This year’s Winter Tech Week will be held in Tokyo, Japan Decmeber 3-6, 2012. ETI encourages you to register ASAP if you haven’t already signed up. Winter Tech Week is your opportunity to ask questions about data to the OEM Overseas Personnel that provide the data, and to forge relationships beyond the US OEM Subsidiaries.  Participating OEM’s include: Honda, Mazda, Nissan, Subaru, and Toyota.  Our host cmpany for the meetings will be Bosch Corporation in Shibuya.  We will once again be staying at the ANA Intercontinental in Akaska, Tokyo, Japan where we will have our OEM Appreciation Dinner.  
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Your Membership experience is important to ETI.  And it should be important to you.  Member engagement is the result of investing time and/or money with the association in exchange for value. The more of these precious resources you invest, the more engaged you are.  Getting value through engagement.  The value for you as a member doing the engaging, as well as the value of that engagement for ETI.
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Why are automakers able to accomplish Service Readiness in there dealerships while the aftermarket struggles?  One answer of course is that dealers are mandated by the automakers to train their technicians.  If you want to remain a dealership in good standing there is a requirement to train technicians to specified levels.   If we want to duplicate dealership service readiness in the aftermarket, we will need to create some sort of mandate, and I’m not the only one saying it.  There were several attendees during ASRW and AAIW presentations that brought up the possibility of some sort of certification requirement for aftermarket shops as a means to move Service Readiness along.

I know I’m on dangerous ground here.  Whenever mandates are mentioned the first thing that pops into people’s heads is government certification and/or licensing, but mandates can come in many forms. Read the article here

Massachusetts voters approved a right-to-repair bill that will require auto manufacturers to provide repair shops with computerized data used in the diagnosing and repairing of late-model cars. The vote supersedes a negotiated agreement between car manufacturers and repair shops. After being approved by the state Legislature, the agreement was signed into law by Gov. Deval Patrick, but at that point it was too late to remove the question from the ballot.

The two sides were prepared to run an ad campaign urging voters to skip the question, but the situation changed in October: a right-to-repair coalition urged voters to approve the question. AAA Massachusetts also urged a “yes” vote.  “Your vehicle produces valuable information about its health and condition. AAA thinks you should own this information, all of it, and should be free to share it as you see fit,” AAA said before the election.

Despite voter approval of the bill, the Legislature can make changes or even reinstate the compromise agreement. Under the compromise, all new cars sold in the state would have to, by 2018, include onboard diagnostic and repair-information systems easily accessible with a typical laptop computer. The ballot question requires such systems by 2015.  

A coalition of repair shops and parts dealers obtained 120,000 signatures to put the question on the November ballot. It received support from about 85 percent of voters.

In October, a fourth SAE International Cooperative Research Program (CRP) was launched by the automotive industry to further analyze the safety of the new mobile air conditioner refrigerant, R1234yf. The participants in the 2012 R1234yf CRP include Audi, BMW, Chrysler, Daimler, Ford, General Motors, Honda, Hyundai, Jaguar Land Rover, Mazda, PSA, Renault and Toyota.
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President Barack Obama's second term likely will include a return to an agenda of support for electric vehicles and also could clear the way for new rules on tailpipe emissions and auto safety that his appointees have been eager to release.
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JD Power and Associates Global Automotive Blog

China’s domestic brands outpace the industry in initial quality improvements, according to our 2012 China Initial Quality Study (IQS). Remarkable advances by the domestic brands have been made in three areas: ease in shifting gears (manual transmission); fuel efficiency; and incidence of brake dust. However, none of the Chinese domestic brands rank above industry average in initial quality in 2012, which means there is still significant room for improvement.

Strong yen, falling sales, aging product undermine automaker after nearly 3 decades.  American Suzuki Motor Corp., rocked by a plunge in volume while the industry has climbed back from recession, is ending U.S. auto sales after nearly 30 years and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.  The company said it will maintain its motorcycle and marine engine business units and will continue to honor auto customers' warranties. Japanese parent Suzuki Motor Corp. is not seeking protection from creditors, the company said.
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For our brains, being in the Internet Age is like being a five-year old in a candy store. But while five-year olds in candy stores have tons of fun, they aren’t known for achieving great things. Sometimes, your brain just needs to accept it can’t always get what it wants. Your brain needs structure and focus. Here are ten ways to improve productivity by preventing your brain from turning work into playtime.
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With the domestic hotel industry on the cusp of a widespread recovery, operators are breathing a sigh of relief. But business travelers who have gotten used to low rates, the ability to book at the last minute and perks like free Wi-Fi and parking are less enthusiastic.  “We’re going to be seeing well-above-average increases in average room rate for at least the next three to four years,” said R. Mark Woodworth, president of PKF Hospitality Research.
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SparkMinute

Social media rearchitects itself very quickly. Our ability to change behaviors is not nearly as fast. This timing dichotomy results in seemingly appropriate behaviors that come off as thoughtless or self-serving. New tools and capabilities in social media have created new norms, some good, and others that unfortunately encourage repugnant behavior.  
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