This month's news items offer a fascinating insight into the development of the lubes and automotive industries.
Firstly, there's the continued drive for improvement in engine oils. This broadly falls into three areas: technology, marketing and education - all of which go hand-in-hand.
The ongoing pressure of emissions regulations is pushing the industry ever-harder to develop synthetics that can help automakers meet the new standards.
In Japan, the auto industry is working with lubes producers to develop its own SAE 0W-8 standard which will launch, initially, in Japan but will be ready for the ILSAC GF-7 specs when they eventually arrive.
Meanwhile, the AAA has released research in the US demonstrating synthetics can offer 50% better engine protection after a factory-recommended oil change. And the API is helping to make it easier to bring products to market by offering provisional licences in certain circumstances under API 1509 regulations.
Certainly this is good news for the lubes industry, but what about the consumer? The need for consumer education clearly remains a vital part of the marketing process. Recognising the long-term cost benefits of using synthetic lubes - or conversely the financial and mechanical damage of using badly-labelled or poor quality fluids - needs constant explanation.
Part of that education is about engendering trust in the repair and service sector. Sadly, the AAA survey also highlights continued consumer wariness of repair shops due to poor recommendations or over-servicing. This is a subject very close to the heart of OATS' parent company, HaynesPro, and is an area we are striving to improve globally.
From an automotive perspective, there's the rise and rise of electric vehicles (EVs). Influenced particularly by China's agenda to reduce vehicles emissions as part of it's wider pollution-busting strategy, EV production is now becoming mainstream. Consumers of hybrid vehicles are no longer innovators, they are early adopters and even the early majority in some countries.
The rapidly-changing EV landscape is particularly well summarised by expert Roger Atkins in an interview which examines the global EV outlook. His views are supported by the latest announcement from Volvo that from 2019 all of its vehicles will have some form of electric power. Toyota is speeding up its EV development and SAIC GM in China is investing billions in EV development.
This, too, will present new challenges for the lubes industry as automakers require fluids that can meet a whole new set of technological demands.
As always, OATS will be providing the data and systems to help lubes producers, OEMs, marketers and consumers find a harmonious match betweem products and technology. To find out more about the ways OATS can help enhance your business, simply contact us via e-mail.
Peter van der Galiën and the OATS team.