The AAAA was on-hand at the AAPEX and SEMA shows recently, taking part in a number of important presentations

The Australian Automotive Aftermarket Association (AAAA) was well represented at the recent SEMA and AAPEX shows in Las Vegas, with Chief Executive Officer, Stuart Charity, and Director of Advocacy, Lesley Yates, taking advantage of a number of valuable opportunities to engage with international industry leaders.
As major events of international importance, AAPEX and SEMA brought together key players from aftermarket associations worldwide, encouraging important discussions on current issues in the sector.
As part of their work at the shows, Stuart and Lesley represented Australia at the Associations in Motion Congress, and the National Automotive Service Task Force (NASTF) General Meeting.
“Having representatives from aftermarket associations worldwide in one location made our time in Vegas invaluable for connecting, exchanging insights on key issues, and sharing our experience in creating a world-first mandatory data sharing law,” Stuart said.
“I had the privilege of speaking at the National Automotive Service Task Force (NASTF) General Meeting to their Board and Members, providing our best practice recommendations about right to repair, which was well received, including many questions.”
AAAA’s reputation as a world-leading aftermarket association was prominently showcased at the Associations In Motion event, an international gathering focused on three critical themes: the right to repair, industry skills shortages, and trade show and visitor experiences. Stuart and Lesley contributed to the event with presentations on two key topics.
Lesley presented an update on Right to Repair from an Australian context, and shared successful AAAA tactics, including documentation created during its campaign around excuses car makers would come up with for not sharing data, and the real reasons. The AAAA will provide this documentation as a resource for participating associations, enabling them to adapt it to their markets and support their right-to-repair campaigns. Other associations were also interested in following the AAAA’s strategy to have workshops engaging with MPs and encouraging them to visit to hear their stories. This forms part of the AAAA’s broader best practice strategy on how to run a right to repair campaign, including best practice for legislation.
Stuart presented an industry skills and training update and shared learnings from the AAAA’s member association survey on the skills shortages in their areas and ways associations can collaborate on training programs and delivering what technicians need from the best trainers.
The valuable information shared by Stuart and Lesley was so well received, they were also invited to attend and present at SEMA’s ADAS Working Group Committee during the show, sharing their knowledge and experience in this critical area.
Alongside these speaking engagements and a wide array of private meetings, the AAAA also hosted its annual ‘Aussies in Vegas’ event at SEMA, offering a relaxed networking evening for Australian companies and industry members who proudly showcased high quality Australian aftermarket products and services at SEMA.
“The vital groundwork we undertake at these events enhances the AAAA’s connections, improves the Association’s service offering for members, and further focuses our advocacy efforts into the future,” Stuart said.

To learn more about the AAAA, visit www.aaaa.com.au