NEWS
BUTTONS FAR SAFER THAN TOUCHSCREENS: STUDY NEWER VEHICLES ARE seeing touchpads replacing knobs in
everything from controlling the radio to the air conditioning. “The screens in modern cars keep getting bigger. Design teams at most car manufacturers love to ditch physical buttons and switches, although they are far superior safety-wise,” was the conclusion of auto magazine Vi Bilägare’s magazine’s testing. The human-machine interface of 12 vehicles were tested by trying various tasks, from to changing radio stations to adjusting climate control all while the vehicle was driven at 110 km/h. A 17-year-old Volvo V70 was used for comparison. The four tests conducted were: Activate the heated seat, increase temperature by two degrees, and start the defroster; power on the radio and adjust the station to a specific channel (Sweden’s Program 1); reset the trip computer; and lower the instrument lighting to the lowest level and turn off the center display. At the end of the day, the group found one vehicle that stood out from the rest. “The easiest car to understand and operate, by a large margin, is the 2005 Volvo V70,” Vi Bilägare said. “The four tasks is handled within 10 seconds flat, during which the car is driven 306 meters at 110 km/h.” The BMW iX took 30.4 seconds, by comparison.
DIFM SURGES IN THE U.S. NEWER VEHICLES ARE seeing touchpads replacing knobs in
everything from controlling the radio to the air conditioning. Do-it-for-me services in the U.S. saw a big-time rebound after being hit hard during the pandemic — and at levels never seen before, according to new research. Lang Marketing reported that the parts and labour volume of the DIFM light vehicle market jumped by US$30 billion in 2021 and 2022. That marks the biggest surge ever recorded by this market in the U.S. “It reflects the strength of the DIFM market and the pentup demand for aftermarket parts and labour following the onslaught of COVID-19, which blasted a double-digit decline across the 2020 DIFM market,” the group noted in a recent Aftermarket iReport. But the good news wasn’t spread evenly throughout the aftermarket. There were winners and losers, Lang pointed out. Four outlet groups made up more than 85 per cent of the volume surge: repair specialists, vehicle dealers, service stations and garages and foreign specialists. The biggest chunk (29 per cent) was taken by repair 10
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specialists, those focused on a limited array of vehicle repairs. “Most of this gain was the result of repair specialists expanding their repair scope, coupled with their growing foreign nameplate repair,” Lang reported. Dealers were just behind, raking in a quarter of the pot. Specifically, however, foreign nameplate dealers were the ones that generated most of the repair growth in this group. Service stations and garages, despite diminishing population, took in 17 per cent of the growth and foreign repair specialists got 16 per cent of the increase..
IN MEMORIAM: JOHN GRANT, 104 A LONG-TIME FIGURE of the automotive aftermarket has passed. John Grant, the co-founder of Grant Brothers Sales, died this past weekend. His obituary said he passed peacefully at home at the age of 104. He was born in North Sidney in 1918 and raised throughout Nova Scotia. He entered the Second World War and the Royal Canadian Navy 24 years old. It was a chance meeting with his brother, Frank, who was then a decorated pilot. They first discussed plans to start a business together. After the war, Grant Brothers Sales Limited was launched. They represented manufacturers of auto parts across Canada. He worked there until 83 years old before passing the company on to family. In a LinkedIn post, his grandson Charlie Grant, now president and CEO of the company said, “We are, and always will, continue to carry the torch forward, Grandpa. We will continue to act with class and respect our people, our industry and our customers, just as you did 77 years ago when you started this business.” A funeral mass was held at Blessed Sacrament Church in Toronto on April 19. In lieu of flowers, donations to Blessed Sacrament Church were appreciated by the family.