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Compromise on Plugs? No, You Don't Wanna Do That! by Brian Taylor Today’s technology does not allow for compromise on the part of the professional. That’s the stark message from spark plug manufacturers to installers - be they garage mechanics or DIYers. And if a garage chooses to compromise, their customers will not get the benefits of improved ignitability, smooth idling nor the overall level of performance he or she rightly expects. However, they might get a fine for polluting the atmosphere and a bill for a replacement CAT. The Western European sales trends for spark plugs show that although the original equipment market for plugs is slowly growing, despite a growing parc of vehicles the aftermarket is gradually reducing as plugs last longer and service intervals extend. This is producing excess plug production and extreme competition by manufacturers and distributors for the remaining market opportunities.
Spark Plug Sales Forecasts for Western Europe
Source; FT Management – The Global Automotive Components Report Until recently, the UK aftermarket for spark plugs was put at around 67m units and £210m. And potentially it should be. But some players now put it much lower at around £140m. The difference accounted for by lost sales linked with older vehicles not having plugs replaced frequently enough as they move out of structured service regimes. Bosch, Champion and NGK are the UK market leaders. Like many other areas of the UK automotive parts and service market it is very price sensitive – partly driven by competition, but also by a lack of knowledge amongst car owners and the trade, making it difficult for consumers to see the added value of the latest plugs because installers are unable or unwilling to sell the benefits. Getting the Message Across But benefits there are. We are now living in a world of ever extending service intervals that rely on the right plug being fitted. Zed Abdullah, Product Manager for Bosch spark plugs comments, "Fitting the right spark plug has never been more important than it is today. To control emissions in the face of tougher legislation and also to protect the CAT from damage caused by unburned fuel, exactly the right plug is crucial to meet performance requirements of today’s finely tuned engines". Although service intervals tend to be user driven rather than VM service schedule driven as cars get older – the perception will still be that ‘my car doesn’t require servicing as frequently as earlier cars I owned’. So after having it serviced – maybe because it was in the garage for a fault so the car owner thought he may as well have it serviced while it was off the road – it might not get another service until something else goes wrong. So it really needs the right plug because some cheaper plugs might not last the distance. As Zed Abdullah says, "Spark plug replacement cycles have increased from typically 6,000/9,000 miles to 36, 000 miles or more, so the latest plugs must be capable of sparking over 60 million times in their lifetime". Non resistor plugs could interfere with the engine management system; excess pollution could damage the CAT and cause the car to fail an emission check or MOT. All these are valid reasons that justify a good quality plug being fitted. Reasons a motorist will understand adds value to a car component previously considered as a commodity. He will therefore be prepared to pay a premium for it – provided the garage concerned explains the situation. Garages Increasingly the Focus of Plug Replacement And increasingly garages are where the majority of plugs are sold. Around 75% of all aftermarket plugs are installed at garages and this is set to increase further as the demise of the dark art of DIY servicing continues. The latest issue of the Castrol Car Service and Customer Satisfaction Trend Tracker shows how owners of older cars are moving away from DIY and back to installer channels and a sizeable chunk of owners of middle aged cars are sticking with franchised dealers.
Source, Castrol Car Service and Customer Satisfaction Trend Tracker Plug Design at the Forefront of Engine Development As vehicle assemblers demand the ultimate combustion performance to meet ever-tougher environmental legislation, it has pushed plug design to the forefront of engine development. The resulting changes have given those in the aftermarket selling to motorists a lot more features and benefits to bring to the fore. In general terms the innovations in the ignition spark plug area are a compromise between two main requirements. 1) The suitability of the spark plug for the characteristics of new engines which results in a complete combustion and conform to the latest anti-pollution regulations. 2) The car assemblers specification to produce longer life spark plugs designed to ensure optimum performance for ever greater mileage demands. One of the avenues where vehicle assemblers have pushed spark plug companies is on the size of the plug. New cylinder head shapes, increased number of valves and the evolving engine management system, i.e. sensors, one ignition coil per cylinder, etc. All these additional features placed on the cylinder head mean there is less and less space left for spark plugs and creates problems for unskilled mechanics trying to service the cars. One of the reasons for the demise in DIY because plug replacement used to be an obvious, easy and fairly cheap thing to do for a noticeable performance gain. The old wire brush was an essential item in the DIYer’s tool kit – still is for most. Another area where spark plug technology has developed is on the use of materials in the plug itself. The use of copper and platinum to speed up heat transfer from the plug end and platinum to help maintain a constant gap for the longer service life. Conventional plugs create radio interference, which can be detrimental to the engine – especially with the increasing popularity of electronic injection, So resistor plugs have been developed to guarantee no interference with:-
The main differences in the types of plug required now are:-
There are four main reasons that can cause a spark plug to adversely effect performance and engine emissions. 1) Carbon fouling When a spark plug does not reach its operating temperature, carbon can form a conductive layer on the insulator and there will be no spark. Resulting unburned fuel can then damage the CAT and pollution can reach illegal levels. The increase in city driving has increased the likelihood of plug fouling becoming a problem. 2) Gap growth In theory the plug gap should be as big as possible - the gap being determined by the power of the ignition and the insulation of the coil and plug caps. Today’s gaps are much bigger than those on plugs fitted as part of contact breaker ignitions and transistorised ignitions used on engines burning leaded petrol, which operated at a lower cylinder head temperature. Gaps are now typically 1.0 to 1.3mm. Spark plugs need replacing when the gap has grown more than about 0.2mm. The whole thing has become more critical. 3) Projection The place where the spark occurs has a big difference on combustion stability and resulting emissions. A shorter plug might work, but you’ll never get the engine to stay in tune. 4) Centre electrode diameter Space under the bonnet and long life requirements are two factors influencing ignition design. The smaller the plug electrode diameter the less voltage it requires to fire. However, small electrodes wear quicker than fat electrodes for a given material. So harder and harder materials are used to enable thin electrodes to last longer and longer. Hence the move to platinum and other metals such as iridium. Lack of Knowledge and Increased Service Levels Generally speaking, in the rush to meet ever tightening environmental legislation plugs have become almost engine specific and little consideration has been given to aftermarket fitting, stocking and identification problems. This has caused plug manufacturing costs to increase as range rationalisation is not so easy. It has also caused distribution logistics problems with garages not holding stocks yet expecting immediate delivery. Brian Childs at NGK confirms this. "The swing towards ‘bespoke’ spark plugs continues. Naturally our customers do face problems in the market place and the three most common during 1998 have been:-
"The automotive trade is now having to stock more types of plugs than in the past to meet the vehicle assemblers’ specific engine requirements. This can sometimes lead to a tendency to compromise – possibly to select a standard plug of another manufacturer which appears to be able to work in that engine". "Our message is don’t compromise – you and your customer will lose out in the long run. Be sure that the spark plug that you fit is the same technical specification that the vehicle assembler selected in the first place". "Remember, the plug was specified to achieve the best efficiency out of the engine and to do that it must fire properly on a continuing basis. Today’s technology does not allow for compromise on the part of the professional. If you choose to compromise your customer will not get the benefits of improved ignitability, smooth idling nor the overall level of performance he or she rightly expects. However, they might get a fine for polluting the atmosphere and a bill for a replacement CAT". Champion Spark Plugs sight Ford models as an example of how things have changed. The Cortina had a 6,000 mile plug life, the Sierra 12,000 miles and the Mondeo started at 24,000 miles. The latter has since moved out to 40,000 miles and some other vehicles have up to 100,000 miles plug life. That puts them with third or fourth owners in many cases. Owners of older cars may not perceive the advantage of paying a premium for replacement plugs with the long life capability, and if installers and retailers do not explain the other benefits they will select short life alternatives where they are available. But if they then still believe the longer service intervals promoted by vehicle assemblers on new cars they are bound to run into trouble; along with the installers and retailers who they will blame for fitting or supplying the wrong plug. Glow Plugs Lucas Aftermarket put the UK glow plug aftermarket at £20m (at retail prices). The European independent aftermarket is worth nearly £65m. The glow plug market has grown in line with the increased penetration of diesels in the car parc. For example about half of all Peugeot’s sold each year are now powered by diesel engines. Great news for those selling glow plugs except that as any market gets bigger it becomes more interesting to other aftermarket manufacturers and competition sets in. In the UK that usually means selling cheap and glow plug prices are already under pressure. Claire Green, Product Specialist, Lucas Aftermarket Operations says, "Some of the issues surrounding the patent protection of glow plugs will soon be resolved as patents expire. This will open up the market to a lot more players with the opportunity for further technological development. With direct injection now at the forefront of engine design, most new glow plugs will be manufactured according to different dimensional specifications. Plugs will become longer and thinner, to reach the combustion chamber and match new engine designs". But parc growth does not necessarily mean more plug sales – just more prospects. Intermotor report the glow plug market as growing but not at the same rate of a few year’s back. Glow plugs perform better in harsh conditions compared to five years ago and their failure rate has decreased significantly. The new breed of post heat technology ensures reliability and low failure rates. The role of distribution channels Franchised dealers will be fitting plugs at the moment – but not so many as they were because they mainly handle the servicing needs of younger cars with much longer service intervals. But this will change as they compete for the business on older vehicles, and their parts wholesaling operations could increase their plug sales if independent distributors cannot keep up with the changes in stocking plans and technology. At the moment, the biggest chunk of plug sales going to installer channels must be with the 15,000 independent garages and the retail parts stores. Accessory shops must have the knowledge before they can sell the benefits of the latest plug design to DIYers – many on a tight budget. They will also likely require advice on tuning. Installers must also have the knowledge and commitment to do likewise. In both cases it’s worth it to retain more profit as well as satisfy more customers. It should not be left solely to the plug manufacturers to get the message across. Motor factor and distributor representatives must play their role in this education process because they are the most regular contact with those at the sharp end. So they not only need the knowledge themselves, they also need training in how to sell the intrinsic value of this knowledge and how to use it, so that their customers are capable of selling quality to their customers. Hopefully this plug feature has helped a little. By analysing their sales records they will be able to focus their time on the customers really needing help. Those who only fit or buy standard plugs at the lowest price. Plugs are no longer a consumable. They are components in their own right in the same way as water pumps, ECUs, starter motors and so on. They should not be bought or sold on price alone. Surely the potential of an expensive CAT replacement or a roadside fine for failing an emission check is enough to shift customers in the right direction? Or is the trade really as amateurish as some TV programmes and national newspapers would have motorists believe? Are we still fixers rather than retailers of a satisfying motoring experience, as we like to think. We are indebted to NGK, Denso, Eyquem, Lucas Aftermarket Operations, Valeo and Bosch for their help in preparing this feature. Latest News Magneti Marelli has relaunched the Golden Lodge brand with a range of high performance spark plugs. Nine part numbers provide 90% coverage of the European car parc. The Golden Lodge range joins the Hit Line, Nickel Line and Red Line ranges, alone with a rationalised range of 24 diesel glow plugs. NGK recently moved to a new head quarters in the UK which includes a new high tech warehouse. 80% of its distribution capability will be reserved for UK outlets and 20% for European o.e. customers. Intermotor’s glow plugs feature a cobalt dual element – ideally suited to post heat systems. Eyquem’s ‘sliding spark technology’ produces a self cleaning plug nose – ideal for cold starts and better protection for CATs. The Lucas Diesel Starting Aid programme includes glow plugs, controllers and thermostats. The plug range consists of dual coil, single coil and wire types – along with long post heat technology plugs. Full benefits of long post heat plugs can only be realised if the correct type of controller is used. Six plugs now cover the fast mover range compared to 14 last year. As well as product catalogues, LAO produce useful technical brochures and diagnostic wall charts. Valeo claims 98% UK parc cover from 66 references. The ignition range also includes coils, caps, contact sets and distributors, as well as spark plugs – but no glow plugs as yet. Valeo offers the Eyquem range of plugs. Allied Signal supplies the Autolite brand of plugs. Ten numbers cover 93% of the UK car parc. The latest Autolite plug offering is the OPTIMA range. 14 references cover 93% of the European car parc – including Japanese vehicles. The construction features an exclusive ceramic formulation to reinforce dielectric strength, a radio interference suppresser, a nickel-plated shell and a copper core electrode. A double platinum plug is also available in the Autolite range. Hella stocks the BERU range of copper core single ignition leads covering BMW, Mercedes, VW, Audi and Seat applications. They also launched the BERU ULTRA X spark plug range last autumn. It is an air/surface discharge plug which will self clean. Counter display units are available. Triple ‘P’ Performance report that Spitfire has extended its high performance and triple platinum range of spark plugs as well as the range of twin core ignition leads. Unipart offers a choice of high quality standard premium and specialist spark plugs from Standard Single Copper to premium Dual Copper and Platinum – including special wide gapped and multi electrode types. They also have a glow plug range consisting of dual coil types as well as long post heating designs. Quinton Hazell supplies a range of glow plugs manufactured to the highest o.e. specifications. The catalogue incorporates engine codes for easy identification of parts and a comprehensive diagnosis chart. Wellman produce a range of glow plugs for a variety of well-known brand names. They are one of only two glow plug manufacturers who currently hold world patents for the use of cobalt alloys in glow plugs. M&F Components distribute them in the UK. (7/99) |
