler, Managing Director of Carat. "We have thus created an important prerequisite for ensuring continued strong growth and strengthening our market position.

Employer BRANDING CAMPAIGN

Talents4AA

The automotive sector provides jobs in a direct and indirect way to more than 13 million Europeans, this accounts for 7% of all the EU jobs (figures ACEA). More and more companies are struggling to find qualified personnel and personnel that is willing to build a long-term career in the IAM.

Therefore, in addition to its membership to Talents4AA, AD International has set up an employer branding campaign in collaboration with some of its prime suppliers. The first video was presented at the ADI Summit on 3 & 4 May in Italy and was produced in association with Bosch.

Soon more videos will be launched. The aim of the first video is to show to youngsters that working in a repair shop is much more than an “oil change - wrench - screwdriver” thing. It is a job for which a lot of technical knowledge is required, including internet and IT skills.

The campaign will be launched on the social media channels such as Facebook, Youtube and Linkedin.

Take a look at the Youtube channel of AD International and spread the word!

Since September 2022, AD International is a proud member of the Association “Talents4AA”. Talents for the Aftermarket is promoting the automotive aftermarket sector with one objective: to attract and retain talents of all ages to the IAM.

The automotive sector is facing a huge transformation, which is opening up interesting and innovative new opportunities. Changing the powertrain into a CO2-neutral power unit brings about new technologies such as connected cars, automated driving, hybrid- or e-mobility and fuel cells.

Our sector is of great importance for both society and the environment, supporting for sustainable mobility all over the world.

New talents and younger generations are unfamiliar with the automotive aftermarket as a potentially interesting business sector and do not consider it a place in which they could pursue their careers. This is an issue that needs attention. The aftermarket must become more attractive and highlight its inherent advantages in order to win the competition for young talents and secure its future, especially in light of the growing challenges posed by technology, connectivity and digitalization.

For more information or if You want to become a member: https://talents4aa.com

The IAM, an inspiring place for exceptional professionals

• Multidimensional all inclusive business sector

• Huge variety of attractive companies & organizations in production, distribution and repair and maintenance

• Sustainable and social for the real world

AD IN A NEW LOOK!

During the ADI Summit on 3 & 4 May last, Managing Director, Manuel Van Royen had the honour of presenting the new corporate identity for the AD Distributor and AD Garage.

The AD logo and red triangle have long been the identifying image for the group of AD distributors and AD garages all over Europe. A good corporate identity is indispensable for a company. It is recognizable and makes your company look professional. Potential and existing customers attach great importance to the first impression a

For this reason, the ADI Board decided to give the international corporate identity a refresh, but at the same time they found it crucial that the new logo had strong similarities with existing ones, this to keep all companies, with the new and existing signs, recognizable as an AD company.

The upgrade was carried out on three different levels:

Corporate level

Distributor level

Workshop level

If you would like more information on the new corporate identity, please contact your national organization.

Climate-neutral NEWSLETTER

As AD International is committed to the environment, from now on we will print all the printable we produce in a climate-neutral way. Therefore, the carbon footprint of this ADI Newsletter was calculated.

How does it work?

Its carbon footprint is very limited because the printing process in itself is already very sustainable. As a climate-neutral company, the print company takes on the production process. To then calculate the 'extra' emissions of a particular print order, the following facts are taken into account:

• the print run,

• the dimensions,

• the chosen paper,

• the weight of inks and varnishes used,

• how many printing plates were used

• how it is transported

•

Based on the above data, Climate Partner's module calculates exactly how many CO2 emissions were caused in the production of this print product. This can be compensated by investing in sustainable and certified climate projects that reduce, avoid and remove greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. In addition, the chosen climate project contributes to several SDGs (sustainable development goals of the UN). The chosen projects also all undergo international external audits so that it can be verified that everything is proceeding correctly.

Save and clean cookstoves Nationwide in Uganda: https://fpm.climatepartner.com/ project/details/1449/nl

Forest protection Mataven in Colombia: https://fpm.climatepartner.com/project/ details/1402/nl

Examples of projects that are currently supported

AD Ukraine THE AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN SUPPORTING THE IAM

We are very happy and grateful for the CAR IAM award which we received during the Summit 2023. It fuels our strength to move on and gives confidence that we are going in the right direction.

AD Ukraine continues to develop despite the extremely difficult conditions in which we are now. This is an indicator of our reliability as a partner.

A new stage in our development will be the launch of a new central warehouse in Kyiv city. We plan to have the warehouse operational before the end of this year.

• Warehouse area - 30 000 square meters

• Warehouse height - 14 meters

Number of CV gates - 34

• Number of slots for LCV - 15

• PC/CV workshop on facade

• Modern learning Center

We don't want to think about bad scenarios, we believe that shortly, next to our victory, Ukraine will receive a welldeserved active development age. The country infrastructure will be restored, tourism will recover and our common business will develop as well.

AD Ukraine is going to be fully prepared to this, like none of our competitors in Ukraine will be.