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Back on May 1, 2003, when President George W. Bush landed on the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln in a Lockheed S-3 Viking with “Navy One” painted on the side, clearly visible in the background was a banner stating “Mission Accomplished.” Bush critics pointed to the seemingly premature declaration as evidence of the arrogance and lack of planning regarding the Iraq War. The mission was in fact just beginning as major combat operations hadn’t ended and American military casualties continued. In fact, after the speech, casualties grew and eventually exceeded those killed before the speech — and the controversy surrounding the speech and the banner in the background made video clips and pictures of the event almost iconic.

We’ll, I’ve decided to invoke the “Mission Accomplished” banner regarding Right To Repair in the automotive aftermarket — and, in this particular case, the initial combat has been successful and the remaining fight is what will really take our true resolve and our commitment.

Without reviewing the detailed history of this issue, the fight here has always been politically positioned as a battle to preserve consumers’ freedom of choice in getting their vehicles serviced beyond new car dealerships. A vibrant aftermarket has been a vital part of the American automotive environment, giving consumers a cost-competitive and effective repair alternative that has kept America on the road for decade after decade.

The fight was always presented as a right to access to repair information — critical information needed to service today’s technologically-complex vehicles. And, in the beginning, that information was, at best, difficult to obtain and, in many cases, not available at all to those in the aftermarket.

Along the way, under the pressure of R2R, a voluntary agreement came forth from the carmakers, prompting the creation of the National Automotive Service Task Force. Over the course of the last decade, the work done by those involved with NASTF — both from the automaker and aftermarket sides — has provided a means to the end of getting the needed repair information into the hands of those in the aftermarket who need it.

Make no mistake, there is work remaining. But, for the most part, the system in place addresses the need, and that has even been recently acknowledged by many of the major principals in the fight for access to repair information. And, make no mistake, this all happened because of the pressure put forth by pending legislation.

Now, though, the real battle is before us. This fight involves such things as intellectual property rights and the high-tech components that are standard equipment on today’s motor vehicles. Emissions standards, fuel economy standards and other regulatory demands have made today’s cars and light trucks a mass of computers on wheels. Developing aftermarket components to replace those high-tech components will be a considerable challenge if the carmakers can convince regulators and legislators that, for example, the programming behind the operation of these components should be protected and solely the intellectual property of the OE developer.

That is the fight ahead of us — a fight that will require a total commitment and focus from this industry, and one that will require more than political posturing and public relations positioning. The biggest share of the battles will be at the regulatory level, both at the federal, as well as the state level — especially in California where emissions standards and the like become forged into concrete regulation and enforcement. It will be a long fight with many, many individual battles requiring our firm resolve in this specific matter.

As an industry, I know we are up for the fight because the motivation is simply survival. And, united in a cause that will benefit all involved in the aftermarket, it shouldn’t be hard to speak loudly and effectively as one voice.

Gary A. Molinaro
Editor/Publisher