[European Atlas] “We are working to defend independent aftermarkets against OEMs”

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Zepros : How have you done in 2018?
Hans Eisner: We don’t have any new members (36 distributors representing 1,400 companies, 4,600 points of sale in 28 countries). Except GPL who is still the biggest global player In 2018, the total revenue of our members reached €12 billion (excluding GPC), up 11.4% (across all activities) on a European market reporting +2.3%. In Russia, GAUI members grew their business by more than 30%, returning to levels previously observed before the 2015 recession. Turkey and Brazil also performed well. Our purchases from our listed suppliers are up by 15%. Over the past 10 years, they have been multiplied by 3.5. Most often, new volumes are from listed suppliers.
Have your members become more loyal?H.E.: Yes. Two years ago, we introduced two schemes aiming to channel volumes towards listed suppliers. The first is the “loyalty programme”, consisting of a three-way agreement between GAUI, the national purchasing group and the supplier. The country signs up to an action plan, with objectives over three or four years, and additional results-correlated conditions. To date, 11 suppliers have become partners of the scheme. In parallel, we have introduced “One 2 One”, small trade fairs with a selection of 10 to 15 suppliers in regions undergoing development: South America, Eastern Europe and China. This helps to develop closer relations and business.
Is Western Europe no longer the future of purchasing cooperations?H.E.: Over the past 30 years, we have built the European market. The aim now is to implement these business models and service modules in Eastern Europe, South America and Asia. We are becoming established in China, where a lot of work needs to be done to organise IAM distribution. Within two years, we should be ready to deploy a garage concept. We are also working on developing markets in Central and South America, excluding Brazil where the job has already been done. We are additionally planning to move into Central Asia, around Kazakhstan where we are already established. Ultimately, we are all working towards the same objective: defending and developing independent aftermarkets against OEMs.
Datas acces: the key issue for the coming years?H.E.: The problem is political. There is no legislation. The automakers are offering the “extended vehicle” system, which only gives access to morsels of data – 70 out of the 7,700 accessible, of which 11 at the most can be used in maintenance – and not even at the same time as them. In this respect, Caruso is offering an interesting solution, but which is controlled by OEMs. This is why we became part of Carmunication. But the battle spearheaded by Figiefa will take years, meaning lots of wasted time.Caroline Ridet