Introduction: Image Search Was a Breakthrough — But It’s Not Enough

Over the last few years, image-based spare parts search has been positioned as a breakthrough for the automotive aftermarket. Take a photo of a part, upload it, and instantly identify what you’re looking for. For an industry that has historically relied on phone calls, catalog books, and tribal knowledge, this was a meaningful leap forward.

But in real-world automotive workflows, image search alone quickly reaches its limits.

Garages work in poor lighting. Parts are often damaged, oily, or partially disassembled. Customers send blurry WhatsApp photos. Dealers receive voice notes in Arabic describing a problem rather than a clear image. Retailers get half part numbers scribbled on paper.

This is why the future of spare parts search must go beyond images — toward multimodal semantic search that understands intent, not just visuals.

Introduction: A Growing Market with Old Problems

The global automotive aftermarket is growing rapidly, especially in regions like the Middle East. Yet despite its size, much of the industry still operates using outdated processes.

Phone calls. Informal pricing. Credit risk. Fragmented logistics.

AI is not disrupting the aftermarket by replacing people — it’s fixing structural inefficiencies that have existed for decades.

Introduction: The Invisible Bottleneck in Workshop Operations

For most garages and service workshops, spare parts sourcing is not seen as a strategic problem. It’s treated as a daily operational task—something that just needs to get done so the real work can begin.

But in reality, spare parts sourcing is one of the biggest hidden bottlenecks in workshop operations.

Delays in identifying the right part, uncertainty around availability, and time spent coordinating with multiple suppliers all compound into lost productivity, longer vehicle downtime, and frustrated customers. Over time, these inefficiencies quietly erode margins and limit growth.

Introduction: A Quiet Transformation Is Underway

For decades, spare parts commerce has been built on relationships, phone calls, and informal agreements. Trust mattered more than technology, and information lived in people’s heads rather than systems.

But quietly, this model is changing.

Across industries, platforms are replacing fragmented, manual workflows—and the automotive aftermarket is no exception.