Self-driving vehicles will revolutionize service business

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Sitting in the back seat of a Ford Fusion as it drives itself through a roundabout in a faux city on the University of Michigan campus here, I think about how self-driving vehicles will transform the service business.

The Fusion's trunk is filled with computer equipment. The midsize car's exterior has two lidar units.

Cameras, radar and other sensing equipment help the car know where it is. These components make today's complex cars seem like Tonka toys.

Autonomous vehicles could be among the biggest disruptors the service business has ever had. That may not be bad for franchised new-car dealers.

"Given the safety-critical nature of [autonomous vehicle] technologies, customers might strongly prefer strict adherence to OEM service processes and the use of original service equipment when it comes to maintaining and repairing AV systems," the consulting firm McKinsey & Co. said in a recent report.

"This could imply a disadvantaged position for independent service providers unable to afford AV maintenance systems," the report added.

If McKinsey is right, that preference may exacerbate a chronic problem for dealerships: a shortage of top service technicians.

The skills that techs will need to diagnose and repair self-driving vehicles will require much more training and expertise than today's techs possess. Dealers will have to invest more in training and probably recruiting. I have a suggestion about where they can find candidates.

This year, I judged the Michigan finals of a FIRST Robotics Competition. FIRST — For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology — is an international program for K-12 students, who form teams and design and program robots to perform intricate tasks.

The FIRST students at the competition were junior versions of the engineers I saw when I worked for Ford. (Check out FIRST at firstinspires.org.)

Ford, General Motors, Toyota and Fiat Chrysler are FIRST sponsors, along with many automotive suppliers. Competition for these students' attention is fierce.

At the Michigan event, I noticed new-car dealerships sponsoring FIRST high school teams. Smart move. Some of these students won't go to a four-year college and could be excellent candidates for tech jobs at dealerships.

"New skill sets will be needed for technicians on [autonomous vehicles], especially when it comes to repairing things like lidar systems," says GM spokesman Kevin Kelly. "There will definitely be more of a need for software troubleshooting."

Ford plans to launch a fleet of self-driving vehicles in four years, but has said little about what it will take to service them. Today's FIRST students could be a resource, says Ford spokesman Alan Hall.

"FIRST is a great program," Hall says. "It will definitely help create the next generation of techs and engineers."

Universal Technical Institute, one of the nation's largest technician training schools, is revising its curriculum in anticipation of self-driving vehicles.

"We're already seeing a growing demand for advanced diagnostic skills based on the new autonomous technology," Walt Langley, the school's vice president of industry alliance, told me.

"That demand will only increase as the next levels of autonomous features and vehicles come on the market," he adds.

The McKinsey report concludes that legal factors may influence service customers to bring their self-driving vehicles back to the dealership.

"Our research shows that nearly 60 percent of customers would follow their smart cars' recommendations for service locations," the report says.

"Beyond the benefits of a bigger after-sales revenue stream, OEMs will have a strong incentive to service these vehicles, since regulators could ultimately force them to take on the greatest portion of the responsibility and risk associated with crashes caused by AV technical failures," it says.

Service directors have a full plate trying to boost customer retention, recruit and keep technicians and address dozens of other issues. But autonomous vehicles will fundamentally change your business. It's not too early to prepare for that.