TecTalk - Automotive Aftermarket Podcast · Christian Müller - VP Marketing at TecAlliance

#05 with Erik Hjermstad, Vice President Product Management at Experian Automotive

·43 min·2 clips

The episode opens on automotive data. The host frames Experian Automotive and Eric Jarmstead, its Vice President of Product Management, as part of a conversation about the aftermarket, then uses EVs to show how often the industry now thinks in tech terms. EVs are a comparison point. The discussion asks what kind of vehicle or technology breakthrough would have to arrive to shift the market faster, and whether government pressure is the main near-term force that could push adoption. The host then turns to aftermarket business. That leads into a discussion of Experian's automotive and aftermarket offerings, the differences across the markets it serves, and the kinds of data problems that show up as e-commerce and in-vehicle systems generate more information. Hiring enters the picture. The conversation notes how hard it is to recruit qualified people for data-related roles, a problem that reaches well beyond the automotive sector. The biggest distinction is measurement. Sales are comparatively easy to track because the transaction is visible, while service is scattered across franchise dealers, independent repair shops, and DIY work. Fragmentation changes the math. The guest explains that useful measurement comes from combining VIO data, consumer contact data, and the service data available from each partner, then asking what penetration was actually achieved. The conversation also gets into the internal politics of analytics. Some customers are fully aligned, but others need reporting that helps them prove to the rest of their business that the strategy is working. That is a revealing detail. It shows how often data products are sold not just to the market, but to the rest of the buyer's own organization. The closing stretch looks forward. Experian's role is described as staying with the market and trying to remain at the leading edge with data, software, and technology. The tone stays patient and practical. By the end, the episode has made the aftermarket's data picture easier to see.

As heard by us

A data-first look at how the aftermarket measures service, sales, and internal proof.

TecTalk frames the automotive aftermarket as a data problem, and Eric Jarmstead of Experian Automotive keeps the focus on practical questions: how vehicle data is read, how markets differ, and how the business measures what matters for sales and service.

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Why you'd press play

If you want the aftermarket explained through data, not slogans.

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