The Profit in the Triple Play

You might think that there wouldn’t be much left to invent in the category of windshield wipers. But in the super-competitive automotive market the endless search for market advantage continues to lead aftermarket parts makers to innovate wherever they can.

As usual, a lot of the activity comes at the high end. There are fewer customers here of course, but the activity is usually a good sign of the products the rest of us will enjoy a few years down the road. And even in the broader market, technological advances are helping to make life easier, and driving — especially winter driving — a little safer.

But safety always depends on a driver’s willingness to do the required maintenance, and that’s where the problems can start. In the past, installing heavy-duty winter wipers was a seasonal ritual, but the development of new all-season blades offers an alternative. The new blades eliminate windshield ‘chatter’ and also stay firmly pressed against the glass in all conditions, in addition to resisting ice and snow build-up.

Federal-Mogul is one company with a strong presence in this part of the market, with products in the light duty and heavy-duty/commercial segments. The company’s latest technology is the X-1 Flat Blade, which has been designed with a low profile so the blade and the arms are virtually hidden along the hood line. The design reduces wind noise, minimizes wind lift at speed, prevents ice and snow build-up, and produces a clean, sleek line.

Other companies use high technology to analyze and develop new wiper systems. For example, Robert Bosch Inc. employs laser vibration detectors to pinpoint the exact source of wiper noise during the stroke, in an ongoing effort to develop noise-mitigation responses. The time isn’t far off when wipers become sources of data themselves, with wiper-mounted sensors teaming up with wheel and temperature sensors to give drivers a full picture of road and driving conditions.

But in spite of the high-end research, some things about wipers haven’t changed much in the century since they were invented: for one thing, the use of natural rubber for the blades themselves. Simple steps such as installing shorter blades for winter use, so that the drive motor doesn’t get overloaded when pushing heavy snow, still make sense — although it’s better if drivers clear the heavy stuff themselves before using the wipers at all.

Add-on Additives

There’s a huge, bewildering array of automotive additives on the market today, all with more and more specialized tasks. Fuel additives, for example, tout benefits ranging from smoother, quieter operation to improved flow in cold temperatures, reduced smoke, faster operation and cleaner emissions. Oil additives claim to repair cracked and pitted metal surfaces in engine interiors, eliminate sludge and carbon deposits and cleaning components like valves and injectors.

The properties are remarkably similar whether the products are for gas or diesel engines, aviation engines, lawnmowers, generators or inboard/outboard motors. That’s the range carried by one manufacturer — Bell Performance Inc., in Longwood, Fla. — which started making them in 1909. The company’s mainstay, the multifunction gas additive MIX-I-GO, was actually developed in 1927.

Valvoline, a division of Ashland Inc., is another leading manufacturer with a full range of products on the market. The company manufactures the SynPower line of engine and oil treatments, which it says help protect engines especially in temperature extremes, while reducing wear, preventing oxidation, maintaining horsepower levels, keeping engines cleaner and keeping oil viscosity stable.

But however leading-edge the technology may be there’s still no substitute for careful maintenance and the trained eye of a technician to keep everything running. For example, at any time of year the coolant needs to be monitored for a lot more than just level: you need to take a look at the expansion tank to determine the proportion of glycol in the fluid. Too high … flush the system and add new coolant. Too low … top off with concentrated antifreeze to bring the concentration up.

Many drivers degrade the concentration by adding water during the summer, but this tells against them when the weather starts to cool down in the fall. The best solution is to carry a prepared 50/50 mix — using distilled water — to top off coolant levels as required. Proactive shops can make it part of the service.

Brighter Lights

The longer lifetimes of the products now on the market guarantee that any service center that waits for a headlight to burn out is chasing a shrinking market: preventive replacement and upgrades are the way to go.

Here’s how competitive the automotive lighting market can get: at the 2006 Automotive Aftermarket Products Expo (AAPEX) last fall in Las Vegas, Philips Automotive Lighting and Osram Sylvania each launched an upgraded version of a core lighting product. For Philips, it was the CrystalVision ULTRA, an enhancement to its CrystalVision line, which has been on the market for over two years. For Sylvania, it was a new version of the SilverStar line … also named ULTRA.

But Michael Scheiven, director, aftermarket channel for Philips Automotive Lighting North America in Farmington Hills, Mich. notes there is a different approach to how the respective organizations made their introductions: while Sylvania’s ULTRA is essentially a new product, with the ‘vanilla’ SilverStar remaining on the market, CrystalVision Ultra is a product enhancement, superseding the company’s CrystalVision offering in the market.

There’s another difference, Scheiven says: Sylvania has broadened its market footprint by offering the ULTRA version at US$45 a set, well through what Philips at least considers to be an intuitive price barrier of US$40, while SilverStar continues on the market at around US$40. Philips has priced the CrystalVision Ultra at US$35-US$37 a set, only marginally higher than the original CrystalVision.

Both companies’ products leverage continuing interest in high-intensity discharge (HID) lighting by offering a brightness rating of 4000, only slightly under the 4200K of HID — an almost imperceptible margin, and well ahead of standard lighting and halogen. In both cases the light is the same white color as HID, and more powerful than standard halogens. There is likely some pent-up demand for a near-HID product, especially given the fact that many HID conversion kits on the market today are illegal.

And other players are keeping pace. GE has recently expanded its well known Nighthawk line with a “Sport” version as well as Nighthawk Miniatures, which cater to interior and exterior convenience applications. GE claims that the Nighthawks put 34 per cent more light on the road. Bosch’s Xenon line provides 2.5 times better lighting than standard incandescent systems, while requiring less power according to the company.

The Last Mile

“The premium product segment is the key to growing revenues today as product lifetimes are expanding,” Scheiven says — and his words apply as much to additives and wipers as they do to his company’s lighting systems. With the backing of manufacturers and distributors, service centers are ideally positioned to become market educators, bringing drivers up to speed on the benefits of keeping automotive systems in top form — while promoting upgrades where appropriate.

One way service centers can overcome replacement resistance is to put together a standardized inspection list. If the customer knows that lighting, wipers and additives are all going to get a good look, they’ll be more prepared when the technician says something needs attention. And doing the little things, such as a regular wiper-fluid topoff, will get the driver thinking about replacing the blades.

If upsell product categories are displayed prominently, along with selling aids from the manufacturer, it helps win the hearts and minds campaign. So
mething that lets them handle wiper blades or get a really up-close look at that cool three-way headlight is the best advance preparation you can get.

“In dealing with the installer base we can put a small display in, involving six or seven different types of lighting — maybe only three or four at the high end — so the inventory requirement isn’t big,” Scheiven says. “This way they can truly offer the consumer a true benefit. It’s not a gimmick sale. It’s an ideal opportunity for the installer to offer a good product and service. It’s an outstanding revenue opportunity.”