Toronto, Ontario – AirPro Diagnostics has reached the top of the pile, securing its ADAS and diagnostic equipment as the sole approved alternative to General Motors’ official GDS-2 tool.
In a move with the potential to set a consistent standard for Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) repairs going forward, AirPro Diagnostics has been granted approval by GM to offer their equipment to collision shops part of the automaker’s newly established collision centre network.
AirPro Diagnostics’ Canadian vice-president of sales, Kelly Roberts, spoke with Collision Repair about what this partnership could mean for his company and the industry at large.
“There are two big developments just recently in the AirPro world,” said Roberts.
“The first one being our partnership with adasThink and providing that technology to our customers at no additional cost. But the second and more recent one was General Motors announcing the program entry into Canada. In the details of it, the equipment requirements for GM’s program is specifically a GDS tool that the dealerships have or they can use the AirPro system. So that’s a big thing for us obviously, that recognition.”
General Motors’ requirement is to have the scan tool and software “local” or resident at the vehicle. This is an extremely important distinction for shops to understand. Every GM vehicle is validated with a GDS tool directly connected (or local) at the assembly plant when it comes off the line, before heading to a dealership. The requirement is the same in certified centres. A remote provider with a tool and software elsewhere does not meet this requirement. The full list of approved tools can be found here.
Roberts sees this partnership as a move towards the widespread standardization of ADAS repairs; a move that industry experts have long since grown hoarse calling for over the last several years and one that potentially signals a changing of philosophy in the collision repair industry.
“With standardization, we start to see efficiency. We start to see things being done correctly, no matter where they’re being done because it is what needs to be done. It’s not their opinion or their guideline—it’s their requirement,” said Roberts.
To Roberts, this approval speaks volumes to GM’s history as a trailblazer among automakers when it comes to advancing the internal technology of their vehicles.
“General Motors, they’re big. They’re one of the legacy automakers and they’re smart in what they are doing and what they have been doing. OnStar is the grandfather of this technology, which was created more than 25 years ago. In the scope of the connected car and that sort of technology, GM was a leader long before anyone else even sat down at the table,” said Roberts.
Roberts and his team at AirPro are hoping to be a part of convincing shops of the benefits of standardizing the way they carry out ADAS repairs.
“I was the manager of a GM dealership-based bodyshop for eight years at Fix Auto North Bay. I had AirPro. I was one of the first shops in Canada to use AirPro. The reason for that was because our mix of business was approximately 40 percent GM brand and the rest was off-brand. AirPro allowed us to bring the capability of dealership-level servicing of these off-brand vehicles right inside my facility. The more we could do in-house, the more we could control the quality of the repair. That’s what AirPro offers these GM dealership shops that want to get on the GM program. I think AirPro is a good option for them,” said Roberts.
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