Greg Marchand, president of Automotive Aftermarket Training, conducted a Hybrid Training course for the automotive staff and students of Old Colony’s Automotive Technology shop on May 24, 2010.

Automotive Tech students from grades 10, 11, and 12 received industry level certificates in Hybrid Maintenance.

Automotive Aftermarket Training was born of the recognition that the aftermarket industry is a vital part of a strong, vibrant, and sustainable automotive industry. The aftermarket industry will play an increasingly important role as alternative fuel vehicles become more common on the market, and yet it does not have access to the same information or technical training that the original equipment (OE) dealerships do.

Greg Marchand founded Automotive Aftermarket Training in 2001 to provide quality, affordable, technical training to independent repair shops in his home town area of St. Johnsbury, VT. Since then, AAT has grown to provide technical training over a wide geographic area in the northeastern United States. AAT utilizes strong industry connections to the OE manufacturers to obtain up-to-date technical information and curriculum. AAT provides training seminars in both conventional technology and alternative fuel technology.

The training which involved the senior, junior, and sophomore automotive students and their instructors lasted approximately two hours. The training covered operation of Hybrid Vehicles, Hybrid System Service, and Hybrid Systems Safety. Upon completion of the course Greg was quoted as saying, “I really enjoyed teaching this group. They were very well-behaved, inquisitive, and mature. I was also surprised by how much they already knew.”