The AAAA was well received at the recent Supercheap Auto Conference

Australian Automotive Aftermarket Association (AAAA) Director of Government Relations and Advocacy, Lesley Yates, attended the recent Supercheap Auto Conference to communicate the latest trends in the Aftermarket sector.
Every year Supercheap Auto brings together its network leadership team – which is made up of store managers and area managers as well as key team members from its support office and its senior leadership team – for a series of workshops, strategy sessions and trade partner presentations.
Supercheap Auto says the purpose of the conference is to build a strong retail team, and to ensure that every part of its business is aligned on its business strategy for the year ahead.
This year the conference was held at the RACV Royal Pines Resort on the Gold Coast across September 5 to 9.
Lesley was invited to participate in one of the panel discussions at the conference and to talk to the audience about trends, opportunities and challenges in the automotive industry.
“Her talk was illuminating around challenges such as skilled labour as well as opportunities such as the growth of electric vehicles,” Supercheap Auto Head of Marketing, Julia Willcox, said.
“As AAAA is a key partner for Supercheap Auto, it was invaluable having Lesley at our conference and many of the store network team were able to meet Lesley and ask her questions.”
Lesley said she fielded a lot of questions about collision repair and the new mandatory data sharing law.
“There was a lot of interest from the collision repair professionals and (there was) a desire to know more about how to access the (data sharing) system,” Lesley said.
“I talked about AASRA (the Australian Automotive Service and Repair Authority) and what its function was – why it is so important to be registered on that site and what benefits there are.
“I also discussed what is, and what is not, in our new Law and that it certainly applies equally to collision and mechanical repair.”
Lesley said there was a lot of enthusiasm for the new law.
“There was a lot of optimism about what it will deliver for the sector and a lot of interest in learning more about AASRA – specifically how to get on board,” Lesley said.

Julia said the conference was a great success.
“Our Trade Partners, who are key to the success of our business, were invited to participate in an expo. They put on an amazing expo event for our team members with demonstrations, new product launches and competitions,” Julia said.
The Trade Partner Expo was followed by a formal awards dinner where Supercheap Auto awarded a number of trade partners with some special accolades. Recognised were:
• Trade Partner of the year – Bendix
• Retailers Choice Winner – Motoractive
• Most Successful Product Launch – Chemical Guys
• Most Innovative Trade Partner – Karcher
• Outstanding Strategic Trade Partner – Kincrome

For more from Supercheap Auto, visit www.supercheapauto.com.au