The Automotive Aftermarket in Transition:
Shaping the Future With the Right Product Data Strategy

The European automotive aftermarket is undergoing constant—often structural—change. According to the Boston Consulting Group, the European aftermarket will continue to grow through 2035, but not without major shifts in its structure. Despite a steady growth rate of around 2% annually, the market is becoming increasingly complex, driven by new technologies, evolving customer demands, and regulatory requirements.

Key drivers of change include:

• Electrification: By 2035, more than 30% of new cars will be fully electric, fundamentally altering maintenance and parts requirements.
• Longer vehicle lifespans: Cars are being kept on the road longer, increasing repair needs and demand for replacement parts.
• Driver assistance & digitalization: Connected and sensor-driven systems reduce collisions but heighten diagnostic and technical requirements.
• E-commerce & platform economy: Online platforms increasingly control the customer journey, particularly in spare parts sales.
• Fleetification: Fleet and leasing vehicles dominate, requiring digitally integrated processes.

These shifts place traditional repair and parts distribution under pressure. Independent aftermarket players must adapt to remain competitive: they need to support both new vehicle technologies and the established car parc.

Across all touchpoints, customers now expect fast, seamless, and consistent access to the information they need—whether for spare parts, components, or entire vehicles. This can only be achieved through digitalization and data sovereignty.

The growing number of vehicle models, components, and configurations makes the market increasingly complex.

The aftermarket is shaped by:

• Data fragmentation: Information scattered across OEMs, ERP, PLM, supplier, and TecDoc systems
• Diverging standards: TecDoc, ACES, PIES, and others
• Complex product relationships: Which part fits which vehicle in which configuration?
• Rising requirements for transparency and reporting cross products, variants, and markets

Mapping these diverse data sources and relationships consistently is a strategic necessity. However, the task is highly complex and cannot be managed without a powerful Product Information Management (PIM) system.

Bertsch Innovation’s AutomotivePIM was designed specifically for the Independent Aftermarket (IAM). More than a traditional PIM system, it integrates a full-featured Digital Asset Management (DAM) solution for images, drawings, and videos—providing a comprehensive answer to the challenges outlined above.

Standardized output to:

Highlight: IDP interface for real-time publishing of product data directly to TecDoc.

A specialized PIM solution creates value for a wide range of stakeholders in the Independent Aftermarket (IAM)—whether manufacturers or distributors, and regardless of which departments use the system.

• Product Managers
  With AutomotivePIM, product managers can ensure that all product-related information is stored in one centralized hub. This enables efficient management, updates, and distribution of data. Thanks to integrated PLM capabilities, AutomotivePIM can be applied early in the product development and evaluation phase. This allows product managers to begin data maintenance from the start, eliminating redundancies caused by duplicate entries across multiple systems.

• Marketing
  Marketing teams benefit from a PIM as the single source of truth for product data, images, and videos. When information is managed across different sources, errors are almost inevitable. A specialized PIM consolidates all content centrally, ensuring consistent, accurate, and targeted messaging that can be automatically delivered across all relevant channels.

• IT Departments
  IT leaders can rely on AutomotivePIM to integrate seamlessly into their existing technology stack. Its API-first approach provides extensive flexibility, guaranteeing smooth data flows and effective collaboration across systems and departments.

• C-Level Executives
  For executives, AutomotivePIM delivers transparency across product assortments and revenue streams. As a single source of truth, it ensures strategic visibility and supports informed decision-making at the highest level.

Companies still relying on manual processes with Excel, ERP, and similar tools risk drowning in data chaos and losing competitiveness.
In contrast, businesses adopting industry-specific solutions secure clear advantages.

AutomotivePIM unites PIM and DAM in a single platform, designed specifically for the automotive aftermarket.

AutomotivePIM enables:

• Faster time-to-market through synchronized processes across the product lifecycle
• Optimized market coverage with data-driven assortment planning
• Improved collaborationacross R&D, procurement, marketing, and sales
• Scalable support for internationalization and new digital business models

The transformation of the automotive aftermarket is ongoing. Companies that invest now in a specialized PIM solution like AutomotivePIM will achieve:

• Digital sovereignty
• Competitiveness in e-commerce
• Transparency at all management levels
• The ability to make faster, better decisions

The key to the IAM’s future lies in data. AutomotivePIM makes it actionable.

Source:
– Roland Berger: European Independent Automotive Aftermarket Panorama / 10.2024
– Boston Consulting Group: At the crossroads – The European Aftermarket in 2035 / 09.2024