Editorial Comment (April 01, 2008)

Marc Brazeau took over the big chair at the Automotive Industries Association of Canada at the turn of the new year, so, stealing an idea from our American friends who put a lot of weight on their presidents’ first 100 days in office, I rang him up to get his take on early progress.

It is notable, at least to me, that three major themes were his focus: internal rethinking, Quebec, and events.

On the first point, a great deal of energy has been spent this year on the arcane topic of board governance.

“If you look at the structure [of the AIA], not much has changed in the last 15 years. And the industry has changed quite a bit.” He says the association’s reliance on a shrinking pool of volunteers–the result of much industry consolidation–has put a lot of pressure on those individuals.

I can personally vouch for the veracity of that statement; too many of the same faces on too many different committees has led to some good minds leaving the association roster, burned out and sometimes frustrated.

A solution is long overdue. The proposal resulting from all these meetings will be presented for consideration by the board in the fall, setting the tone for the very nature of the association in the future. Let’s hope it’s the right one.

However, as important as it is, even Brazeau admits that nobody is getting very excited about it.

What is true, though, is that the real focus in the future will be on a tight grouping of initiatives, with the Access to Information fight and Right to Repair being key.

Brazeau admits that progress has been slow on these, and he is only now recognizing how critical it is to form partnerships with other organizations, both inside and outside the aftermarket proper–he cites locksmiths and the Canadian Federation of Independent Business as two examples. And, he admits, an almost total lack of mobilization and unity among service providers has been a problem.

“We can’t be seen to be fragmented. We can’t have two groups with different approaches, as in the U. S.,” where legislation seekers and voluntary agreement supporters aren’t even on speaking terms. “Regardless of what it takes or who leads the charge, we need to find a solution sooner rather than later.”

Which leads me to Quebec. While Brazeau speaks well on national initiatives, he is plainly most comfortable in the Quebec milieu, and moves there overtook a large portion of our discussion.

Brazeau feels that Quebec will play a key role in advancing the aftermarket’s interests, not least due to the fact that NAPA, Uni-Select, and more than a few other aftermarket players are headquartered there. Brazeau is not above a little metaphorical arm-twisting on that basis, and inroads have already been made with federal and provincial politicians.

Point three: Brazeau is also putting a lot of stock on events. Though, oddly, he never mentioned February’s Grand Forum in Quebec in our discussion, he sees promise in events such as the Lindertech North tech event that the AIA took over this year, and networking events and initiatives that fall into the main areas of focus for the association.

A tighter focus is probably his main message and his main task, which is providing a unique value to the industry. Credit card discount programs, employee benefits, and other offerings became duplicates of those from within the industry and were eliminated. (It stopped running its trade show back in 2002, when most WDs and buying groups had their own, but that is old news.)

I’m not sure how Lindertech North meets this non-duplication test, considering the amount of training available in the industry, but if it offers a unique learning experience and attracts a few shops that wouldn’t come out to training otherwise, then that is a good thing.

To be sure, Brazeau has his work cut out for him: to grow the AIA in terms of both its offerings and profile in a market that has changed and where the status quo is the exception rather than the rule.

The next few months promise to be at least as busy as the last few.

— Andrew Ross, Publisher and Editoraross@jobbernews.com

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