I love cars. There is something about the power and the limitless freedom that cars offer. I also love technology. Technology is powerful and also has the limitless ability to change our lives forever. Since childhood, my grandfather has been telling me that one-day cars would drive themselves. Back in the late 1980’s “Grandpa Jack”, a WWII Veteran & engineer, would tell me story after story on how future automobiles would be self-driving, using sensors or lanes with data painted on the roads with computers guiding them. If we look at the technology today and what is on the horizon in the near future, I would say that Grandpa Jack wasn’t too far off.

Technology is infusing itself into the automotive field today and is disrupting and transforming how modern society will use automobiles forever.

The past several years have brought many businesses through cost reduction programs. In the aftermarket¹ - as well as in several other industries - that means that price is a factor that is more important than ever.

Let's start this blog post with a little exercise: Ask someone to use 30 seconds to think about what they associate with the automotive industry. Have you done it? I bet that at least one of these things crossed their minds: motor vehicle accidents, environmental pollution and unreliable dealers.

Why is that?