The Automotive Aftermarket Suppliers Association (AASA) has reported record attendance for its third annual Vision Conference (VisCon), which was held March 29 in Chicago. Approximately 250 members of the aftermarket supplier community attended the event, according to opening remarks from AASA Chairman Jeff Brekke, president, North American automotive aftermarket, Gates. The editorial staff of aftermarketNews was on hand at the event. Stay tuned for a number of reports this week featuring highlights from several presentations. Scroll down to the bottom of the page to view a slide show of photos from the day’s presentations. 
The presentations promised to offer not just food for thought, but "food for action," according to Brekke. "The health of the supplier industry is AASA’s sole concern," he said. The day’s presentations focused on a number of key barometer issues for the automotive aftermarket, such as vehicle age, the continuing declining number of dealer service bays, combined with increasing unperformed maintenance, fuel prices and the increase of new vehicle sales and leases.
“The AASA VisCon presentations were outstanding and feedback from our members on the event has been overwhelmingly positive,” said Steve Handschuh, president and COO of AASA. “We were very pleased to host Mike Broderick and Craig Barnes of CARQUEST at our 2012 VisCon, the first-ever participation of this major aftermarket channel partner at an AASA event.
“VisCon attendees were provided with ‘gold nuggets’ on a variety of vital issues, such as integration of AASA’s ‘Aftermarket Outlook 2020’ into corporate strategic planning, the potential business impact of the 2012 elections and development of better communications and connections with service professionals. AASA also initiated an industry dialogue on the issue of extended terms in the aftermarket. Discussions will continue on this important topic, and AASA will release a study of extended terms in the coming months."
As Handschuh noted, the day’s presentations featured an open dialogue with Mike Broderick and Craig Barnes of CARQUEST, where audience members were given a rare opportunity to ask questions about CARQUEST and its business practices. The day-long event also included two presentations that were off the record, allowing both presenters and audience members to speak freely — these included the Extended Terms discussion, noted by Handschuh, as well as an Aftermarket Leaders panel discussion featuring Brekke; Jay Burkhart, senior vice president, global aftermarket, Federal Mogul; Jack Carney, president and CEO of FDP; Kevin Pasqua, vice president and general manager, U.S./Canada Power Solutions, JCI.
Stay tuned for more details on other speakers and presentations at the event, including:
* Tom Muccio, former president of global customer teams for Procter & Gamble;
* Mike Hanley, global automotive leader for Ernst & Young;
* Jack Vollbrecht, Senior Vice President, Business Development, Remy International Inc.
* Michael Cardone III, president, CARDONE Industries
* Nick Jacquez, director of market science for Affinia Group
* Dr. Erik Hurst, professor of economics, University of Chicago;
* Service professionals panel discussion moderated by Sue LaRue, chief strategist, and featuring Mike Charewicz, owner / technician, Accurate Auto Clinic; John Vallely, owner / technician, McLean Auto Repair; Betty Jo Young, co-owner, Young’s Automotive Center, and chairperson, ASA Mechanical Division Parts Quality Subcommittee;
* Ann Wilson, senior vice president, government affairs, AASA and MEMA; and
* Paul McCarthy, vice president, industry analysis, planning and member services, AASA.
In conjunction with the day full of insightful presentations, the association offered networking receptions on both Wednesday and Thursday evenings, featuring a tabletop vendor expo supported by 2012 VisCon sponsors. AASA also held council and board meetings as part of the members-only event. The association also gave away three iPads to 2011 attendees who re-registered for this year’s event.
The premier sponsor for the event was Ernst & Young and Polk served as lunch sponsor. Other Elite sponsors included AAPEX, ANX, BB&T Capital Markets, Babcox Media, Booz & Co., Experian Automotive, GCommerce, Know Your Parts, MERA, MFSG, MontAd, OptiCat, Pricedex Software, PROS and Sage.
