Fixed Ops Journal - August 2019 - F32

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Its first customer plans to launch the system
next year, said Michael Crane, Continental's
North American vice president of body and
security systems. I asked Crane about those
pesky intermittent electrical problems and
how the new system will reduce them.
"Today's wiring harnesses are still a source
of reliability and durability issues," he told me.
"It's one of the things that could wear out,
especially as these vehicles age. The harness
could get pinched or chafed. That is
incredibly difficult to find.
"Dealers don't want to have to deal with that
because it means tearing the car apart," Crane
said. "And there is no more remove-andreplace. You've got to debug, and that is a lot
of intensive work. We are moving away from
that."
Electrical problems caused by accidents
also should become easier to fix because of
the reduction in wires, Crane noted.
Abuelsamid added: "Instead of technicians
digging around in the car in the cracks and

crevices trying to find the computer he or she
needs to fix, there will just be a handful of
computers mounted relatively centrally in the
vehicle. They should be easier to repair."
Another issue is serviceability of older cars.
Many dealerships don't keep diagnostic
equipment and special tools around for
vehicles that are long out of warranty and
aren't in demand. Original equipment
replacement parts can be hard to find a few
years after production ends. At the same time,
a recent study by IHS Markit concluded that
the average age of vehicles on American roads
is 11.8 years.
"Today, when I go out of production, I have
a 17-year service life obligation," Crane said.
"And we have an aftermarket service part of
our business. We'll continue to supply our
customers according to their requirements."

Over the air, not in the shop
Among the features of the new electrical
systems are over-the-air updates, a strategy
put into wide practice by Tesla and now being
adopted by GM and other automakers.
Instead of a customer returning to the

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FIXED OPS JOURNAL

"One thing the service
industry is probably going
to lose on is doing the
software updates."

SAM ABUELSAMID, Navigant Research

dealership to have some part of the vehicle
reflashed, it can be done remotely, as when
your smartphone downloads an app or has its
operating system updated. Over-the-air
updates might eventually reduce a
dealership's fixed ops revenue.
"One thing the service industry is probably
going to lose on is doing the software
updates," Abuelsamid said. "Today, for
software updates, customers have to go to the
dealer or a garage to have those done on-site.
Now, it is going to be over-the-air updates for
most software."
These over-the-air updates will not just
upgrade the car's operating system but also
will add features and functionality. Even
though dealers might not feel the impact of
these new electrical systems right away, it's
not too early to start thinking about strategies
to offset this potential loss of revenue. n

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Fixed Ops Journal - August 2019

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