Co-branded exhibition underscores growing demand for qualified auto techs and highlights the variety of well-paid career prospects in this evolving trade
The National Institute of Automotive Service Excellence (ASE) is bringing a special guest organization – the U.S. Secret Service – to their exhibit at the Automotive Aftermarket Products Expo (AAPEX), November 4-6, 2025. The purpose of the exhibition is to drive awareness of the wide range of career opportunities available to auto technicians, including with the Secret Service.
ASE is the industry’s organization tasked with improving the quality of vehicle repair and service through testing and certification of automotive professionals. The Secret Service is a federal law enforcement agency responsible for investigating counterfeiting, financial crimes, and protecting national leaders.
Since mobility is a key line of operation within protective services, the Secret Service has an array of specialized vehicles to help them securely move leaders from place to place. The organization requires ASE Certified technicians to help keep those vehicles operating safely.
Two specially outfitted Secret Service Chevrolet Suburbans will be on display just outside of “Joe’s Garage,” in a co-branded booth with ASE. Joe’s Garage is a key attraction at AAPEX because it features 10 fully operational service lifts. These are used throughout the show to support hands-on training and presentations.
A persistent shortage of auto technicians
Both organizations are exhibiting, in part, to raise awareness about the persistent shortage of auto technicians, even as demand for those services is poised to grow sharply. This is because Americans own 291 million cars and light trucks, and the average age of those vehicles is 12.8 years. Those aging vehicles commonly need more maintenance.
The dearth of qualified auto technicians poses several risks to consumer spending. Primarily, the shortage will drive up the cost of repairs, waiting times to complete those repairs, and could potentially dampen consumer choice in repair facilities. Electric vehicle (EV) owners are already feeling this pain; reporting shows just 28% of EV owners can get a same-day appointment.
“That the Secret Service needs ASE Certified auto technicians underscores the range of career opportunities in this industry,” said Dave Johnson, president and CEO of ASE. “It’s a technical career that requires far more than turning a wrench – modern vehicles are effectively ‘rolling robots’ with unprecedented levels of autonomous capabilities driven by hundreds of sensors and actuators that are controlled by more lines of code than a modern fighter jet.’
Auto technicians are well compensated
Aspiring auto techs can complete training at a vocational-technical (vo-tech) school in as little as two years and enter a field with many immediate job openings and good compensation. For example, a survey by WrenchWay, an automotive career site, puts the median salary for an auto tech at $90,159.
Further, many organizations from across the industry are donating generously to scholarships aimed at addressing this talent challenge. While many traditional college graduates are laden with immense student debt and then struggle to find an entry-level job, auto technicians often graduate with little-to-no debt and embark on a rewarding career.
Many career prospects for auto techs
The automotive aftermarket is burgeoning with opportunity. It’s comprised of an intricate supply chain of manufacturers, suppliers, warehouses, distributors, retailers and repair shops that account for $435 billion in spending in the U.S. alone. Further, the aftermarket employs 4,905,500 people, or nearly 3% of the overall U.S. workforce.
For an entry-level auto technician, this opens the door to a variety of career paths. Among these are leadership opportunities within the technician ranks, lateral moves into business careers with any of the thousands of U.S.-based businesses in the aftermarket, or even as an entrepreneur who opens up a shop of their own one day.
Auto technicians also have an important – yet underrecognized – role in the supply chain: When it comes down to deciding which replacement parts to use in vehicle repairs, the individual auto technician often wields considerable influence over that decision. They are, in a sense, driving supply and demand trends throughout an enormous market.
“A qualified auto technician can get off a plane almost anywhere in our country and find demand for their expertise,” added Johnson. “Part of the goal here is to drive that point home and get ahead of the shortage by highlighting the interesting career opportunities for auto technicians with the finest security agency in our country.”
Registration and show information
AAPEX brings the global automotive aftermarket together for a few days annually. It offers 550,000 square feet of exhibitions, 45,000 attendees, and 2,600 exhibitors from 128 countries.
AAPEX 2025 will be held at the Venetian Expo & Caesars Forum in Las Vegas from November 4-6, 2025. Registration for the show is open exclusively to automotive aftermarket professionals. Show passes cost $100. Training sessions cost $150 per session, and a package of five sessions is available for $400.
Members of the media may be eligible for a complimentary pass to AAPEX.
Over AAPEX
AAPEX unites the nearly $2.3 trillion global automotive aftermarket industry and historically draws more than 2,600 exhibiting companies from around the globe that display innovative products, services and technologies that keep the world’s 1.6 billion vehicles on the road. AAPEX provides advanced technical and business management training for professionals to maintain excellence and take their businesses to the next level. Industry buyers include automotive service and repair professionals, auto parts retailers, independent warehouse distributors, program groups, service chains, automotive dealers, fleet buyers and engine builders.
AAPEX ontving onlangs de prestigieuze Trade Show Executive (TSE) award voor "Snelst Groeiende Gold 100 Transportbeurs in 2023 door Gemengd Groeipercentage". De beurs werd door TSE ook erkend als een van de 50 snelst groeiende vakbeurzen in de Verenigde Staten in 2023, wat het tweede opeenvolgende jaar is dat het evenement een plaats verdient in de Fastest 50-klasse van TSE.
AAPEX is een trade-only evenement en is gesloten voor het grote publiek.
AAPEX is mede-eigendom van de Vereniging voor autozorg and MEMA aftermarket leveranciers. Ga voor meer informatie naar AAPEX 2025 of e-mail: info@aapexshow.com. Volg AAPEX op sociale media op #AAPEX25.
... aantekeningen van SP
AAPEX is raising awareness about the auto tech shortage is with the student competition announced earlier. We’ve got four teams of vo-tech students lined up to race to disassemble and reassemble a Chevy 350 engine.
AAPEX sponsors helped pick up the tab for lodging and T&E, and also have some very generous prizes.
Media Contact:
Frank Strong
media.relations@aapexshow.com
Over de auteur
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