BorgWarner - Delphi : “The aftermarket will have to reinvent itself”

A double whammy for the OEM suppliers, which quickly turned into another problem when demand took off again in June. “We had to manage the renewal of distributors' stocks in the face of very strong demand from motorists who were unable to maintain their vehicles during the first lockdown” he confesses. And 2021 was also a balancing act, this time with the need to successively manage the container shipping crisis (which began at the end of 2020), galloping inflation in commodity prices and a capacity crisis for certain products. The increase in the price of steel, for example, has had a direct impact on the price of brake discs. The year 2021 will however be associated with “a very positive recovery in the European market compared to 2020, an even better year than 2019” says Jean-François Bouveyron.

In terms of energy transition, Delphi does not intend to sit on the side lines. They are actively developing their product portfolio to include applications for hybrid and electric vehicles, with the firm intention of seeing their share grow. And the lower consumption of aftermarket products and services in an increasingly electric future fleet does not scare the aftermarket boss of Delphi. “The future is already here; just look at a spare part for a car’s steering. Once it has been fitted, the wheels need to be aligned and the ADAS system needs to be recalibrated” he says. Even if the number of operations does decrease on an electric fleet, there will be more complex and therefore more expensive maintenance operations. Working on a system delivering 400V is not as simple as changing a filter! And the place of independent spare parts in all this? “We will have to be prepared and certainly think about the solutions we provide to motorists to support them and keep them on the road, considering the residual value of their vehicle. Here I believe a lot in reconditioned parts. How can you consider charging them for a new battery when their vehicle is six or eight years old? The independent aftermarket will have to reinvent itself, and parts manufacturers have a role to play” said the vice-president of Delphi. “Diagnostics and training are crucial to our strategy” whether it concerns the future, with the emergence of electric vehicles, or the fleet that needs to be maintained today. “The parts are ultimately only peripheral. And these were the only two budgets that were not reduced during the crisis!” he concludes. l