automotive concepts

Automobile manufacturers all over the world constantly maintain positive sale performances this year regardless of rising oil prices. Not even the horrible earthquake in Japan which happened earlier this year could slow down the pace of the automotive industry. People’s interest on this subject is very high. On the other hand, the industry is ever changing. Many car owners and enthusiasts feel the need to keep up with the latest automotive trends such as new car launches, events, car modification tips, technical guides and race reviews. There is where automotive news comes in.

Besides car aficionados, mechanics and workshop owners can also benefit from the latest automotive news. Vehicles and machines are constantly evolving. More recent models may have newer technologies and more sophisticated features or parts. As mechanics always deal with machines, they need to upgrade their knowledge from time to time, to keep up with the changing trends. They can get the latest updates from automotive news or from attending car exhibitions or motor shows.

Besides going to exhibitions, people can also get the latest information from automotive magazines. There are still many people today who buy physical copies of magazines to add to their collection. With the advancement of technology, the internet has changed the way we live. The internet gives us unlimited access to any kind of information. Now it is possible to get the latest news about the automotive industry online. People can access them anywhere, anytime, and free of charge.

Car reviews and car launch dates are two topics that are often searched by car enthusiasts online. We can also find many online automotive magazines that provide the latest news, trends and tips on the web as well. People can easily access information on new car launches, car modifications, as well as car parts and accessories.

There are thousands of weblogs on the internet that also provide free, comprehensive automotive news. Each of them contains different types of information. Well-established blogs usually provides in-depth news and reviews. Today, potential car buyers can check reviews available on these online journals before deciding on a car to buy.

Automotive forums have become a communication media between aficionados. There, people can post articles, open discussions and interact with other members. Car mechanics are encouraged to use online forums, so that they can get the latest scoop and share their technical know-how as well as experiences to others.

If you buy a Mr. Carwash System from Wal-Mart depending on the setting you might be able to wash your car for lets say $1.00 to $2.50 and that makes sense for a DIY Do-It-Yourselfer right? Sure, but if you have a high-end luxury automobile then you will also need put some wax on there too, clean the windows, wipe off the dash and tire dressing shine as well.

Even professional auto detailers using quality products cannot wash a car for under $2.50 in supplies anymore. I think our costs on the professional level were even slightly higher than the Mr. Carwash System high-end figure and remember we were buying bulk. The company I was formerly CEO of was The Detail Guys. Prices are also way up now and mind you that auto detailing companies cannot even get Scotch Guard anymore, EPA pretty much ruined that, there was a huge write up on that at the 1999 SEMA Show news.

Would a luxury car owner DIY buy an auto detailing kit for $75.00 to $100.00 if they knew it were available? Well yes and no. You see if you design a detailing kit with this market in mind and to fill that niche then you must also understand that a higher-end clientele is more apt to hire a Detailing Company like ours or a local company to Do-It-For-Them rather than DIY. That void is being sufficiently cared for and there are huge distribution networks in the auto products networks and distributors; IE. Beauty Shine, AutoMagic, Meguirars, etc.

It is good to study all sorts of online business case studies in order to get a feel for what will work and what will not. Remember just because you sell online does not mean that you do not have to compete with Big Box Stores and their competitive products. I hope this article will propel thought in 2007.

The automotive manufacturing industry began small, with early autos being little more than replacements for the horse drawn buggies of the day. They used a steam or gas engine to replace the work done by the horse. Then, with Henry Ford’s innovative assembly line concepts, the automotive industry picked up speed. No longer were cars built one at a time by skilled craftsmen, now they could be built many at a time and the level of skill the workers needed was greatly reduced as they only worked on one part of the machine, over and over. The problems facing an automotive manufacturer like Henry Ford were certainly much different than they are today. The process of assembling a Model T was by any modern standard few steps and very simple ones as well.

Today’s automotive manufacturer has to design and implement processes to cover a wide range of issues Henry Ford could never have imagined. With hydraulic, electrical, computer and drive systems all failure prone areas which require accurate, concise processes to be assembled efficiently and reliably, more than just the human touch is required. That is where the computers of the modern age come in. More specifically, that is where automotive manufacturing software solutions come into play.

How Can Software Help?

There are very few industries today that don’t leverage the benefits of manufacturing management software and the auto industry is no different. Putting together a modern car relies on many thousands of processes coming together and working seamlessly together. Without some kind of automotive manufacturing software solution, tracking and monitoring all of these processes would be an impossible task. By using software for process management, countless hours of tedious process design and testing can be accomplished on the computer, not on the factory floor where every part wasted and minute of downtime count.

What Can It Do?

Process management software can do many things, depending on the product used. The most beneficial will feature a robust system allowing for total commercial automotive manufacturer software integration. These suites can allow you to build your process on the computer, not through trial and error. Once a process is completed, testing itself can be done in this virtual space. The process can then be implemented and monitored, helping to find portions of the process that can be done more efficiently or safely, with the changes then applied in real time to the process itself. This level of control can be applied to any number of processes allowing for even the most complex production to be broken down into its constituent components.

Where To Find More Information Online?

There are many good places to find more information about automotive manufacturer software solutions online. Some good places to start include researching on Google and looking at some of the top manufacturing software web sites. Choosing the right application for your business may take some time. However, implementing a successful automotive process management software system can offer a huge return. Take your time and you will reap the rewards.

Introduction to the Topic

Australia is one of only a few countries with the capabilities to design cars from scratch and manufacture in significant volumes. Car sales in Australia are also an important factor of the Australian Automotive Industry and the Australian Economy in total.

The Australian Auto Industry (A.A.I. in short) can be divided into two interrelated sectors, the Production ( Manufacturing) sector and the Car Sales (or Import-Sales) sector, both equally important for the total performance of the A.A.I. On one hand, the Manufacturing sector refers to the market conditions under which Australian Manufacturing businesses compete, by producing vehicles and related products, with the main aim of maximizing profits. On the other hand, the Sales sector refers to the market conditions under which car representative sale businesses compete, by the sale of cars and related products, having the same aim with businesses within sector one.

It is very important to state the distinction between these two sectors within the A.A.I., as we will be talking about two different market structures, business strategies, competition conditions, e.t.c. In order to analyse these market structures it would be appropriate to develop two economic models, one for each A.A.I. sector.

1.1-Analyzing the Manufacturing Sector

There is only one market structure that can best describe the market conditions in the Manufacturing sector if A.A.I., this is Oligopoly. As there are only two organizations that produce cars in Australia, and these are Ford and Holden, the competition methods and pricing strategies are based between these two organizations. The following economic model shall help define the competition and economic conditions for the Australian Automotive Manufacturing market.

The first important characteristic of Oligopoly that needs to be stated is that prices between competitors tend to be “sticky”, which means that they change less frequently than any other market structure. This statement will be explained in more detail later on, when we will be developing the Game-Theory model, as it is a very important concept of competition. The second most important characteristic is that when prices do change, firms are likely to change their pricing policies together. These two characteristics can boost up competition within the market. Firms will either try to match rivals’ price changes or ignore them. This is depended on the Game-Theory that is explained bellow.

However, the recent market conditions for the Australian Automotive Industry and the actions of the Australian Government have worsen the competition conditions and possible pricing options available for firms in the market. The production and maintenance costs for a manufacturing business in Australia are already high and rising, mostly due to lack of economic resources and advance of technology. That is, as Holden and Ford try to compete each other, given that prices tend to be “sticky”, they are forced to focus on technological advantage and marketing. Both of these business sectors produce high costs. Furthermore, the Australian government has made it clear that is unwilling to further subsidize automotive organizations in the market. All these factors stated above produce a negative effect on the competitiveness of both firms. In other words, rising costs alongside with decreased revenue push firms in experiencing lower and decreasing levels of profitability.

Profitability and the level of competitiveness are highly interrelated in an oligopolistic market structure, being the two most important factors, alongside with product differentiation, in the competition policies that the firms follow. When we say that the level of competitiveness of a firm is very low, we mean that the firm cannot react effectively to any price changes or competition changes or even changes in production costs. This may leave the firm depended on its’ competitor’s pricing and competition actions, not being able to affect the market competitiveness at all. The firm is then exposed to external danger and can be pushed out of the market, or even worse to shut production and declare bankrupt.

1.2- The Game-Theory Model for Oligopoly

The Game Theory model is used to explain the pricing and competition policies of firms in an oligopolistic market structure. Furthermore, it can show the few different competition policies based on pricing that the two firms can follow, that is High and Low as stated above. All firms in this market structure follow a Game-Theory model, although it is surely more detailed than our example, in the process of trying to forecast competitors’ pricing and competition movements and also keep track of the competition levels in the market and market share. But how does this happen?

For example, let’s say that there are four different fields, each divided in half. These fields represent the pricing strategies that Holden and Ford may use in the process of competing each other. Field A and C represent a High-Pricing policy for Holden, while fields A and B represent a High-Pricing policy for Ford. Lastly, fields B and D represent a Low-Pricing policy for Holden, while fields C and D represent a Low-Pricing policy for Ford. When both firms decide to follow a High-Pricing policy they share a profit of, let’s say, $12 million. If Holden decided to move to a Low-Pricing policy it will experience a maximum of $15 million profit, while Ford’s profitability will fall to $6 million. The exact opposite may also occur, while if both firms decided to follow a Low-Pricing policy they would realize a maximum of $8 million of profit.

What we can identify from the above example is that firms in an oligopolistic competitive market rarely change their pricing policies because this may produce a negative effect on their profitability levels. However, Holden and Ford, being the only two firms in the Australian Automotive Industry, they will focus on competing through product differentiation and marketing. That is, they will try to compete by differentiating their products, for example by producing vehicles with different features, or even base their production on technological advantage. Marketing plays an important role here, as it is the main tool that delivers and connects the customer with product. For example, if Holden introduces a new driving technology that improves driving experience and safety and produces this technology alongside with a newly designed vehicle, it is quite likely that Holden will effectively differentiate its newly designed vehicle from a relative vehicle of Ford and lure more customers in the store. Holden may also use marketing techniques to deliver this technology to the public, in the form of knowledge; hence try to boost sales without changing its pricing policy. However, it is important to state that this new technology may produce higher production costs, if not evaluated properly; hence Holden can only rely in increasing its market share to gain greater profitability. The sales part, however, will be analyzed in more extend within the next chapter of this report.

The Game-Theory is not just a theory for the Automotive Industry in Australia, it’s a fact. It shows us that auto manufacturers in Australia have based their competition strategies on all the factors stated above and as much as they possibly can on pricing strategies. They may advertise that they have low prices, but in fact their prices are very stable. If we have a close look at Holden’s or Ford’s websites, we will identify that there is a huge variety of products and each firm competes in that. However, the new market conditions stated before have greatly changed the way auto manufacturers think of the future and this in turn may change their pricing and competition policies, or even determine their existence in the market.

2.1- Analyzing the Import/Sales Sector

While the auto manufacturers are considered to be operating in an oligopolistic market structure, importing and selling vehicles or relative products is a different story. The import and sale of vehicles is the second and equally important business sector of the Australian Automotive Industry. There are many different car selling businesses and we shall only consider first-hand sales, as second-hand sales in general are not included in economics and more specifically in GDP measurements. To enter the industry hard at all as there are not many barriers to entry, however someone who is interested needs to consider of the high costs in setting up an automotive dealership. All businesses in this market are mostly based on product differentiation to compete and while prices are not “sticky”, pricing competition is set up by the market mechanism and tends not to be considered a regular phenomenon. Lastly, cost analysis and cost management play a very important role. All of the above characteristics refer to the Monopolistic Competition Market Structure. In this market structure we will focus on two phases, the short-run phase and the long-run phase, each with different competition characteristics and outcomes.

An important factor that we need to state here is that when the costs of developing a vehicle in the manufacturing sector rise, then the cost for selling the vehicle for a dealership may rise as well. This is always depended of course on if the vehicle was produced in Australia and if it was produced overseas, under what economic conditions was it produced. Price might be “sticky” for manufacturers, however prices will change much easier in this sector if needs be. Here firms will change their pricing policies if costs either rise or fall and this is always depended on the market mechanism. The amount of competitiveness along with the amount of price elasticity of demand will depend on how many rivals the monopolistic competitive firm will have to face.

In such market the following situation is very common, a situation that helps us distinct between short-run and long-run:

Stage One

In this stage the firm experiences economic profits. However, this fact will draw new firms in the market causing the profits to be competed away.

Stage Two

The economic losses indicated in this stage will cause many firms to exit the market, as they cannot keep selling under these market conditions.

Stage Three

In the final stage, the market clears-up, or reaches equilibrium point. As all firms that needed to exit the market have done so, the market mechanism comes to the point where no economic profits/losses are realized by the firms. This is the point where the market is most stable.

Studying the situation above we can identify one very important fact for any monopolistic competitive firm in the Australian Automotive Industry/ Sales sector. That is that in this market structure, in the long run, firms will realize only normal profits and the market mechanism will eventually reach an equilibrium point. Hence, in the long-run firms will compete mostly through product differentiation. However, in the short run firms may experience economic profits or losses and this is what causes firms to enter or exit the market and “shows” firms how to compete and when to apply pricing competition policies.

Conclusion

The Australian Automotive Industry may be experiencing rough market conditions, mostly because there is no more government support; however competition and profit maximization is still possible. Thinking of moving overseas is not always a good option for the manufacturing businesses, as the Australian Economy needs the manufacturing sector, as it represents a reasonably big part of GDP.
Market competition conditions are well defined for every manufacturer or car dealership, hence any business in the market ought to use the available to them competition strategies and achieve higher market share and profitability level or stabilize its profitability levels. Either way, these are the main goals for almost every profit-motivated business in any market type under any market structure. However, every business ought to define the market structure that is operating in, so that it can then clearly define its goals, strategies and policies. The market mechanism is in all cases responsible for all the above strategies and most of the cases responsible for setting up pricing policies or indicating pricing and marketing strategies.

Innovate Faster
Today’s economy, more than ever, compels innovation and a rapid succession of new models in order to remain vital and profitable in the market. The ability to reduce development cycles and development costs can be achieved by sharing expensive engineering capabilities, and dynamic, cost-effective collaborations to design quickly and efficiently more and multiple products. Effectively utilizing the latest CAD/CAM/CAE/PLM technology including 3D design to suit your specific needs can help produce more accurate, more complex designs in shorter lead times at an average of 22% and reduce non-conformance issues up to 40% when compared to standard 2D methods.

Collaborate Better
Effective and early collaboration is absolutely critical, with up to 70% of a product’s total lifecycle costs being defined during the early phases of product development. Having a supplier that understands the demands and challenges of your product development process and is able to help meet those challenges lends itself to faster innovation capacity and capability. Even if you are already implementing the latest CAD/CAM/CAE/PLM in-house a professional design services firm can provide the ability to increase your capacity by seamlessly integrating with your team to manage the demand with focused expertise.

Manage Data Effectively
The development of new automotive products and processes is no easy task. A host of design, product, and process data must be captured and managed. The better managed, and more this data can be condensed into an easy-to-search repository, the higher the quality of development process that can be achieved and the more this data can be leveraged for future designs. Vital to this end, is the creation of fully assoicative 2D production drawings, 3D solid models and 3D visualisations, rapid prototyping models, BOM’s, products with multipe configurations and model variants, simulations and analysis reports, and project management documents such as revision lists and drawing lists.

Manage Engineering Changes
Engineering changes typically occur at a rapid rate during the design, assembly, and testing phases. A change to the project can affect many documents. Utilizing the latest CAD/CAM/CAE/PLM technology can help avoid costly mistakes by ensuring that changes made anywhere in the process automatically update all product documentation, including parts, assemblies, and systems drawings.

If you are not currently using industry standard solutions, implementing this capability will require a large upfront investment of not only money but also time. A professional design services firm, having already made the necessary investments to overcome the steep learning curve and infrastructure setup for these tools, will be prepared to augment your capability quickly and cost-effectively. Acting as an extension of your team, they can provide the focused services that you need to more rapidly develop innovative designs, and create professional product and project documentation quickly and easily. You can take advantage of the following benefits:

o Achieve optimized solutions around cost and performance.
o Innovate new high efficiency products with respect to energy and resource conservation while maintaining leading positions in product performance and reliability.
o Develop and evaluate multiple design concepts with the use of engineering analysis, rapid prototyping techniques and general design skills.
o Test and evaluate models to identify best practices in design, manufacturing and performance.
o Perform component and subsystem design.

With more and more electronic and software content, hybrid power trains, drive-by-wire systems, sophisticated infotainment systems, highly optimized aerodynamic and vibration behavior it helps to be able to tightly integrate the domains of Mechanical, Electrical and Software Engineering. You need the ability to work unimpeded with ECAD and MCAD data. Electronic devices can be checked for efficient cooling by simulating convection and conduction within their designs.

Automated, parametric drawings substantially reduce the time and cost of the design, especially when the task is complex, involves intricate details, custom and broken-out sections, cavity pieces for mold generation or requires numerous changes.

With engineering services you can analyze the physical behavior of designs through simulation to improve time to market and reduce errors later in the development cycle, conduct quick stress analyses to make sure that parts can carry anticipated loads, improve designs by reducing weight without sacrificing strength. Collision detection can be invaluable, particularly in the engine area where clearances can be a major issue. These capabilities help reduce developments cost by reducing the number of needed physical prototypes.

Due to several reasons, automotive industry is looking for fuel-efficient solutions for ground solution. With increasing volatility in oil prices, growing global warming problems and increased levels of pollutions are some reasons, which are forcing the automotive market to find alternative solutions. Use of carbon fibers is regarded as one such product that can alleviate these kinds of problems to some extent.

Carbon fiber is a lightweight product specially used in heavy vehicles including tractors, trailers and others. Though there is no need of weight reduction in lightweight passenger cars, it is useful. Use of it’s composites is mainly considered in high-end cars automobiles.

It is used for making automotive bodies, gears, bearings and fan blades. It is lightweight and corrosion free substance that makes it feasible for use in automobiles. What is carbon fiber and what makes it special for use in automotive industry. It is graphite fiber and is made up of ultra thin fibers. These fibers are primarily comprised of carbon atoms. The diameter of these fibers is approximately 00.5-0.010. These are fibers are very strong as they are made of carbon and are spun together with the help of crystal alignment. With this kind of size and strength, it has produced a dynamic strength-to-weight ratio. In addition, the density of this material is quite less than other materials used for car making such as steel.

Apart from its lightweight feature and great strength, some more features make this substance quite useful in automotive market. It features low thermal expansion, electrical conductivity and high tensile strength that make it beneficial for motor sports. It is used for making automobile hoods, built-in electronic equipment in cars, novel tooling and EMI and RF shielding.

Carbon fibers are extensively used in automotive styling and racing. These days, many parts of a car are made from graphite fibers including bonnet, hood, boot, lip and fender. People who have driven these kinds of cars at least once are very impressed with the style and performance of these vehicles.

Many leading automobile manufacturers like BMW, Lamborghini, Mercedes-Benz and other high-end manufacturers are increasingly using it’s composites to reduce the weight. In addition, all these manufacturers are investing time, efforts and money over finding more use of it in their products.

A leading global carbon fiber manufacturer observed that automotive market is the largest consumer of it. These composites are preferred choice of material for concept cars as they offer design freedom and reduced tooling costs.

Lucintel, a leading global market research firm, has repeatedly mentioned in its forecasts about the growth of carbon fiber market. According to its forecast, the carbon fiber market is increasing from 9.8% per year to 13% per year for next five years.

Auto industry social networks all have different rules and protocols to create their unique identities in the auto industry and the inter-dependent automotive advertising industry. While there are differences in format, content and contributors they share the common goal to educate their community members by sharing best practices and insights with the concept that a rising tide floats all boats. To provide clarity and share my vision of the future of the retail auto industry and automotive advertising it must be framed it in the context of our changing geo-political and economic environment. Once the foundation of today is built on the broad picture of our world economy and politic, then the role of the Internet and related technologies can be applied to the one constant that we can all depend on — human nature — to help define tomorrow as I see it.

Any competitive business model must be built to accommodate tomorrow as well as today. Today is obvious. Sales volume, profit margins and inventory are down across all brands. Consumer confidence is falling as unemployment is rising even in the face of the expected temporary increase when the million plus census workers and various government employees — such as the sixteen thousand IRS agents to police our new health care system — are artificially added to the equation. Wholesale and retail credit lines are restricted by both natural business cycles and government intervention. Our economy is directly linked to the world economy along both monetary and political lines and the United States as well as our European trading partners are faced with excessive debt and unstable monetary systems. Our monetization of our debt — basically the fact that we loaned ourselves the money we needed to fund our growing debt by printing more money, since no one else would lend it to us — has insured the inevitable inflation of our dollar or some similar correction to our monetary system. This anticipated correction is already supported when observing the situation maturing in Greece, Portugal, Spain and other European Countries tied to the Euro and the International Monetary Fund, (IMF). No one has a crystal ball, so the only way to plan for tomorrow is to recap today’s critical issues that didn’t exist yesterday. It is these changes in — what was — vs. — what is — that will likely define — what will be and the actions that auto dealers and automotive advertising agencies must take to remain profitable and competitive in unchartered waters.

The current administration was voted in on a platform of hope and change with the expectation that the promised transformation of America would take place within the confines of our constitution and in consideration of our established belief in a free marketplace. The redistribution of wealth was understood by most to reflect the giving nature of the American people as a moral and sharing society. Unfortunately, the transformation began in ways that could not have been imagined by the majority that voted for it with an agenda that is only now coming to light. The inherited financial burdens on our banking system that justified the need for change were matured across Republican and Democratic party lines — as evidenced by the contributions of Fannie May and Freddie Mac to our mortgage crisis and the preferred treatment enjoyed by the unions, Goldman Sachs, AIG and other entities on Wall Street supported by the progressive political movement that is represented within both parties.

By way of disclaimer, I recognize that approximately 30% of our population believes in the collective — We the people — and the associated movement for the — workers of the world to unite — vs. the framers of the constitution that defined it as the individual — We The People — and the rights of the individual as a contributing member of the whole. That said, as the President has clearly stated, elections have consequences and I will attempt to limit my comments and future visions to only those actions that have or will have a direct impact on the auto industry and the automotive advertising agencies that are engaged to serve it.

The empowerment of the unions in the formation of Government Motors is already impacting the marketplace even while it is being challenged in the courts. The mandated consolidation of the retail distribution channels for General Motors and Chrysler preserved the interest of the unions over the guaranteed bond holders and independent dealers contrary to established rules of law. This precedence diluted expectations of both investors and corporations to rely on binding contracts and individual rights in favor of the collective we that our evolving society is expected to serve. Recent adjustments to the language in a variety of Federal powers have impacted previously accepted State and individual rights which must also be considered when projecting the future of the auto industry and automotive advertising — if not our country as a whole.

For example, the change in the definition of eminent domain from taking personal property — for public use — to the new definition — for public good — has already resulted in private and commercial property being taken at distressed market values and given to other individuals that promised a higher tax base to the governing authority based on their position that the additional tax revenue was for the public good. Similarly, the ownership of water rights in the United States has been changed from the previous Federal ownership of all — navigable waterways — to include — all waterways — such as ponds, surface streams and basically any water that the government determines can be used for the public good. The potential impact on the farming industry and our food supplies evidence a shift in government control of society that must be considered when projecting the future of any industry — including our beloved auto industry.

Given the government takeover of the banking industry, General Motors, Chrysler, Health Care and Student Loans that are now part of our history, the point becomes self evident. These single word changes and government takeover of entire industries for the public good dilute individual and corporate rights in favor of the rights of the collective. This is a basic step in the process of redistributing the wealth in accordance with Socialistic and Marxist principles. I am not judging the validity of any of these differing political philosophies since it would risk my ability to remain unbiased in my evaluation of present and pending opportunities in the auto industry. My intent is not to defend our previous constitutional republic over the shift to a Socialistic or Marxist democratic society, but rather to apply them when preparing a business model moving forward for my auto dealer / vendor clients and affiliated automotive advertising agencies.

For example, the recess appointment of Craig Becker as member of the five seat body of the National Labor Relations Board, (NLRB), suggests the intent of the administration to resume its push for the Card Check Regulation that is designed to facilitate unionizing all businesses in the United States. Recess appointments are an accepted practice used by previous administrations to bypass the Congress and the Senate to fill cabinet positions with individuals that are often blocked by partisan agendas. However, Mr. Becker was challenged in a bi-partisan manner based on his role as a senior attorney for the Unions including the CIO and the Service Employees International Union, (S.E.I.U), just before his appointment. The NLRB decides cases involving workers’ rights which directly impacts larger issues between Democrats and their labor allies vs. stated Republican party interests and those of the corporate world When coupled with the intent of Card Check regulation to eliminate the right of workers to a private vote to determine if a business can be unionized, the likelihood that retail auto dealerships will be forced to become union shops becomes a real possibility. The regulation also allows the government to intervene in the event that an employer challenges a union take over with a Federal administrator enforcing the union proposals as to wage and other terms and conditions of employment pending a final determination. Based on reduced sales volume, profit margins and increased costs of doing business the inevitability of these privately held dealerships collapsing under the financial weight of union demands is painfully obvious to any auto dealer that understands his cost of sales line items and their impact on his shrinking bottom line.

Similarly, the administration’s success in manipulating the processes in the Congress to pass its version of Health Care reform will increase expenses to auto dealers regarding insurance costs for their employees either in the form of forced coverage or penalties which must now be factored into projected operational expenses. These expenses may pale in comparison to other increases in the cost of doing business if the administrations’ next stated goal to enforce Cap and Trade regulations are passed. This legislation promises to raise the cost of electricity and other costs of goods in America on many energy related fronts.

For those not familiar with Cap and Trade regulations, think of it as a tax on carbon emissions that would be collected by yet another government controlled body to pay restitution to third world countries who have been breathing our pollution and suffering from its impact on global warming. Of course the same scientists that collected the evidence that global warming exists which supported this legislation have since reversed their position while confessing that they manipulated the data. However, that revelation has not slowed the administrations’ desire to move forward. In fact, they have empowered the Environment Protection Agency, (E.P.A.), to intercede and impose carbon taxes by claiming that carbon is a poisonous gas which they are authorized to restrict. Either way, the taxes will be imposed on American industry while other industrialized countries have already reversed their positions on imposing these same fees. This inequity in manufacturing costs will further reduce the ability for American manufacturers to compete in the world economy and will likely force the exit of many carbon producing industries to countries that do not impose these additional costs while taking their jobs with them.

Itemizing — what is — vs. — what was — has little value other than to cause panic when people realize that there is little that they can do to reverse the changes that they voted in. However, if properly framed in a problem solution format it can provide an opportunity for those that accept — what is, forget — what was, and work towards — what can be. Now comes the good news!

The solution to surviving the promised redistribution of wealth from the perspective of auto dealers and automotive advertising agencies lies in their use of technology to reduce and even eliminate certain fixed and semi-variable expenses. Brick and mortar facilities are often financed with mortgage terms and/or rent factors that were based on now dated real estate values and anticipated sales volume and profit margins to carry the debt service. The commercial real estate bubble of over one trillion dollars coming due over the next eighteen months with no current resource of funds to replace maturing commercial mortgages promise to exasperate already reduced equity positions for auto dealers. The related unsustainable debt service demands a change in the ways that vehicles are sold in the United States; can you say Internet!

Similarly, current staffing needs are often related to processes that are labor intensive. The associated human resource expense and exposure is based on a business model that is antiquated in the face of potential union intervention and government controls; can you say Technology!

Tax consequences resulting from LIFO credits that impacted auto dealerships who could not maintain inventory levels projected in their annual computations due to issues beyond their control are eliminating annual profits. As a direct result of all of these cumulative issues, even captive lenders are balking on maintaining floor plan credit lines or real estate mortgages. Minimum working capital requirements for auto dealers faced with reduced sales, profits and equity to present as collateral for much needed financing has severely limited dealer options to acquire funds to maintain operations.

As already hinted, the solution lies in shifting the focus form brick and mortar facilities to new online virtual showrooms and other Internet based applications that provide more efficient selling processes. Of course real world facilities for sales and service are still part of the projected solution as are the people that will be required to staff them. All processes start and end with people and human nature has and will survive on the Internet. However, the allocation of these resources and the associated expenses must be reduced in the face of the changes already in place as well as those being contemplated to accommodate our new role in a world economy.

Today’s car sales person must be educated to use new technologies and Internet based selling systems much like previous generations needed to be trained with the skills of a mechanized society versus an agricultural one. Computers are already an integral part of our culture so the transition shouldn’t be as hard as some may perceive. Similarly, large central distribution channels that used to provide efficiencies for manufacturing and retail outlets have been replaced by more cost effective online linked resources across the World Wide Web that reduce fixed and semi-variable expenses in a shared manner that didn’t exist before the Internet Super Highway.

Consumers have already been empowered by the Internet to bypass the auto dealer in both the real and the virtual world as the source for the information that they need to purchase a vehicle. Seeking the path of least resistance to satisfy a need is an established element in human nature. An auto dealers ability to accommodate their customers preference to be in charge of their vehicle purchase will be the key to their survival now and in the future. Online customer interaction platforms already allow a dealer to accommodate a two way video communication with real time interaction with the online shopper/buyer sourced from data on the auto dealer’s DMS and linked to their CRM. The transparency of this negotiation process allows the dealer to crash through the glass wall of the Internet with the ability to push and pull the same material that they can at their dealership. The result is the opportunity to accommodate an online transaction with the inevitable ability to reduce staff and facility needs in the real world along with the associated expenses and increased profits.

Social networking is another technology based solution that capitalizes on human nature which promises to change the face of the auto industry and the resources available to automotive advertising agencies to help their auto dealers sell more for less in the future. Consumer centric inventory based marketing platforms fueled by social networking communities that provide word of mouth advertising to virally extend the auto dealer’s branding and marketing messages represent the next generation of applied social media. C2C marketing messaging to social networking communities from the inside out vs. the now dated attempts to market to online communities with B2C messages from the outside in builds on established protocols in social media. Next generation platforms promise to monetize social media for automotive advertising agencies with integrated Ask-A-Friend / Tell-A-Friend features that allow online shoppers to solicit opinions from friends and family. Customer driven posts on their Face Book page drags the dealership and their vehicle into the conversation with the obvious advantage of the increased exposure and the associated viral coefficient to extend their message and online footprint for potential customers linked to the initial online shopper. Google agrees as evidenced by their weighted consideration of real time social media which quantifies the R.O.I. for the dealer with improved S.E.O. for the sourcing dealer’s expanding virtual showroom.

Other technology based solutions that improve online marketing processes converts the pictures on an auto dealer’s web site to professional quality videos with human voice placed on the auto dealer’s site, all third party marketing sites and even the search engines through a dedicated API with You Tube — further evidence the ability of auto dealers to expand beyond the limitations of their brick and mortar facilities and in-house support staff. Extended social networking platforms which allow an auto dealer to empower their sales staff to develop their own websites to market to their spheres of influence with management controls to moderate content and monitor use to prevent employee abuse exist today with the promise to be more widely used tomorrow to build the vision of what will be in the face of a challenging economy.

To extend my vision for the auto industry beyond the technologies that exist today requires a similar understanding that expenses and staff need to be consolidated beyond current expectations. Limited resources for consumers to purchase, finance and/or lease their vehicles won’t eliminate their need for transportation. Future financial instruments that are a hybrid of a lease and a rental agreement could allow consumers access to a pool of vehicles in a convenient central location where their Drivers License could act as a key and a charge card to apply charges against pre-paid transportation credits deducted by their employers and controlled by the government to track personal activities and location along with socially accepted consumption of our limited resources. I recognize that the big brother flavor of that vision may seem foreign in the context of what was and is, but we are talking about what will be based on the new collective society that our country has moved towards.

As for the role of the OEM and the auto dealer in the future, it would be reasonable to accept that the government’s existing control of the auto and banking industry will extend into the energy industry which will set the stage for the government determining which vehicles could be manufactured and/or imported and placed into the transportation pools with the locations determined by public transportation hubs that link to local distribution centers. The government currently owns 51 % of all real estate in the country through their mortgage interests in Fannie May and Freddie Mack and the pending commercial real estate bubble promises to shift a great deal more to public control. In addition. the government has recently changed the funding available to both organizations to be considered unlimited with the full faith and backing of the United States Treasury. That action coupled with the previously stated changes in eminent domain and the fact that millions of acres of resource rich land was recently acquired by the government to build additional — national monuments — suggests that land will be made available as needed to accomplish this community transportation system for the public good. Of course government employees will be needed to manage and staff these transportation hubs which would likely represent the auto dealer of the future.

Simply put, my future visions of the auto industry and automotive advertising is built on the past and the present with a recognition of what will be if we continue on the path that we have already chosen. I assume the constant of human nature and the role of technology in our evolution to date with the expectation that neither will change. Of course, there are consequences to elections so I suppose that I should update my projections after November, 2010 and the presidential election in 2012. In any case, the movement from the real to the virtual world has already started and will surely continue so that part of the vision should remain clear.

As a lover of technology, perhaps you too, I think I can surely relate with those who find revolutionary Google Glass applications. Such technology is a long time coming and much like 3-D printing it will change everything. Having been in the automotive sector prior to retirement (Franchisor of mobile car wash businesses) my mind usually looks at all new technology for possible automotive applications. Okay so, let’s see how this new innovation will be taken to a whole new level – let’s talk.

There was an interesting article in MIT Technology Review Blog on September 17, 2013 titled; “Google Glass as a Hands-Free Instruction Manual – A new app for Google’s head-mounted computer helps beginners with car maintenance,” by Tom Simonite which got me thinking about a once promising technology someone had come up with ten years ago, but which to date has not been implemented. The article stated; “Augmented reality company Metaio just released video of an idea that seems to make more use of the form of Google Glass.”

The article accompanied a YouTube video titled; “Metaio to Unveil First Hands-Free Car Manual on Google Glass,” by a company that has such an application ready for action.

Yes, this might be even better than the concept MIT was working on for Boeing with holographic displays alongside equipment being worked on – which would be an extension of their now decade old tablet display units. The Google Glass takes it all to a new level, better than anything or better than anyone could imagine. Essentially, you could work in a duality – blending the real world with the virtual one – immersed in instructions from an augmented 3-D image overlaying your work station or work. That is essentially what we are talking about here.

Think about seeing the object you are working on in 4-D, that is to say you’d be able to see inside the engine or motor you are working on, into the interior components, all they while you are working on the outside components removing shrouds, covers, and parts. Imagine working on a piece of infrastructure or jet engine and your Google Glass was hooked up to sensors, allowing you to see the problem in the interior as you are working. All live, all connected, and all-knowing – cool right – I know!

Think what this will do for car racing, prototype building, or the local dealership fixing, maintaining or updated your electric Tesla sports sedan. Yes, awesome. Please consider all this and think on it.

Yes, well, of course there will be endless applications for 3-D printing. It will revolutionize quite a few industries. The bonanza for consumers will be unbelievable, and it would give them the edge on customization, individualism, and one-off prototyping of the ideas and things that they themselves are interested in. For instance, every individual can become a designer of their own, design what they want on a computer and then print it in real-time. They might also become their own business person, selling their design to others, allowing other people perhaps for a few dollars to download it and print it as well.

What if your hobby has to do with cars? What if you like to tinker and modify your own vehicle? What if you designed a new dashboard, something more stylish, something that could actually attach to your current dashboard without any modification and yet give you a whole new style and flair? I see that as coming and perhaps you could call this; the rapid automotive dashboard kit. It would be a new concept, and it would have mass appeal, and if you doubt that just go to one of the annual SEMA Shows in Las Vegas.

Once you printed your new dashboard, perhaps in several components, you could use special adhesive tape which would secure it in place so it could not move. You could build something extremely exotic and cool, something which would suit you, your friends, and your passengers. Something customized, not available when you buy a new car. Perhaps the automotive industry might sponsor a website allowing people to buy, sell, and trade their latest new kits and designs.

You could buy a car and then modify it to your heart’s content, and best of all if you ever went to sell your car and someone didn’t like your changes they could simply un-attach it, and make their own changes, using their own 3-D printer right in their own home or garage. The reality is there are so many great ways to use the future 3-D printing technologies. Ways to customize the things that you want and keep yourself from slipping into the Borg of society or mass standardization. This will allow you individuality and freedom to live, create, and enjoy all there is, and if it doesn’t exist – just create it yourself.

If you can’t find what you want in the store, go online and search through hundreds if not thousands of different designs which might be more to your liking, and then start printing away, or just make your own. The world of total customization and distributive manufacturing at the consumer level is just about here. It will be an incredible new way of life. I think you will enjoy it. Please consider all this and think on it.

Bluetooth in Cars:

The new generations of cars will have an increasing number of micro controllers connected via two or more networks. An advantage of this is that the car can be individually customized by software, another that the car to great extent can have self diagnostic functions. To fully use such features, it is necessary to have a bidirectional communication between the car system and production tools as well as service tools for down loading new software and parameters and uploading of status and diagnostic messages. These production and service tool will, to a great extent be based on pc technology. The connection between car system and the tool is made via a cable, either directly to the CAN(Controller Area Network) bus via a gateway. The cheapest way is to connect the pc directly to the CAN bus by drip line but this has to be short. According to the CAN standard it should be less than 39 cm at 1 Mbit/s bitrate. Compare with USB and Bluetooth, the mobility and versatility has highly performed Bluetooth.

Bluetooth in car production:

In the car production a lot of software is downloaded as final step in the production line. This is an application where Bluetooth would be ideally suited. Bluetooth base station is connected to the production field bus. When the car on line gets connected to the Bluetooth base station, it uploads it serial number. The production computer then downloads the software for this very car via the field bus to the base station, which in turn transmit it to the car. However, this is a dedicated use and no other Bluetooth units than those installed in the cars should get connected to the cell.

Bluetooth for car service:

A scenario for using Bluetooth could be:
1) When the car enters the service station, its Bluetooth station gets contact with the service stations main computer. This has previously exchanged information with the car computer via the cell phone system.
2) The service station main computer alerts the service man allotted the task and his PC establishes contact with the car and downloads any information needed.
3) The serviceman gets any work instructions needed on his PC. When servicing the car, he can control and adjust several functions via the PC, e.g., any lights, windows, climate control, engine parameters, etc. He can also download the latest software versions to any Electronic Control Unit (ECU)
CAN/Bluetooth basics:

CAN was developed to be a base for a highly reliable communication via a twisted pair of wires that could be applied from very simple tasks to advanced real time control. To achieve this goal, it is based on the principle that every node in a system simultaneously checks each bit transmitted on the bus. By this principle a row of problems like buss access, collision detection, data consistency, etc. are solved in an elegant way. However, the condition that every node should see the same bit at the same time requires a controlled wave propagation time. This is easily achieved in a wired system but hard to achieve in a wireless system. Therefore, any wireless transmissions in CAN systems have to be made via gateways and Bluetooth offers the best possibilities for this task among the available radio standards.

The ideal Bluetooth concept for diagnostics:
The ideal Bluetooth concept for diagnostics should show the following qualities:
1 Low cost
2 Performance as needed
3 Standards as needed

To reach these goals we must have a low cost, high performance Bluetooth unit that can be used for any application. Then it has to be stripped from everything not needed by everyone, i.e., a concept like CAN. CAN provide the basic features needed by any controller network, but remaining features required have to be provided by an additional higher layer protocol. The basic Bluetooth block should take care of the RF part and the essential part of the baseband protocol that is of no or minor interest for any application but essential for the Bluetooth functionality.

Communication during production:

Using wireless communication between the vehicle and the automation system of the production line could open a way to completely new functions in the production process. Depending on the step in the process, for example during final assembly, the vehicle controller and controllers of the production line are able to exchange status information both about the product and the process.

Communication during service:

Potential applications during service can easily be derived from the scenario for the production process described above. Wireless communication between the vehicle and a computer of the service station can be used to exchange status information and service specific information. This step may be supported by a preceding data exchange using telecommunication. Wireless communication in combination with a mobile service computer offers optimum flexibility to the service personnel.

Advantages and Benefit:

The most important advantages of wireless technologies for technical tasks are more or less hidden to the vehicle customer. The benefit of such a solution is the increase in flexibility, modularity and reliability. Although the benefit cannot be experienced directly by customers it is nonetheless important for automotive industry. Additionally the potential of wireless communication on the level of technical tasks between intelligent devices and control units inside the vehicle as well as control units and man machine interfaces in the surrounding area of the car may lead to new functionalities and an increase in flexibility during production and service. The benefit for the customer is an increase in reliability. For the phases of product development the increase in flexibility is a great benefit. A simplified cable harness and wireless interfaces are advantages for manufacturing. For service, maintenance, and repair wireless interfaces are advantageous with respect to disassembly and assembly of parts. Additionally wireless communication opens possibilities for flexible connections to man machine interfaces and diagnostic systems. Although in general an electronic component for a wireless transmission unit is more expensive than a cable, there are several possibilities to reduce product cost, for example by standardization and by reduction of assembly efforts.

Conclusion:

There is a potential of up to hundreds of million per year Bluetooth nodes within the vehicle manufacturer market if Bluetooth can be used for real time control and other technical tasks. For several years a major trend in vehicle development has been the increasing number of electrical and electronic systems. Many of these systems have been introduced to offer innovations to the customer by an increase in functionality, comfort, and safety. Another reason is the partial replacement of mechanical components by electrical components or their integration into mechatronic systems.

References
1) Bluetooth in Automotive Applications
Lars-Berno Fredriksson, KVASER AB
2) The Potential of Bluetooth in Automotive Applications
Horst Wunderlich and Martin Schwab, DaimlerChrysler R&T, Germany Lars-Berno Fredriksson, Kvaser AB, Sweden
3) Optimizing Bluetooth Wireless Technology
as the Ideal Interface for Car Diagnostics -Lars-Berno Fredriksson, Kvaser AB, Sweden