Haynes Publishing, the worldwide leader in the supply of repair and maintenance information for DIY mechanics, announced today it is making significant steps into the electronic arena. The company has begun demonstrating an electronic version of the iconic Haynes Manual to its major retail accounts in the United States, a first for the traditional print publishing company.
Representing a paradigm shift for the publishing company, Haynes’ Online Manuals will have the ability to reach a larger customer base. This is good news for the aspiring DIYer on a budget who would rather maintain and repair his or her own vehicle versus paying for a mechanic.
“Since the acquisition of Vivid Holding BV three years ago, we have been experimenting with various initiatives where their expertise with electronic technology can be applied to Haynes products,” said J Haynes, Chairman of the Haynes Publishing Group. “We now believe we have something that is so exciting that we are ready to make it available online. We believe that Haynes MOL (Manuals Online) can become as successful as the traditional Haynes Manual, which has sold over 150 million copies around the world.”
Haynes intends to make this product available through its traditional auto parts store retail account base as well as through its own website. The company will test the product in the U.S. market before refining it for introduction across the globe. The intention is that customers will be able to click through from websites operated by Haynes’ auto parts store retail accounts and order a subscription to the electronic product. The company believes they have been able to add much value to the electronic version of the famous DIY product.
“With this new product we have been able to incorporate a great deal of material that it is not possible to provide in a printed product. The electronic product includes all of the information in the print version but also includes audio and video clips demonstrating various DIY procedures,” said Eric Oakley, Haynes Group CEO. “The Brake Pad video and the Rust Repair video, for example, really do an excellent job in getting across to our end-user customers how straightforward these tasks really are. The nature of the web has also encouraged us to incorporate color pictures and color wiring diagrams as well as hyperlinks, definitions and a keyword search function. This product enables us to provide a lot more help to our customers.”
This move illustrates the benefits that are increasingly flowing from the acquisition of Vivid Holding BV three years ago. Vivid, who provides technical data to professional mechanics throughout Europe, have never produced a product in a printed form. As a result, they bring an extra dimension to the Haynes Group. “The cooperation that we have seen between the Haynes Editorial Team and our Vivid Technicians has been excellent and together they have produced a very exciting product which can mark the beginning of a new era in the Haynes story,” said Alex Kwarts MD of Vivid Holding.
Once the initial prototype demonstrations are complete, Haynes intends to convert the top 50 selling manuals to the electronic format and will make them available for sale by subscription in the U.S. by autumn 2011. They will then add further coverage as the conversion process continues. The traditional printed product line of Haynes Auto Repair Manuals will continue to be marketed aggressively with an ongoing program of updates and new titles.
