The first panel discussion on Tuesday morning was aptly named “It’s a Global Aftermarket After All: A Multinational Perspective.” A panel of diverse leaders representing multi-national companies provided a broad view of the aftermarket in the U.S, Europe and Asia.

The seasoned panel of leaders included David Coolidge, president, Automotive Aftermarket Division, Robert Bosch Corporation; Richard Shiozaki, senior vice president DENSO Sales California, Inc.; Ricardo Vidal, partner, Grupo Omigron, S.A. de C.V. Labour Consultants Group and Wolfgang Winzer, vice president, Siemens VDO. The panel was moderated by Dave Caracci, chairman, University of the Aftermarket Foundation.

Caracci wasted no time getting the discussion started by asking the following question, “Considering the culture, law, distribution systems etc., how is the aftermarket different from the U.S. than in other countries? Winzer answered by saying there is no single European market.

“There are many different markets in Europe that deal with the different cultures and the different languages in Europe ,” Winzer said. “In Europe we are still struggling with the independent aftermarket and the OE aftermarket in Germany is the biggest automotive market in Europe, but the majority is done by dealerships, whereas in Italy , the majority of the automotive market is done by the aftermarket,” Winzer concluded.

Shiozaki also answered this question, stating there’s a very small DIY market in Japan because it’s a very service-oriented culture. Shiozaki said, “There’s limited space for people in Japan to work on their cars, tools are limited and there are government regulations. Retailers all have service shops in Japan , so you [the customer] pick the p rod uct off the shelf and they do it for you.”

Vidal offered a Latin American insight on the opening question. “ Chile is the best country in Latin America in terms of economical and political stability,” Vidal said. “Mexcio and Chile have the most open markets in the aftermarket. There’s a large OE market in Mexico and half of the aftermarket in Mexico is import components, Vidal continued. He stressed that price is always a key factor in Mexico stating that there’s not a lot of money in Latin America, so quality takes a backseat more often than not.

With all of these different cultures coming together around the world, technology has become a hot topic. Coolidge discussed what Bosch is doing to contribute to this surge of technology.

Coolidge said, “Bosch has been focusing on ignition technology in Europe and the U.S. We’re seeing the first wave of direct injection systems such as gasoline direct ignition systems,” Coolidge said. These direct injection systems save up to 15 percent in fuel, reduce emissions and increase power through torque, so it’s no wonder why these systems are becoming increasingly popular.

Coolidge said, “In Europe there’s an increase of popularity in computer- based systems such as adaptive cruise control which reduces collision accidents and includes night vision. I anticipate that electronic stability control systems will be standard on vehicles in 2012 in the United States ,” Coolidge said. Denso’s Shiozaki also anticipated there will be hybrid diesel engines in the near future.

The discussion ended on an appropriate note about the push of Chinese manufactures pursuing business in the U.S. It seems as though China exports just about everything to the U.S, but according to Coolidge, what they’re not exporting is value-added services such as supply chain management, sales support and technical training.

“ China is not exporting innovation, but duplications. As you know, we deal with counterfeit products,” Coolidge said. He continued, “The U.S. aftermarket is the most attractive in the world based on sheer size and stability. Today we’re talking about Chinese suppliers and tomorrow we’ll be talking about Indian suppliers. It’s not going to end anytime soon.”