b'Dear Partners,THE ROAD AHEAD Dear Partners,During times of change and potential disruption of theTaking these as the fundamentals of our industry, the status quo, the common play books often dont work soonemajorriskfortheAftermarketduringtimesof wellanymore,andweneedto\x1fgurethebestwaychangingtradepoliciesisthedisruptionofsupply forwardforourbusinesses.Thisiswhenitsmostchains around the globe. If enough supply of relevant importanttobesharpintheanalysisoftheproducts becomes unavailable due to policy changes, fundamentals and variables of business. we may get out of sync again with consequences that are more severe than potential pricing impacts.IntheAutomotiveAftermarketthedriversfortotal repair are undisputable: In 2020, it took very little time for the authorities to realize that our industry is essential to the mobility ofThe VehiclesinOperation(VIO)arearound290our nation and therefore for the health of our economy millionLightVehiclesandwehaveaverageofandfamilies.Thatswhyshopsandpartssuppliers around16.5millionnewregistrationseachyear.never closed their doors.The fact that the new registrations are only 5.6% of thetotalcarparkensuresthattheneedfortotalWe trust this wont be di\x1eerent this time and we as an repairchangesvarymarginallyevenundertheindustry will end up with a policy framework that will most adverse circumstances. allowustoprovideourfundamentalservicestoallMiles driven each year are mainly a\x1eected by totalvehicle owners at a cost that will allow them to keep employment. their cars safe and functional. And AverageAgeofthevehicleparkdrivesthe severity and cost of necessary repair. Simply, because there is no alternative to that!Those factors determine the volume of business in theYours,Aftermarket and no tari\x1e or subsidy will change that.Becausethesefactorsarealsoverypredictableand slow to change, the forecasts of total parts needed are ratherprecise.Currently,wecanassumethatsupply and demand are in reasonable balance again after the disruptionduringtheCOVIDyears. ThisrebalancingThomas Beerwas achieved by mostly the same supplier base fromCEOthe same countries of origin.'