Here are three strategic areas that are critical for automotive aftermarket manufacturers. Some are foundational, that when set up correctly, do not need major continued work. Others are continual that will require consistent effort and even annual budgeting.
#1 A Good Catalog
A good parts catalog is beyond essential, it’s required. You can’t even get your products into feeds and buying portals without good parts data. At minimum you need good photos, descriptions, marketing content, specifications, and all the applicable data fields populated in the ACES and PIES format. ACES and PIES is for the North American market. Europe and the rest of the world uses the TecDoc standard. ACES (Aftermarket Catalog Exchange Standard) is more for fitment data, such as what parts go to which vehicles. PIES (Product Information Exchange Standard) is more about the part product information such as all the attributes of the part including weight, size, UPC codes. Think of it this way, PIES is what the part is. ACES is what the part fits. Sound Press handles a lot of that data, and if you need help building a catalog or conversion mapping from TecDoc to ACES and PIES, we know about that too. We use all that data for automotive ecommerce.
#2 Promoting Your Brand
No one is more responsible for promoting a manufacturer’s brand than the manufacturer. Brand promotion is the responsibility of the manufacturer. Yes, Distributors can help. But a distributor has multiple loyalties they need to take care of. No one else is going to get it right better than you should.
Some brands have been around and have staying power and are so B2B niche that they don’t need a lot of promotion. Consumable example, but I can’t remember the last time I saw an ad for WD-40. But for example, there are a ton of brake component, suspension component manufacturers out there. And if your brand falls into one of those categories you need that differentiation. Strong value propositions. Statements of quality, and even guarantees or warranties can help.
#3 Politics
I wish we didn’t have to pay attention all the time to political based issues, but with crazy times on Tariffs, and issues such as a foreign manufacturer flooding the market in a product segment, it’s best to pay attention. Keeping an ear and eye on these political topics like tariffs and a competition matrix can help you make wise decisions to protect your margins, and even work to make sure you have multiple and redundant suppliers in your network. There is excellent information on Tariffs and the political side of automotive manufacturing available through the various groups such as AutoCare and MEMA.