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  • 17 Dec 2009 3:40 PM | Anonymous
    Steve Handschuh of the Automotive Aftermarket Suppliers Association talks about the state of the aftermarket heading into 2010 during the recent NASTF meeting at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas.  Click Here to view the Presentation
  • 03 Dec 2009 6:30 PM | Anonymous
    Leesburg, Va., (November 19, 2009) - The National Automotive Service Task Force (NASTF) announced today that Jaguar Land Rover North America, LLC has signed the NASTF Service Information Standards Agreement, joining thirteen other auto manufacturers agreeing to make service and training information and tools accessible to all vehicle repairers on an equal basis. Much of the Standards embody the practices that have been in place for over six years, with the addition of a binding arbitration backstop included in the NASTF Dispute Resolution Process. Charlie Gorman, chairman of NASTF, said “We are pleased to welcome Jaguar Land Rover to the dedicated group of OEM vehicle manufacturers committed to providing service information to the independent aftermarket. It’s one more step in a unified, progressive, effective NASTF.”
     
    The Standards have three parts: Definitions, Automotive Service Information Standards, and Information Request and Resolution Process. The Definitions clearly define what’s covered and what’s not covered. The Standards stipulate how OEMs will ensure open accessibility. And the Information Request and Resolution Process provides the means, including the possibility of binding arbitration if needed, in which to identify and assess any potential information gaps.
     
    The remaining manufacturers have the agreement in various stages of review and approval. OEMs that have previously signed the agreement include Volvo, Subaru, Ford, Toyota, Volkswagen, Nissan, Hyundai, Mazda, Honda, Suzuki, Kia, Mitsubishi, and Mercedes.
     
    NASTF was established in 2000 to identify, communicate and resolve gaps in the availability and accessibility of automotive service information, service training, diagnostic tools, and equipment for the benefit of automotive service professionals and their customers. NASTF was incorporated in 2006. Additional details can be found at www.nastf.org.
     
    As a 501(c)6 not-for profit organization, NASTF takes no position on any legislation that may be proposed or pending in state or national legislative bodies.
  • 24 Oct 2009 9:36 PM | Anonymous
    Gorman, chairman of the National Automotive Service Task Force (NASTF), laid out a couple of future predictions during his lunch presentation at the WORLDPAC Supplier & Training Expo. The predictions tie closely to two committees within NASTF — the Service Information Committee and the Equipment and Tool Committee. Click Here for full article
  • 07 Oct 2009 8:56 PM | Anonymous
    NASTFOctober 7, 2009, Leesburg, VA – The National Automotive Service Task Force (NASTF) will offer a look down the road for attendees of the NASTF General Meeting on November 3, 2009 in Las Vegas at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center, Room South Pacific C. Meeting planners have assembled a panel discussion to explore additional applications for the Secure Data Release Model (SDRM), which is currently used to access secure data such as key codes and pin codes. “This panel discussion will explore some new and different ways the automotive service industry might use the tools which have been developed by NASTF to address the security needs inherent in certain types of OEM information,” said Charlie Gorman, NASTF Chairman.
     
    There are three main goals to be addressed by the panel: 1) to inform technicians that there are non-key codes uses available now, and what they are; 2) to encourage technicians to report instances where an SDRM solution could solve an information gap problem; and 3) to encourage OEMs to offer non-key code security information such as radio codes, body controllers, immobilizer reset codes, and even sale of theft related parts to the aftermarket through the use of the SDRM. “Through the use of SDRM, OEMs can maintain or even increase security while satisfying the aftermarket need for information,” said Gorman.
     
    The panel will consist of Charlie Gorman, Equipment & Tool Institute Manager and NASTF Chairman; John Jenkins, President of CAS of New England; and Donny Seyfer, Operations Manager of Seyfer Automotive.
     
    “The NASTF General Meeting is an important opportunity for anyone attending Industry Week in Las Vegas to stay abreast of the latest developments in information access and to get a glimpse of where we might be heading,” Gorman continued. “It’s also a great way to network and share your feelings, perceptions and experiences in the service bay with NASTF leadership and our industry partners.”
     
    NASTF was established in 2000 to identify, communicate and resolve gaps in the availability and accessibility of automotive service information, service training, diagnostic tools, and equipment for the benefit of automotive service professionals and their customers. NASTF was incorporated in 2006. Additional details can be found at www.nastf.org.
     
    As a 501(c)6 not-for profit organization, NASTF takes no position on any legislation that may be proposed or pending in state or national legislative bodies.
     
  • 02 Oct 2009 10:11 AM | Anonymous
    By Miles Moore, Tire Business Senior Washington Reporter

    OTTAWA (Oct. 2, 2009) — Following in the footsteps of U.S. auto makers and the Automotive Service Association (ASA), Canadian auto makers have signed an agreement with the National Automotive Trades Association (NATA) to allow independent auto repairers to access the same auto service and repair information that franchised auto dealers get.

    Representatives of the Canadian automotive aftermarket, however, claim the signatories of the agreement deliberately excluded them from negotiations, and also are trying to cut off further action on a Right to Repair law that passed Parliament by a landslide last May.

    NATA, the Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers Association (CVMA) and the Association of International Automobile Manufacturers of Canada (AIAMC) announced the agreement Sept. 29 at a press conference at an independent repair shop in Ottawa.

    Under the agreement, auto makers are to provide independent repairers with access to all service, repair, tooling and training information in their possession no later than May 2010.

    According to the three signatory associations, the Canadian Automotive Service Information Standard (CASIS) makes a Right to Repair law unnecessary.

    “CASIS is a great industry solution for a longstanding industry challenge,” said AIAMC President David Adams in a press release.

    The Automotive Industries Association of Canada, however, called CASIS a flawed agreement that does not represent the majority of independent auto repairers in Canada.

    “Neither AIA, its members, or its partnering associations were included in this process, despite repeated attempts by AIA to engage the car company associations in dialogue and identification of key concerns,” AIA said in a press release.

    AIA President Marc Brazeau protested CASIS in a Sept. 28 letter to Tony Clement, Canadian Minister of Industry.

    “We are at a loss as to explain why the car manufacturers would exclude AIA in these discussions in favor of a loosely affiliated organization that represents less than 5 percent of the marketplace in very few provinces,” Mr. Brazeau wrote. “Moreover, it is our understanding that this organization also represents new car dealerships within its membership, clearly a conflict of interest.”

    Mr. Brazeau asked to meet with the minister and his staff to discuss the Right to Repair issue.

    In its press release, AIA noted that Bill C-273, the Right to Repair Bill, passed Parliament by a 247-18 vote in May 2009. The legislation, which would have sanctioned auto makers that failed to make repair and diagnostic information available to independent garages, was scheduled in October for review by Parliament’s Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology.

    The Canadian action mirrors the agreement approved in the U.S. in September 2002 between auto makers and the Automotive Repair Association. That agreement set up the National Automotive Service Task Force (NASTF) to oversee the flow of information from auto makers to independent repair shops and handle the complaints of independent repairers.

    ASA and the auto makers claim the voluntary agreement and NASTF obviate the need for Right to Repair legislation. However, groups such as the Automotive Aftermarket Industry Association and the Tire Industry Association insist both are too weak to help independent repair shops. They continue to work for passage of Right to Repair bills in the U.S. Congress and in various state legislatures.

    AIA counts among its members all the major tire retailer organizations in Canada: The Atlantic Tire Dealers Association; the Ontario Tire Dealers Association; the Western Canada Tire Dealers Association; and Association des specialistes du pneu du Quebec Inc.
  • 01 Oct 2009 8:48 PM | Anonymous
    Press Release from CVMA News:

    Automakers have partnered with Canadian service and repair shops to enhance consumers’ ability to have their vehicles serviced in their local repair shops.

    “We are pleased to enter into this voluntary national agreement with Canada’s automotive OEMs on behalf of Canada’s service and repair industry,” stated Dale Finch, National Automotive Trades Association’s Executive Vice President.  “This agreement ensures that all auto manufacturers will provide access to service and repair information which will increase competition in the Canada’s service and repair industry to the benefit of Canadian consumers.”

    The Canadian Automotive Service Information Standard (CASIS) will allow automotive repair facilities in Canada to access auto manufacturers’ service and repair information.  Additionally, it will provide access to tooling and training information to local repair facilities across the country.  CASIS ensures that all automakers will have the information made available no later than May 2010.

    “CASIS is a great industry solution for a longstanding industry challenge,” stated David Adams, President of the Association of International Automobile Manufacturers of Canada.  “This Agreement will provide the flexibility needed to address concerns of local repair facilities and our customers given the increasingly complex nature of motor vehicles and rapidly changing vehicle technology.”

    Mark Nantais, President of the Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers’ Association added, “After several months of cooperative dialogue between the service and repair industry and automakers, we are happy to be implementing CASIS.  We are confident that consumers will be the big winners in this Agreement because Canadians will have more choice in where they take their vehicles for service and repair.”

    Click Here for a copy of the agreement in pdf format

    Click Here for a pdf on benefits of a voluntary agreement

    Questions and answers

    Background Information

  • 30 Sep 2009 4:00 AM | Anonymous

    Taken from a pdf found on AAIA's Website

    Overall, the problem with the Canadian Automotive Service Information Standard that was developed by Canadian vehicle manufacturers and the National Automotive Trades Association is that while it appears to commit the car companies to make information available, in reality it is a loosely-worded document which is not legally enforceable and excludes areas of information, software and tools that are currently the most problematic for independent shops.

    In addition, and of major concern over the long term, is the fact that the agreement attempts to proclaim that all repair information is proprietary and therefore provides full control of use of that information to the vehicle manufacturer. The aftermarket believes that service information used to repair cars is not proprietary and should be widely available to the independent service industry. While we are agreeable to pay the car companies for the distribution of the information, we are unwilling to concede that it is proprietary since it is made widely available to franchised dealers and their employees.

    Other problems with the agreement include:

    • ·         Failure to provide independent shops with the ability to download the latest updates to operating systems known as flash reprogramming. This is key to completing many repairs.
    • ·         Failure to make available to independent shops the ability to reinitialize vehicle immobilizer systems following a repair. Since car companies are increasingly running many of their vehicle systems through the same computer responsible for security, shops must have the ability to initialize this computer after performing even the simplest of repairs.
    • ·         No recourse to aftermarket shops regarding price. Therefore, car companies could price aftermarket shops out of the market for information and tools without any way for the aftermarket to take action.
      Exclusion of all repair information that is provided to dealers over hotlines. Much of this information is critical to independents obtaining the latest repair and diagnostic updates needed to provide effective repairs. Many of these might be safety related.
    • ·         Exclusion of all vehicle specific information. Much of the repair data is now becoming VIN specific including programming and re-initialization information. Without knowing the specific repair data applicable to a vehicle as identified by the VIN, a shop will find it difficult to fully repair many late-model vehicles.
    • ·         Fails to provide access to information that comes off of a vehicle wirelessly through telematic systems. This information is currently directed to the new car dealer, providing them with a substantial competitive advantage in capturing post warranty customers and in maximizing the efficiencies of their service bays.
    • ·         Absence of any fine or penalty for a car company failing to meet its commitment under the agreement. In addition, there are extensive provisions that make it simple for a manufacturer to opt out of the agreement. Further, the agreement becomes null and void if legislation is enacted regarding service information availability.
    • ·         Absence of any independent arbiter to decide whether the car companies are meeting their end of the agreement. Under the terms of the agreement, a shop is forced to rely on a committee that is evenly comprised of the car companies and aftermarket to determine if a specific piece of information or tool should be made available.

    The bottom line is that this agreement provides little of reassurance to independent shops that car companies will ensure availability of all of the service information, tools and software needed to repair late-model computer-controlled vehicles. This is just the latest example of how the car companies continue to avoid coming up with a real solution to the service information and tool issue both here and in Canada

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