ADPA: between political victories and antitrust guerrilla warfare

The ADPA’s credo for the past ten years: guarantee reliable, affordable and, above all, accessible technical data for all! Transformed into a bulwark to assist the 500,000 SMEs and 4 million jobs in the European aftermarket in the face of ever-inventive manufacturers the association* works to defend the concept that some brands still fail to comprehend of the ‘right to repair’, access to on-board data and electric vehicle battery repairs. “We are talking about opening these batteries and replacing individual cells, a far cry from far from the costly solution imposed by certain networks of replacing the whole battery”, says Pierre Thibaudat, its director general.

*Members: TecAlliance, Bosch, LKQ, HaynesPro, Carmunication, Belron, etc.

After 18 months of wrangling, an agreement has been reached to ensure that cybersecurity does not become the Trojan horse cited by manufacturers to block independent repair shops’ access to vehicles. The publication is expected in early 2026. New regulations will also enshrine the right of data publishers to access the information needed for the dismantling of batteries and sensitive components in end-of-life vehicles. Finally, the ADPA is a full member of Sermi. “A political victory that allows us to protect remote service providers”, he says. For each battle, the director general’s response is pragmatic: negotiation first, courts second. And for extreme cases, the association relies on the firepower of the German GVA, taking advantage of courts that are already sensitive to these issues to bring any uncooperative organisations to heel. “At one end, there are manufacturers who play by the rules, respect commercial conditions and provide complete data. On the other, there are the ‘hardliners’ who erect increasing numbers of barriers with prohibitive tariffs and artificial technical complexity”, he says. In 2026, the ADPA will publish a public Regulatory Guide to clarify the rights of each player (garage owners, publishers, diagnosticians) and, at the same time, the association is strengthening its global links through the ‘Associations in Motion’ coalition (USA, Canada, Australia, South Africa). The ADPA label, launched in 2022, will be the other major project. Although still underused, it is the only guarantee of directly sourced information.