The nations key aftermarket body has released a snapshot of the biggest issues facing the automotive industry, with skills still listed as one of its biggest challenges as it adapts to new technology ad drivetrains.
The Australian Automotive Aftermarket Association’s 2025 Critical Issues Report diagnosed an industry busy adapting to EVs, hybrids and ADAS and a growing Chinese manufactured car parc— while talking a national shortfall of around 40,000 technicians.
In the next two years the AAAA wants to retain automotive trades on the skilled occupation priority lists, streamline employer-sponsored migration and boosting apprentice completions through paid training time, clear progression and flexible workplaces.
It is also advocating for national standards on ADAS with an urgent need for validation triggers
AAAA, Director of Government Relations & Advocacy Lesley Yates says the report highlights a committed sector that is held back by skills shortages.
“With clear guidance and the right people, workshops are equipped to promise: the whole job, done right, done here,” Yates says.
Rapid Technology
The report found while 21 per cent of automotive workshops are already equipped to service EVs, and actively investing in tools and upgrades many Independent workshops remain sceptical of aggressive EV projections.
The upgrades are currently based on battery and thermal diagnostics, insulation-resistance testing, high-voltage safety and PPE, and navigating OEM software workflows to ensure EV and electrified-hybrid jobs can be completed safely and on time.
The report highlights that ADAS is now standard and the aftermarket is focussed on post-disturbance checks following windscreen, suspension and steering work or any movement of cameras and radar.
The work is going into calibration environments—targets, level floors, adequate space and lighting—and refining documentation that distinguishes validation from calibration, supported by post-alignment and post-repair checks.
But it says technicians are calling for nationally consistent triggers and simple guidance suitable for mechanical, tyres, glass and collision.
The rise of China
The rapid rise of Chinese-built vehicles is demanding evolving diagnostic and software pathways and different parts catalogues it found and workshops are broadening scan-tool and data coverage, updating workflow guides and aligning training with the vehicles turning up in their bays.
Growth with a skills handbrake
The aftermarket continues to post year-on-year growth, driven by value, speed and whole-job completion, including software updates, but capacity is tightening.
The Report identifies a shortfall of around 40,000 technicians as the defining risk to cycle times, customer costs and business expansion.
Workshop owners say EV and ADAS capability, security and immobiliser access, OEM programming and coding, and consistent validation practices now determine throughput. Where shops invest in tools, training and secure workflows, first-time-fix improves, re-visits fall, delivering faster turnaround and fewer referrals for motorists.