The Era of Future Cars... Maintenance Industry Also Struggles "Must Prepare for Transition"

[Asia Economy Reporter Yu Je-hoon] The industrial transition driven by electric vehicles and autonomous vehicles does not only affect the complete vehicle and parts industries. The automotive repair industry, a part of the 'After Market,' as well as the entire transportation and logistics sectors such as taxis and delivery services, could undergo significant changes in the distant future.

The automotive repair industry is the most directly impacted. According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's status of automobile management business operators, as of the end of March, there are a total of 36,247 automobile management businesses nationwide, employing 96,269 people.

In the case of electric vehicles, the number of parts is about two-thirds that of conventional internal combustion engine vehicles, so the maintenance demand is lower. There are no engines or transmissions, which constitute a large portion of automobile repairs. In fact, the German government-affiliated Transport Advisory Committee (NPM) recently released a report pessimistically forecasting that by 2030, half of the 800,000 jobs related to the automobile industry could disappear due to the spread of electric vehicles.

An industry insider said, "Even now, due to the advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), the number of minor and major accidents has decreased significantly, and the quality of new cars has greatly improved, causing difficulties for automobile repair shops and frontline car centers. As the sales of electric vehicles equipped with advanced technology increase, the workload inevitably decreases."

In response, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy is launching the 'Future Vehicle On-site Workforce Training Project' starting this year to cultivate manpower in repair sites. Over the next five years, it plans to utilize specialized colleges nationwide with automobile departments as base educational institutions to support technical training for about 480 on-site personnel annually.

However, the industry believes that there are limits to such job transition training, and a two-track approach is necessary for the smooth landing of the repair industry. Go An-su, head of the Korea Automobile Inspection and Repair Business Association, said, "There were many concerns when navigation systems and black boxes were introduced, but ultimately, existing repair workers increasingly handled these devices, and conversely, the IT and electronics industries entered the automobile market, creating new business opportunities. At the government level, it is necessary to lower barriers so that various related industries can converge and develop in the future vehicle era, while carefully preparing institutional improvements and job transition training to ensure that related workers do not suffer from employment insecurity."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.