Behind ATR are the 3 German wholesalers Matthies, Stahlgruber and WM AG as well as further partners from abroad. All of them together make up ATR International AG, one of the biggest cooperations in the automotive parts sector both within and outside Europe – it made a turnover of around 3.7 billion euros in 2009. MAHLE Aftermarket news spoke to Roland Dilmetz, a member of the ATR management board, about the market opportunities and risks.
 | Roland Dilmetz, CEO of ATR International AG, knows the automotive parts market like hardly any other. |
MAHLE Aftermarket news: As the CEO of ATR International AG you currently have the best insight into the situation of automotive parts dealers and workshops. How do things stand after the financial crisis and scrapping premium?
Roland Dilmetz: Our dealers and workshops are profiting from the crisis at the moment. The shift in the volume of service and repair work from contractual to independent workshops more than compensated the losses through the both ecologically and economically absurd scrapping premium. At the same time we are currently noticing a recovery of the eastern European market – and thus a sensitisation for market and economic aspects. One example is stock keeping, where only a few years ago the warehouses of the eastern European companies were full to the brim and tied up a huge amount of capital; in the meantime an optimisation of stocks has taken place. This sort of process naturally calls for efficient wholesale partners and parts manufacturers who have to ensure the flow of goods.
MAHLE Aftermarket news: ATR cooperates with a total of 104 partners in industry. 32 of these, including MAHLE, have an IPAS status. What’s so special about this?
Roland Dilmetz: The 32 “International Preferred ATR Suppliers” (IPAS) are those with whom we make around 70 % of turnover in the corresponding merchandise groups. This makes the IPAS by far our strongest supplier partners in Europe. This rating is an indication for workshops of a particularly reliable automotive parts manufacturer. Because it goes without saying that special quality and performance criteria have to be met to achieve the IPAS status.
MAHLE Aftermarket news: The roots of the cooperation with MAHLE stretch back to the 1970s …
Roland Dilmetz: So that the dialogue is particularly intensive and constructive. We have also regularly helped MAHLE solve problems of a mutual interest in the past. In this respect both we and our customers are very satisfied with MAHLE.
MAHLE Aftermarket news: So ATR acts like a mediator on the market – between vehicle manufacturers and workshops. How do workshops profit from this?
Roland Dilmetz: We can offer around 50 different service modules within our 3 workshop and specialist store concepts in Germany – right through to workshop equipment or the construction of new business premises. We are also active in other European countries and beyond. If our cooperation partners there already have their own workshop systems we provide support for their expansion. After all, the market is changing constantly – and we have to change with it.
MAHLE Aftermarket news: Another topic that is dominating the industry throughout Europe is the reorganisation of the block exemption regulation (GVO) …
Roland Dilmetz: The resolution of the vertical or “umbrella” block exemption by the EU Commission on 20.04.2010 is an important step that both benefits drivers and helps secure the future of the independent repair and service market. A specific regulation for the aftermarket will also be passed in future, the so-called “Aftermarket-GVO.” The ATR involvement in the “Right to Repair” campaign, which is also supported by MAHLE, is along the same lines. However, we have noticed a tremendous lack of information amongst drivers when it comes to the topic of the free choice of workshop. Most of them are unaware that they can still have their cars serviced in an independent workshop during the warranty period.
MAHLE Aftermarket news: ATR has also developed from a simple purchasing cooperation into a militant all-round service provider for the independent service and repair market …
Roland Dilmetz: Workshops and specialist trades need one thing above all others apart from top quality goods at the right time and in the right place: information. Our top priority thus has to be to ensure the flow of information from the manufacturer to the workshop. But if a workshop wants to not just survive but also have lasting success in a constantly changing market it has to offer not only professional training and work, it has to present itself as a professional too – through a signal system, work wear, marketing and much more.
MAHLE Aftermarket news: Can a workshop afford not to be a member of a workshop concept in this day and age?
Roland Dilmetz: I am certain that there are still good workshops out there which are very successful without a workshop system. But these workshops have to put in an enormous amount of effort. After all, they have to provide those modules and elements offered by a cooperation on their own – and this means a much higher financial burden too.
MAHLE Aftermarket news: Mr. Dilmetz, we would like to thank you for the interview and wish you, ATR and its customers every success.
ATR International offers its workshop and specialist trade customers access to various concepts that can be tailored to their specific needs with individual modules and elements – in Germany, for example, the AC Auto Check workshop system.