Automechanika 2018: HELLA presents strategic alignment for...

Automechanika 2018: HELLA presents strategic alignment for aftermarket business.

Lippstadt/Frankfurt, September 11, 2018. At the occasion of Automechanika 2018, the leading international trade fair for the automotive aftermarket, the lighting and electronics specialist HELLA has presented its strategic alignment for its aftermarket business. The company will thus align its aftermarket activities even more consequently along its own original equipment competencies, especially in the areas of lighting and electronics, while closely linking them to the company's great workshop equipment expertise. Furthermore, HELLA will advance the development of new digital business models in the Aftermarket segment.

"For HELLA, the aftermarket business constitutes an important complement to its core automotive business," says Dr. Werner Benade, Managing Director of the Aftermarket and Special Applications segments at HELLA. "We will therefore consequently develop this area further while tapping into new growth potentials."

Focusing on original equipment competencies in lighting and electronics

The first pillar of the aftermarket strategy consists in the product portfolio's alignment along the core competencies of the original equipment business. "We are a leading provider in the areas of automotive lighting technology and electronics. In the future, we intent to take even stronger advantage of this technological expertise in the aftermarket while further expanding our role as strong wholesale distribution partner," explains Dr. Werner Benade. Already today, HELLA has a comprehensive spare part range spanning more than 40,000 products. Thanks to central market trends, such as autonomous driving, electrification and digitalization, the demand for innovative electronics solutions on the independent aftermarket will for example further increase. "Since these technologies are furthermore becoming ever more complex, the great diagnostics expertise of Hella Gutmann Solutions will also be in stronger demand soon," adds Dr. Benade.

Linkage of original equipment expertise with workshop equipment competencies

The second corner pillar of the HELLA aftermarket strategy therefore consists in a closer linkage of original equipment expertise with the company's comprehensive workshop equipment expertise. "We call ourselves ‘The Workshop's Friend’. Today, we are therefore already supporting workshops along the entire repair process with a comprehensive range of professional workshop equipment and diagnostics tools as well as hands-on training sessions, instruction courses and seminars," says Dr. Andreas Habeck, head of the Independent Aftermarket and Workshop Equipment at HELLA. "By promoting a closer linkage of both areas, we want to help make the workshop business even faster and more profitable, for example by further optimizing the processes from the workshop and through the entire supply chain." In view of the central market trends, HELLA is also further expanding its competencies in the areas of diagnostics and calibration. The "Camera and Sensor Calibration Tool" presented at Automechanika for example allows the highly exact calibration of camera- and radar-based driver assistance systems in conjunction with the powerful mega macs diagnostics tool by Hella Gutmann Solutions.

Development of new digital business models

Thirdly, HELLA is promoting the development of new digital business models in the Aftermarket segment. The "Mobility Solutions" business unit was recently formed to this end. The focus of activities throughout is mainly on cloud-based software solutions enabling access to vehicle condition data from a distance. Potentially critical values can thus be detected significantly earlier, at times even before repair and maintenance costs arise. This allows developing completely new digitalized business models. Workshops will for example be able to provide their customers with significantly better service over time by further reducing waiting periods and downtimes.