First Brands Group sponsors CAT Award

Group to sponsor Training Award Of The Year category

First Brands Group sponsors CAT Award

First Brands Group – parent company of prominent brands TRICO, Airtex and Autolite – has revealed it is to sponsor a category at the renowned CAT Awards in February 2023.

One of the main focuses for First Brands Group in 2023 will be to continue to educate the industry, with technical material, partnerships and training campaigns as its top priorities.

To further support this strategy, as well as marking its OESAA membership earlier in 2022, First Brands Group has become the sponsor of the ‘Training Award Of The Year’ category at the CAT Awards, a brand new award that celebrates the best training given at all levels in the industry.

The three brands of this group are original equipment (OE) wiper blade manufacturer, TRICO, water and fuel pump manufacturer, Airtex and, recently relaunched into the UK, spark plug brand, Autolite.

Group brand and marketing manager (Europe), Sam Robinson, said: “We’re delighted to be sponsoring this new award, one that is becoming more relevant than ever as the quality and availability of training material for technicians becomes more and more important.

“There’s a new era of vehicles coming through the independent workshop and many technicians are not prepared for the technology these new vehicles have, so it’s crucial that manufacturers and suppliers are willing to offer training to technicians, so they can service these vehicles efficiently, or they will have to start turning work away.

“We have a vast range of products within First Brands Group, therefore there’s a wealth of incredible knowledge to offer, as many products in the group are fit as OE for vehicle manufacturers, as well as innovative products we’ve introduced into the aftermarket.

“One such product is Airtex’s Electro-hydraulic Control Flow (ECF) water pump; the first genuine like-for-like replacement to the patented OE variable flow water pump which is fitted to numerous VAG applications.

“The pump uses Airtex’s own patented SWITCH ECF technology, to vary the coolant flow rate to improve engine warm up time and deliver the gains in fuel efficiency and reduction emissions that the OE water pump does, but without infringing the original manufacturer’s patent, making Airtex the first company to offer the aftermarket a true performance related replacement to the OE option.

“In this case, it’s important to educate technicians on what this technology delivers in terms of fuel and cost savings to ensure they choose and fit a replacement product that offers the same benefits.

“When it comes to wiper blades, on the whole it’s a much simpler product range, but we still get questions on how to fit certain blades to different vehicles or when wiper blades should be changed.

“Again, if we can help educate technicians then they can then in turn recommend to their customers when their wipers should be replaced and fit a premium quality set, ultimately improving visibility and safety for motorists.

“We already have fitting videos on our YouTube channel, as these are proving more and more popular for those who are unsure. In addition, in the new year, we’ll be bringing out other technical material and training.

“The final product we offer the aftermarket is Autolite spark plugs, which has only just made its reintroduction to the UK.

“This is similar to TRICO – while spark plugs may be ‘easy’ to fit, there are technicalities that mechanics should keep an eye out for to ensure that they are fitting high quality products for the best fit and solution for the vehicle.

“2023 is sure to be a fantastic year for First Brands Group and we’re excited to launch our different training strategies and help in the continued education of technicians.”

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