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AARC Ride for the Future Heads to Antelope Canyon


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The Automotive Aftermarket Riders Club’s (AARC) annual Ride for the Future three-day motorcycle ride will start on Oct. 26 in Las Vegas.

The ride raises money for the University of the Aftermarket Foundation (UAF) to help fund scholarships and educational opportunities for the next generation of industry professionals.

AARC encourages those who support its mission to participate in this year’s epic adventure or contribute by texting AARC to 53-555 to join the UAF Coffee Club.

The scenic ride will begin at Eagle Rider Rentals and Tours in Las Vegas on Thursday, Oct. 26. The riders will head to Antelope Canyon in Page, Arizona, with stops at Zion National Park in southern Utah and Lake Powell in northern Arizona.

The riders will head back to Las Vegas on Oct. 28 in time for the start of AWDA, AAPEX and the UAF Coffee Club event.

Interested riders can rent motorcycles from Eagle Rider Rentals and Tours with an advance reservation. For more information or to learn how to become a rider or sponsor, contact Mike Mohler, leader of the pack at [email protected].

”The AARC Ride for the Future is a fun, memorable and rewarding experience,” Mohler said. ”Not only are we visiting epic locations and having a great time, but we are giving back. It’s a win-win for our riders and the industry. If you can’t join us, please support us by texting AARC to 53-555 and pouring it forward for the next generation.”

To learn more about the University of the Aftermarket Foundation, visit

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      View source version on  link hidden, please login to view:  link hidden, please login to view
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      Roos confirmed his members are seeing the same changes in business today. “We had one of our large members that did a sustainability program, presented it to their lender, and got a better loan rate,” Roos said. Becoming educated and aligned with these sorts of efforts through NEXUS Automotive International is a win-win, not only helping global environmental efforts, but helping aftermarket businesses stay competitive in a challenging time.
      Creating a “Spark” Through Innovation
      Joe Stephan, a longtime aftermarket executive, joined NEXUS in February 2021 as vice president, sales & business development – North America, NEXUS Automotive. In this role, Stephan works with NEXUS North America supplier partners to strengthen the value proposition of the regional entity and introduce the different N! services and concepts to members. As such, he is well-versed on the innovative growth opportunities NEXUS has developed, including Inteliam and an aftermarket-specific startup incubator called SPARKER.
      “The SPARKER idea came about because of suppliers talking to NEXUS about either products or services that they would like to look at to bring to the automotive community,” he said. Stephan explained that as NEXUS looked deeper into this, they realized there are thousands of mobility and automotive startups around the world that could be consolidated into a portfolio to both assist the startups with things such as HR, sales & marketing, strategy development, etc., and also offer suppliers and distributors the ability to review startup opportunities they could potentially help bring to market.
      “This created an opportunity for suppliers or distributors to have a peak into the portal to take a look at either at a very high level – or a detailed level and pay an annual subscription – to be able to look in at these 2,500 to 5,000 startups that are in there,” Stephan said. 
      “In addition, we are all learning from technologies like the NEXUS funded Ki Mobility Solutions in India where an automotive ecosystem has been created,” said Stephan. “Distributors, suppliers and vehicle owners are participating in this digital platform automotive aftermarket community providing parts and service solutions in the form of aftermarket alternatives.”
      Better Together
      Like Roos and Tucker, on the heavy-duty side, Chris Baer, AAP, president & CEO of the VIPAR Heavy Duty Family of Companies, sees strength and value in the global partnership. VIPAR not only is a founding member of N! N. America, but also the founding heavy-duty member.
      “Some of the core reasons why we joined [initially] are still very valid today,” said Baer. “NEXUS has done a very good job over the years to add to their value proposition. They’re very innovative, and they’re very quick at executing. VIPAR’s strength over the years has been local and regional and you could say maybe national. Our distributors are local or regional. But as you start to look at the rest of the world, things have changed so much in the last five years. The timing was really good for us to join NEXUS because they’ve got this whole global game down. … There’s a whole portfolio of tools available and they keep bringing out more,” Baer added. 
      While N! N. America members certainly see competitive advantage to their involvement in NEXUS, the North American members have something to offer as well – particularly in heavy-duty, Baer said. 
      “What we bring is what the guys on the automotive side are all trying to peek over the fence at, which is how do we get in this heavy-duty business. So, there’s a whole bunch of collaboration opportunities that we’ve done fairly well with, some technology stuff and collaborating on national account programs where the customer has vehicles on both sides of the road. Technology’s making that easier and easier to execute. So, there’s a NEXUS North America influence that we have on the heavy-duty side because we’re the exclusive player,” he added.
      The Future of NEXUS Automotive 
      Looking ahead to 2023, Escribe shared several goals for the international organization, including revenue growth for supplier partners; launching the NEXUS Academy training program for the North American market; introducing additional key N! N. America suppliers to the rest of the world; and finding new innovative ways to add value to members and supplier partners — supporting mutually beneficial growth all over the world.
      To learn more about a supplier partnership, membership or access to some of the innovative projects that NEXUS Automotive International has introduced to the market, visit its website at
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