BY SANDY SMITH

If the first half of 2020 taught us anything, it is how closely related we are around the world. At the same time, though, it is very different — especially when it comes to car washes. So while Europe, Asia and North America may all see growing interest in car wash technology, chemicals and equipment — they do so with very different parameters, challenges and opportunities.

At the end of the day, car washes serve a vastly different automotive market in each country, with users having different thoughts on what types of cars they want to drive and how clean they want to drive them.

Here is a look at some of the major global trends in the automotive and car wash industries.

DIFFERENT VEHICLES = DIFFERENT WASH TYPES

Coleman Hanna manufactures tunnels, in-bay automatics and self-service car wash systems globally. Russell Coleman, the company’s president, sees Europeans wanting shorter tunnels and slower chain speeds than American washes. “A typical 100-foot conveyor in America can be set to wash between 100 and 125 cars per hour, but in Europe, the same conveyor will wash 50 to 65 cars per hour,” he said.

One key difference: European drivers most typically choose sedans, not trucks and other vehicles. “Europeans pay more attention to detail,” Coleman said. “The Europeans want to run the tunnel slower, safer and more gentle on the vehicles.” Because the vehicles tend to be smaller in Europe, “it is easier to adjust the equipment to clean better,” he said.

From his perspective as a German manufacturer of car wash systems, Stephan Weber, Chief Sales Officer for WashTec AG, sees a demand for higher drying performance and lower energy consumption in Europe particularly.

With chemicals, key differences are driven by environmental factors, said Doug Marquis, Vice President of Business Development for Cleaning Systems Inc., a chemical supplier for the car wash industry. “The same chemistry principles apply based on the same application methods and assuming similar geographical and environmental factors,” he said. “Environmental factors can create unique use situations, but that is also something that holds true here at home.”

Still, he believes the North American market is a little ahead when it comes to implementation of the technologies now available to the industry. “For example, I was in China this past year and the general consensus is that the car wash market there is several years, at least, behind what we see here in the U.S. Some of the western Europe markets are of course right on pace with us, but overall, there appears to be a bit of a global lag time in many international markets. We fully expected to see these markets continue to mature, and as they do the implementation of technology will follow suit.”

For his part, Allen Choi, CEO of Clean World Distribution Inc., sees continued interest in cleaning floor mats. He also is seeing a lot of interest in express car washes that want to add fast matt cleaners — the ones that can clean and dry rubber and carpet floor mats within 30 seconds. This is a “big attraction” for customers, he said.

CAR OWNERSHIP FLUCTUATING

Globally, car washes are all facing the challenge of when and how to adapt to the rapidly evolving automotive market. The pandemic has caused global auto sales to drop, anticipated to be down between 20 and 25% to 70 million passenger vehicles, according to Automotive News. That is 18.5 million fewer than analysts were predicting in January, before COVID-19 swept across the world.

The pandemic may have exacerbated a slow-arriving trend, or it may ultimately prove to upend it. A long-held belief was that Millennials would not own their own vehicles, preferring ride-share. But concerns about safety and cleanliness may end up changing all of that.

Deloitte Insights considered the impact of the pandemic on the automotive industry; a boom in auto ownership is anticipated in the post-pandemic era. Deloitte’s research found that 79% of consumers in France, 74% in the United States, 69% in the United Kingdom and 63% in South Korea said they valued vehicle ownership. “Owners can also feel more confident in the level of hygiene in their own vehicles as compared to shared transportation options,” the authors wrote.

But converting that idea into ownership was a mixed challenge — especially as that same survey found many were concerned about losing their jobs.

E-MOBILITY AND ELECTRIC VEHICLES

Whether owned, shared or some other as-yet undetermined mode, automobiles themselves are expected to change. In “Five Trends Transforming the Automotive Industry,” the PricewaterhouseCoopers authors introduced a new term: eascy. That means vehicles that are electrified, autonomous, shared, connected and yearly updated.

Another relatively new concept, electro (or e-) mobility, is a combination of electric powertrain, in-vehicle information and connected infrastructures. The powertrain encompasses either hybrid or full-electric — a concept that is starting to dominate in Europe and Asia.

In Japan (63%), Korea (58%) and China (57%) a vast majority of those surveyed in the 2020 Deloitte Global Automotive Consumer Study said their next vehicle would be electric or hybrid. Of those surveyed in North America, Mexico (64%) agreed with this the most, whereas U.S. was at 41% and Canada at 54%. Italy (71%), Spain (68%) and France (58%) also were more likely to express a desire for an electric vehicle as their next purchase.

The concept of e-mobility will not impact the way and the need of car wash but could impact the location where to wash the vehicle, Weber said. The next evolution — autonomous vehicles — will take that a step further, he said. “Autonomous cars will eventually drive themselves into specific car wash bays, hence we need to be prepared for the necessary digitization.”

If shared mobility takes hold and begins to grow again, car wash operators may need to change the way they operate, Weber said. “It may mean different processes, such as clearing and billing to a central account.” It may also mean that people who execute the wash for the fleet operator may get rewarded for redeemable time, he said.

Choi sees the biggest changes in how technology will impact marketing and the ability to reach customers. “It will probably be part of our future to communicate and market to younger generations on online platforms,” he said. “It began a while ago, but I feel a new storm of apps and software will find its way through.”

THE ROAD AHEAD

Vehicle enhancements from original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in the future could also impact car washes. Weber said that driver assistance systems are causing some challenges in tunnel systems, which need some adjustment on car assistance systems. As an example, he said, the latest Mercedes Benz GL class includes a car wash mode.

Dealers may play a role in the future of car washes, too, Weber said. “We see a lower visiting frequency at car dealers for service because of longer service life,” he said. “Therefore, some are now having public car washes rather than an internal service wash only. This shows to be vital to generate additional revenue and traffic for the car dealer.”

Marquis sees opportunities in e-commerce and vehicle recognition technology and an improvement in chemical formulations that straddle the line between performance and environmental protections. “As a global supplier of car wash chemistry, we are constantly tasked with finding ways to use science to more efficiently produce greater surface shine and also longer surface protection. If you couple that with the consumer desire for environmental awareness, it really adds up to an ongoing technology advancement effort aimed at improving the outcomes in both areas,” Marquis said.

That type of win-win is apparent in many aspects of the relationship between technology and the car wash industry. While some global automotive trends are in the midst of upheaval and car wash specific technology is adapting and changing to meet those needs, all in the midst of disruption.