Although some areas will be able to continue without much problem, such as those related to bodywork and painting, traditional shops could be at a disadvantage when seeking training around these and buying tools for it, such as scanners.
Guillermo Rosales, president of the Mexican Association of Automotive Distributors, points out that since these are relatively new technologies, the maintenance of these vehicles is still being carried out in workshops authorized by the distributors, but the transition towards electromobility is practically an evolutionary process.
Of the total number of mechanics in the country, 20% corresponds to authorized distributors, while the other large percentage are independent workshops, some informal.
“The authorized workshops, by having information on the models from the assembly companies, will have greater ease of adaptation, situation that for independent mechanics is not so favorable,” says Rosales.
The consulting firm JD Power estimates, in its 2021 Long-Term Service Satisfaction study, that independent workshops generate 15.2 million repair orders per year, a higher figure compared to that of authorized workshops, which is 10.1 million orders.