Autosphere chats with Mark Lemay of Auto Aide Technical Services about Technician training, diagnostics and access to information amid COVID-19 and growing vehicle complexity.

These are challenging times we live in. For those in the automotive aftermarket, accelerating vehicle complexity and the need for more and more specialized skills to properly diagnose and repair cars and trucks in the service bays is creating more challenges by the day. Add to the fact that not enough technicians are upgrading their skills and the situation becomes even more acute.

Yet, according to Mark Lemay, President at Auto Aide Technical Services in Barrie, Ont., the COVID-19 pandemic, despite the restrictions it has placed on overall mobility and the drop in the frequency of visits for some service shops, it has also presented a number of opportunities.

A key one is the ability for training providers like Auto Aide to expand their audience via virtual workshops and training sessions.

Additionally, on the diagnostic side, more advanced vehicles, with more advanced electronics are also presenting issues, not only in the form of being able to properly diagnose and troubleshoot problems, but also the potential access to repair information.

In this exclusive interview with Autosphere’s Huw Evans, Mark provides an insight into how the concept of automotive technical training is changing, why technicians need to take advantage of it and what the future could hold for diagnostic repairs and servicing in the automotive aftermarket if more potential restrictions on information access aren’t properly addressed.

Disclaimer: Please note the opinions expressed in this interview are of the interviewee and do not necessarily represent those of Autosphere.ca