FIGIEFA is working on numerous files aimed at improving the business conditions for the wider independent automotive aftermarket, and for distributors of spare parts in particular. Here is a selection of the most prominent issues we are currently working on.
Connected cars allow innovative remote functions that enable multiple new use cases and business models. Remote access to highly granular in-vehicle data enables advanced analytics including predictive failure analysis, driving style analysis and highly accurate analytics on wear and tear of components.
For decades, the Motor Vehicle Block Exemption Regulation (MVBER) and its Supplementary Guidelines have set the legal frame which allows our parts distribution and repair companies to provide competitive aftermarket services, in fair competition with the vehicle manufacturers’ networks. It facilitates in particular the trade of spare parts, access to technical information, and the servicing of vehicles under warranty.
With the rise of connected and automated driving on one side, and the general increase of new cyberthreats on the other side, legislators worldwide felt the need to introduce regulation for addressing the issue of cybersecurity in the automotive sector.
For decades, the Independent Automotive Aftermarket (IAM) faced significant challenges due to fragmented legislation on design protection for visible spare parts -such as body panels, headlamps, windscreens, and mirrors. These parts, often referred to as “must-match” components, must replicate the original design to restore a vehicle’s appearance after an accident or repair. Until recently, the absence of harmonisation at the European Union level created a patchwork of conflicting national laws. This situation allowed vehicle manufacturers to extend design rights to visible spare parts, effectively granting them monopolies in the aftermarket. The result? Higher prices, limited consumer choice, and legal uncertainty for independent operators across borders. Thanks to the tireless work of FIGIEFA and the other members of ECAR (European Campaign for the Freedom of the Automotive Parts and Repair Market), we finally have harmonised legislation on the design protection of visible automotive spare parts at the European level. This put an end to the legal uncertainties and hampered the competitiveness of parts distribution companies and the entire independent automotive aftermarket.
Climate change and the rarefaction of resources are more and more determining consumers’ choices and businesses’ strategies. In order to accompany the necessary changes the sector has to go through, FIGIEFA is developing specific actions.
European legislation (in particular the Motor Vehicle Block Exemption Regulation and the Type Approval Regulation) requires that vehicle manufacturers provide independent operators (i.e. repairers, manufacturers or distributors of repair equipment, tools or spare parts, publishers of technical information, automobile clubs, roadside assistance operators, operators offering inspection and testing services, operators offering training for installers, manufacturers and repairers of equipment for alternative fuel vehicles) with access to information on vehicle repair and maintenance.
