How software is reshaping the automotive aftermarket

Vehicle software is becoming a new layer of the automotive aftermarket, changing where repair value sits, what equipment and skills workshops need and what it takes to gain access to a car’s systems.

Automechanika Frankfurt 2026 provided plenty of evidence. More than 112,000 visitors from 173 countries attended, with 4,400 exhibitors showcasing technologies across software-defined vehicles (SDVs), connected cars, advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS), artificial intelligence, alternative powertrains and lifecycle management.

For decades, aftermarket competitiveness was built around parts availability, logistics, technical expertise and repair efficiency. Those fundamentals remain essential, but automotive software is increasingly part of the repair itself.

A component may physically fit but still need to be authenticated, configured or accepted by the vehicle. A repair may require manufacturer access, a software reset or calibration before the vehicle can leave the workshop. A diagnostic fault may be easy to identify but harder to resolve without the right subscription, equipment or credentials.

The result is a more complicated repair process—and a different cost base.

Who controls repair in the automotive aftermarket?

The biggest commercial change may be the emergence of new barriers to completing a repair.

A workshop servicing a connected or software-defined vehicle may need manufacturer credentials, subscriptions, authenticated equipment and access to secure vehicle systems. Reading a fault code is increasingly only the first step. The workshop may then need permission to carry out the repair, equipment capable of establishing the connection and a record showing what was done.

That adds cost and time. It also creates room for businesses that can make the process faster and simpler.

Larger workshop groups can spread diagnostic equipment, automotive software subscriptions and training costs across a bigger vehicle population. Specialist providers can build businesses around diagnostics, calibration and programming. Independent workshops face a choice: invest, specialize or hand the work to someone else.

ADAS calibration is a particularly immediate commercial opportunity. As ADAS-equipped vehicles become more widespread, calibration is increasingly linked to routine, high-volume repair events such as windscreen replacements, bumper repairs and other bodywork. This means calibration is not simply a future equipment investment: for workshops that can perform it efficiently and correctly, it can become a recurring source of revenue today. The commercial opportunity depends on vehicle parc, local repair volumes, technician capability, equipment utilisation and access to the software and procedures required for calibration.

The same applies to electric vehicle (EV) capability. High-voltage equipment and training represent a cost, but so does sending EV work to another workshop.

Vehicle-data access adds another complication. Regulation may support wider access, but the practical experience can still involve secure gateways, manufacturer-specific procedures, multiple portals and subscription fees. Digital access is becoming a workshop overhead, much like diagnostic equipment and technical training.

Data becomes a competitive advantage

Data was a prominent theme at Automechanika Frankfurt 2026, from AI-enabled diagnostics to market intelligence. For automotive aftermarket businesses, its value ultimately comes down to what it can do for productivity, margins and investment decisions.

AI offers an immediate example. If it can reduce diagnostic time, eliminate unnecessary tests or help a technician reach the correct repair procedure faster, it can improve workshop throughput. That is the immediate business case.

The larger opportunity lies in using data to guide where and when businesses invest.

It is important, however, to distinguish between global new-vehicle demand and the data that matters to the aftermarket. Global new-vehicle demand is highly relevant to OEMs and their suppliers, including Tier 1 manufacturers, for production, capacity, supply-chain and market planning. For aftermarket businesses, the more important question is where vehicles are actually operating once they enter the parc. Vehicle-in-operation (VIO) data shows where those vehicles are located, how the parc is changing and where future repair and parts demand is likely to develop.

Mobility Global’s presentations covered automotive aftermarket demand, market intelligence, e-mobility vehicle-in-operation data, ADAS, autonomy and comparisons across countries and vehicle models. For suppliers and workshop groups, this information can help answer practical questions that global sales figures cannot: Where are the vehicles? Which vehicle technologies are entering the parc? How quickly are they accumulating in particular markets? Which repairs will grow? Where should money be invested?

This distinction is important when assessing emerging vehicle technologies. A rise in global sales does not automatically translate into immediate aftermarket opportunity in a particular country. The timing and location of demand depend on where vehicles are sold, how quickly they enter the parc, how they are used and which specifications and technologies they carry.

A business considering an ADAS investment, for example, needs to know not simply how many ADAS-equipped vehicles are being sold globally, but how many relevant vehicles are already operating in its catchment area and how quickly that number is growing. The same logic applies to EVs, tires, batteries and other emerging service categories.

Another important theme in Frankfurt – and one that generated significant interest - was the expansion of Chinese OEMs in Europe. Chinese manufacturers are growing through a combination of vehicles imported from China and increasing local production in Europe for European customers. At the same time, they are adapting their powertrain mix, including greater use of hybrids and plug-in hybrids, in response to regulation and market demand.

Chinese OEM growth deserves particular attention. For the aftermarket, this creates a need to understand not just how many Chinese OEM vehicles are entering Europe, but where they are produced, where they are sold and which specifications and technologies they carry. Mobility Global’s Technology VIO product is particularly well suited to distinguish between vehicles produced by Chinese OEMs in China and those produced in Europe, track where they are sold globally, and assess how the concept of “European vehicles for Europe” translates into different vehicle specifications and attributes. This provides a clearer view of when and where future aftermarket opportunities will emerge.

The better the data, the better the investment decision.

The changing vehicle parc reshapes the repair mix

Those investment decisions are complicated a car parc that is increasingly creating a two-speed aftermarket.

Millions of older cars will continue to need brakes, filters, suspension components and conventional mechanical repairs for years. That market is not going away. At the same time, newer cars are moving more repair value toward diagnostics, electronics, calibration, software access and specialist skills.

Some businesses will focus on mechanical operations, while others will invest in diagnostics, ADAS, EVs and programming or specialize in particular vehicle technologies or repair categories.

The risk is assuming that today’s mix of work will stay the same.

Higher-value jobs can migrate gradually. A workshop may still see plenty of mechanical work while losing more complex parts of a repair to competitors with better equipment or digital access. Over time, that can affect revenue, margins and customer retention.

The strategic question is which technologies will affect the vehicles and repair work that matter most to the business—and when to invest.

The car gets a digital history

Value is also shifting beyond the repair itself. Lifecycle management creates another opportunity.

Remanufacturing, condition monitoring and parts traceability are making component history more valuable. For EVs, battery health could become particularly important as cars move through multiple owners.

A credible assessment of battery condition could influence residual values, financing, warranties and second-life applications. Digital records could preserve the history of a battery or other high-value component as it passes through successive owners.

That creates a market around component condition and history,

extending into inspection, certification, remanufacturing and resale. Better information can also make it easier to decide whether to repair, reuse, remanufacture or replace a part.

Aftermarket software changes the technician’s role

As the repair becomes more complex, so does the technician’s role.

Mechanical competence remains the foundation, but technicians increasingly need diagnostic reasoning, software skills, calibration knowledge and the ability to document the work properly.

A repair may now involve identifying the fault, obtaining software access, following a manufacturer procedure, calibrating a safety system and recording the result. The workshop that can complete that process in-house keeps more of the job—and its margin.

That has direct implications for recruitment and training as the work becomes more specialized.

Where the aftermarket goes next

The lesson from Automechanika Frankfurt 2026 is about where the economics of repair are heading.

The aftermarket remains a physical business. Parts still must be sourced, stocked and fitted. Cars still need servicing and mechanical repair. But automotive software increasingly determines who can access the vehicle, what work can be performed, what equipment is required and how the repair is verified.

The businesses best placed for the next phase will not necessarily be those that spend the most on technology, but those that anticipate which capabilities their customers will need, invest accordingly and keep more of the repair in-house.

The automotive aftermarket has always depended on trust. In the software-defined vehicle era, that trust increasingly comes with evidence: the work was done, it was done correctly and the workshop can prove it.