R. L. Polk & Co’s Ask the Industry Looks at the Year Ahead for Aftermarket Companies
With every new year, it is common practice, both in business and in one’s personal life, to evaluate the past 12 months – what went well, what didn’t – and create a plan to make improvements for the new year. For the first Ask the Industry of 2007, we asked a couple of aftermarket professionals what they anticipate will be the biggest issues for their companies this year.
The Top 10 News Stories of 2006
For the third year in a row, the editorial staffs of aftermarketNews and Counterman magazine take a look at the events that have had the most impact on the automotive aftermarket in the past year.
The Week in Review (Oct. 30-Nov.3, 2006)
By Amy Antenora Editor, aftermarketNews The Week in Review offers a snapshot into the most read stories of the week as seen on aftermarketNews.com. To access the complete stories, simply click on the highlighted links. If you missed reading one of our daily news emails, click on any of the dates listed at the bottom
Hedahls Parts Plus Opens Rapid City Store
Hedahls Parts Plus announced a new store opening in Rapid City, SD, bringing Hedahls’ total number of locations in the upper Midwest to 23. Rapid City is located in Southwestern South Dakota on the edge of the Black Hills.Based in Bismarck, ND, Hedahls Parts Plus is a regional distributor of auto parts, auto body paint and supplies and automotive service equipment. The company is part of the Uni-Select USA network of auto parts suppliers.
GAAS Wrap-up & Photo Gallery
More than 400 aftermarket professionals gathered in Detroit last week for the 2006 Global Automotive Aftermarket Symposium. The event, held May 17 & 18 at the Hyatt Regency Dearborn featured more than 31 speakers, moderators and panelists, who spoke on topics ranging from globalization and outsourcing to marketing and the view from Wall Street. Attendees also enjoyed networking events, including cocktail receptions at the Henry Ford Museum and the Automotive Hall of Fame.
LIVE FROM GAAS: Distribution Leaders Panel — A Study in Innovation as Well as Basics
The last, but certainly not least valued discussion of the 2206 Global Automotive Aftermarket Symposium was the Distribution Leaders Panel moderated by AAIA President and CEO Kathleen Schmatz. The panel members represented some of the top players in the auto parts distribution market: Robert Blair, executive vice president of product for GPI and president of CARQUEST Corp.; Jacques Landreville, president and CEO of Uni-Select; Rollie Olson, CEO of Parts Depot; and Mike Schultz, co-president of Federated Auto Parts.
AAIA Elects New Officers and Board of Directors; Dick Morgan Elected Chairman
The Automotive Aftermarket Industry Association (AAIA) elected new officers and board of directors at its Spring Volunteer Leadership Days held in Hollywood, FL, on May 6. “The backbone of AAIA and the lifeblood of its governance are its volunteer leaders,” said Kathleen Schmatz, AAIA president and CEO. “The outstanding individuals who serve on the AAIA board of directors are among the very best visionaries and thought leaders in the aftermarket industry.”
AMN’s Top Ten Week: Top Ten News Stories
If nothing else has been made clear by the events taking place in the automotive industry over the past 12 months, this much is true: The automotive aftermarket is changing — in dramatic ways. Here, the editorial staffs of Counterman and aftermarketNews takes a month-by-month look at the key events that have shaped this industry’s destiny over the past year.
AMN’s Top Ten Week: Top 10 Distribution Influences
Annually, Counterman magazine, in conjunction with aftermarketNews, presents the 10 trends and issues that influence the aftermarket parts distribution industry. For this year’s list, Counterman and aftermarketNews editors examined all the major issues, eventually paring the list down to those issues that most affect today’s and tomorrow’s aftermarket industry.
R. L. Polk & Co’s Ask the Industry: Industry Execs Comment on the Top Ten Issues of Year
Today, aftermarketNews kicks off its second annual “Top Ten” series, produced in collaboration with our sister publication, Counterman magazine. For our first installation in a weeklong series, we recap the top ten issues addressed this year by executives in our bi-weekly feature “Ask the Industry.” Below are ten of the most intriguing insights that leading aftermarket executives shared with us this year.