April 2021

www.aftermarketonline.net APRIL 2021 AFTERMARKET 3 CONTENTS BUSINESS 8 Big issue: Budget 2021 12 Women in the motor industry 14 Bridgestone: Tyres simplified 16 Tina Drayson: Complaints 18 BM Catalysts: Quick reaction 20 Motul: Passion for invention TECHNICAL 24 Snap-on: LIN Bus 26 Walker Products: Oxygen sensors 28 Frank Massey: Setting the bar high: Part 3 30 Kalimex: In-house DPF cleaning 32 DPF Doctor: Third time lucky IN FOCUS 34 Rotating electrics 36 Steering and suspension 38 ADAS PLUS... 42 Status Scientific Controls: Cool idea 44 General products/Competition 46 Coronavirus round-up 50 Garage visit: Cotes Heath Test Centre 52 EV training 54 Training update 56 Recruitment 58 Teabreak THIS IS 40... Editor | Alex Wells alex@aftermarket.co.uk | +44 (0) 1732 370 345 Contributors Damien Coleman | Mark Blinston | Chay Blyth | Tina Drayson Frank Massey | Mike Schlup Sales Manager | Daniella Gavin Daniella@aftermarket.co.uk | +44 (0) 1732 370 349 Commercial Director | Ryan Fuller ryan.fuller@dfamedia.co.uk | +44 (0) 1732 370 340 Operations Manager | Ewa Hodden ewa.hodden@dfamedia.co.uk | +44 (0) 1732 370 340 Project Liaison Manager | Emma Floyd emma.floyd@dfamedia.co.uk | +44 (0) 1732 370 340 Finance Manager | Clare Jackson clare.jackson@dfamedia.co.uk | +44 (0) 1732 370 340 Publishing Director | Ian Atkinson ian.atkinson@dfamedia.co.uk | +44 (0) 1732 370 340 Published by | DFA Media Ltd 192 High Street, Tonbridge, Kent, TN9 1BE Alex Wells, Editor Average net circulation July 2019 to June 2020 23,616 aftermarketmagazine @aftermarket01 ISSN 2516-9149 Aftermarket is published 10 times a year and is sent free of charge to applicants meeting the publisher’s criteria. All others may subscribe at £60 per anum, £120 Europe and £150 rest of the world. While every care is taken to provide accurate information, the publisher cannot accept responsibility for any errors or ommisions, no matter how caused. All rights reserved. No part of the publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without prior consent of the publisher. The views of contributors do not necessarily represent the views of the publisher. Copyright: DFA MEDIA LTD 2021. I t’s my 40th you know. No, not my 40th birthday, that barrier was reached and breached long ago. I’m talking about something much more significant; My 40th issue of Aftermarket as Editor. The birthday comparison is apt though, as reaching this particular milestone made me think about where we were back in those heady, carefree days of 2017. Well, for one thing, we could all go about our business without facemasks, and hugs were not quite as socially awkward as they are now. Do you know how we are going to pay for all this free time everyone else seems to be having? Me neither, so let’s hope Chancellor Rishi Sunak does. He showed some of his cards in his recent March Budget. Big Issue on pages 8-11 is focused on this topic, with reaction from many major sector bodies. Meanwhile, back in 2017 we were still in the EU as well, and boy didn’t we know it. We barely talked about anything else. Now, we’re out, and there have been a few bumps along the way, to put it mildly. With this in mind, BM Catalysts have joined us for this issue to share their insights on how they are dealing with these two problems. That said, when you are moving materials across the border, they can be one problem. Turn to pages 18-19 to find out more. Another issue which didn’t seem quite so acute back then was ADAS. A lot of garages were still in the denial stage at that point with regards to the effect the tech was going to have on them. To be honest, some of them are still there now. Well, we have a bumper piece on ADAS on pages 38-41. Similarly, the shift to EVs necessitated by the government’s 2030 ICE deadline has prodded the VMs to lay out how they intend to pivot away from internal combustion. This has led us to institute a new EV training section. Check it out on pages 52-53. What else do we have? On the business side, on pages 14-15, we have our latest graduate from Andy Savva’s Garage Inspector programme. This issue sees Tina Drayson from CCM look at customer care. You know how when you are waiting for a bus, three turn up at once? Well, on the technical front, we begin a mammoth three-part Snap-on look at automotive communication networks, starting with LIN Bus. That is on pages 24-25. Then, on pages 28-29 Frank Massey brings us the third part of his epic investigation of that pesky Audi S3. We then have a pair of pieces from Kalimex and the DPF Doctor network looking at DPF fixes. They are on pages 30 and 32-33 respectively. We also have features on rotating electrics and steering and suspension, a visit to a garage where a new ATL was installed in record time, and, I am sorry to say, yet another installment of the Coronavirus round-up. We can’t wait for that to outstay its welcome. Lastly, on the Top Technician and Top Garage front, we have a piece looking at new competition sponsors Motul on pages 20-21. Well, I say lastly, but the actually final thing is the announcement of a sixth sponsor for the competitions, in the inimitable form of Philips. This was late-breaking news. You can read about it in news on page 5, and we will have more from them next issue. Enjoy!