Automotive Business Magazine – Q3 2026 – Digital edition - Flipbook - Page 26
OPI N I O N
R E TA I L
Moving faster
than the law
→ Marcel Wendt is CTO and founder at Digidentity
S
ERMI went live on 1st April
2026. 22 manufacturers have
since signed up voluntarily.
There was no legal deadline,
no compliance penalty, no
enforcement mechanism.
That tells you something
about where the industry
thinks this is heading.
For independent garages, access to
security-related repair and maintenance
information has been a persistent friction
point. Key coding and software updates
– these jobs increasingly sit at the core
of modern vehicle repair. The challenge
has been that the routes to access varied
by manufacturer and left workshops
uncertain about process and timing.
That uncertainty has a cost in terms
of parts ordering lead times and
conversations with customers. For an
independent operating on tight margins,
unpredictability in the workflow can
create inconveniences.
SERMI addresses this by creating one
recognised route. A verified technician,
with credentials through the framework,
can access security-related systems
across any participating manufacturer
using a consistent process. The variation
does not disappear overnight, but the
direction is toward standardisation.
Voluntary adoption, very real
It would be easy to read early
manufacturer sign-ups as good PR,
getting ahead of a regulation that most
people assume will eventually arrive. But
there is a more practical explanation.
Manufacturers have a genuine interest
in knowing that sensitive vehicle systems
are accessed by verified professionals.
The alternative is inconsistently managed
access, which creates risk for them too.
This framework sets a standard for
who can access specific information, and
leaves a verifiable trail. The voluntary
momentum suggests that this alignment
of interests is being recognised, and
26
AUTOMOTIVE BUSINESS
Q3 2026
the UK's market-led approach gives
that recognition room to develop before
regulation locks the process in.
As more manufacturers join the
framework and workshops build
familiarity with the credentialing process,
the path to carrying out security-related
work should become more predictable.
The vehicles coming into workshops are
more complex than they were five years
ago. EVs introduce high-voltage systems
and software-dependent diagnostics.
Connected cars carry data that requires
careful handling. The line between
mechanical repair and digital access is
no longer clearly drawn.
Independent garages that can
navigate this environment confidently will
be better placed to retain customers who
might otherwise default to authorised
dealerships, because the access routes
have historically been clearer. That makes
the independent sector more viable as
vehicles continue to evolve.
Direction of travel
The industry has broadly accepted that
stronger safeguards around access to
security-related repair and maintenance
information are necessary. The debate
is more about how it beds in and how
consistently it is applied.
For workshops, the immediate priority
is straightforward: understand the
credentialling process and plan for a
repair environment where secure access
is a routine part of the job.
That means looking at the mix of
makes coming through and checking
which are already participating in SERMI.
It means making sure the right staff are
working through the credentialing steps
now, rather than when a job is waiting.
And it means treating digital access as
part of workshop readiness in the same
way training and tooling already are.
The independents best placed to
benefit will be the ones who have already
done the groundwork.
