MPA Launches Industry-First Warranty-Reduction ProgramTo help alleviate the automotive af-termarket’s pervasive and burgeon-ing returns problem, Motorcar Parts of America (MPA, www.motorcar parts.com) has launched an indus-

try-first warranty-reduction program for starters and alternators.

Designated “Call Before You Re-turn,” the program features a test-ed and proven method of reducing

returns for the company’s Pure- Energy and Quality-Built new and remanufactured starters and alter-nators designed specifically for the aftermarket.

“Misdiagnosis is common with the installation of starters and al-ternators even though the units are good,” said Rick Mochulsky,

MPA’s Senior Vice President of Sales. “There are literally a multi-tude of tricky faults that may occur that have nothing to do with the integrity of the starters or alterna-tors. With starters, the problem can range from a bad battery to poor wiring connections. With alterna-tors, the problem can range from a defect in the control module to a slipping drive belt.”

To prevent technicians from re-turning good units—a time-waster for both technicians and custom-ers—MPA attaches prominent red “Call Before You Return” tags that must be removed before installation can proceed. If a starter or alter-nator appears not to be working, technicians are instructed to call a dedicated, toll-free tech line rather than return the part to the reseller. The tech line is manned seven days a week by ASE-certified techs.

Mochulsky said that with a simple phone call, “our ASE experts can quickly guide technicians through the system diagnosis processes and pinpoint the cause of the issue so that they can wrap up a job and move on to the next.” He said that the MPA staff can also help with installation questions, verify appli-cation information, supply cross ref-erences and address vehicle-specific issues.

Selwyn Joffe, MPA Chairman, President and CEO, thinks the pro-gram could start a trend in the af-termarket because it addresses the problem proactively.

“The best way to reduce re-turns—that siphon prof itabi l ity from the entire distribution chain and, worse, destroy consumer con-fidence—is to prevent them in the first place,” he said. “From a shop’s most practical point of view, why tie up a service bay waiting on another part when you already have a good part in hand?”

Forecast: Automotive AftermarketWill Grow 3.7% in Next 3 YearsAccording to the “2016 Joint Chan-nel Forecast Model” produced jointly by the Automotive Aftermar-ket Suppliers Association (AASA) and the Auto Care Association, the U.S. automotive aftermarket is ex-pected to grow at a compound an-nual growth rate (CAGR) of 3.7% through 2019.

The model also predicts that to-tal aftermarket sales will grow from $257.4 billion in 2015 to $296.3 bil-lion in 2019, an increase of nearly $39 billion in the four-year period.

“The automotive aftermarket is a large and stable industry whose impressive growth, even through the Great Recession, is forecasted to continue,” said Bill Long, President and Chief Operating Officer, AASA. “The ‘Joint Channel Forecast Mod-el’ is a valuable tool for all industry stakeholders in planning and posi-tioning your business to capitalize on the opportunities ahead.”

“The forecast model demonstrates that despite strong new-vehicle sales, moderating gas prices and improved miles driven are conditions condu-cive to continued steady growth,” said Bill Hanvey, Auto Care Associa-tion President and CEO. “Why? The average age of light vehicles, now up to 11.6 years, is the oldest ever, and the age mix of vehicles contin-ues to favor older vehicles, creating a robust sweet spot for service and repair.”

The market sizing and forecast is conducted on behalf of the two as-sociations by IHS Automotive. It’s based on the U.S. Census Bureau’s Economic Census, IMR and Polk data and proprietary IHS Automo-tive economic analysis and forecast-ing models.

The “2016 Joint Channel Fore-cast Model” is available at the AASA website (www.aftermarketsuppliers.

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org) and in the Auto Care Associa-tion’s “2017 Digital Auto Care Fact-book,” available at www.autocare.org.

Gasket Line From MAHLE to Be Marketed as MAHLE OriginalMAHLE Aftermarket recently an-nounced that it will market its gasket line as MAHLE Original, reflecting the OE form, fit and function that’s designed into the parts. The tran-sition, begun in the second half of 2016, will be completed by March of 2017.

According to the company, the MAHLE Original gasket line offers the best coverage in the aftermar-ket—across all domestic, Asian and European vehicles. MAHLE After-market also offers 1300 gasket part numbers that are exclusive to the af-termarket.

“The only thing that wil l be changing is the outside package; our gaskets will now be in a MAH-LE Original branded box,” said Jon Douglas, General Manager, MAHLE Aftermarket North America. “What won’t change is the OE form, fit and function the aftermarket has come to expect from MAHLE Aftermarket.”

MAHLE Aftermarket further sup-ports sales of MAHLE Original gas-kets with a comprehensive marketing program. It offers a complete range of product flyers, technical service bulletins and print advertising. An eLearning online training program is available for technical education.

For more information, visit www.mahle-aftermarket.com or contact your local sales representative.

In other news, MAHLE Service Solutions announced that it recently donated an ArcticPRO ACX1180C a/c service machine to the automo-tive technology program at Santa Barbara City College as part of a heavy-duty a/c clinic given at Mira-mar College in San Diego presented

by the Mobile Air Conditioning Soci-ety (MACS) and solely sponsored by MAHLE Service Solutions.

The machine was donated to Bob Stockero (on the left in the photo), an automotive technology instructor at

SBCC, who said that receiving the machine “was a huge surprise and a bonus for attending the MACS train-ing event. It will be given to my au-tomotive program in Santa Barba-ra and my students will benefit the most.” The presentation was made by Chuck Kinkade, Business Devel-opment Manager, MAHLE Service Solutions.

MotoSKILL Shop Tech Training Introduces Platform UpdatesMotoSKILL Shop Tech Training, the online training and ASE test prep re-source from MOTOSHOP Technolo-gy Tools, is rolling out major platform

updates designed to make accessing and completing online training easier, more flexible and customizable for automotive repair shops.

All MotoSKILL customers have access to Web-based, on-demand training content covering basic au-tomotive systems for service techni-cians, advanced diagnostics, ASE test preparation, management courses for shop owners and specialty courses covering the hottest topics, such as working with hybrid or diesel vehi-cles.

New streamlined navigation al-lows users to search MotoSKILL’s 145 training courses with greater ef-ficiency, says the company, and an im-proved learning management system allows participants and shop manag-ers to efficiently view and track prog-ress through courses.

MotoSKILL now also provides knowledge assessments to recom-mend future learning tracks or addi-tional courses based on a participant’s training assessment scores. Users can print personalized course completion certificates and review results by ac-cessing MotoSKILL from any device at any time in any location.

“We are committed to delivering flexible online training solutions that help keep automotive shops ahead of the industry’s needs on a schedule that makes sense for the shop,” said Jad Dunning, Advance Vice Presi-dent and General Manager of MO-TOSHOP Technology Tools. “The enhancements rolled out and the MotoSKILL support team will en-sure more quality training reaches more shops and technician, when and where they need it.”

For further information about ASE test prep training or other automotive training and shop management cours-es from MotoSKILL, visit https:// motoskill.motoshop.com. MOTO-SHOP Technology Tools is a product portfolio from Advance Auto Parts.

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