Classifi eds

by Mark Phelan and Jamie L. LaReau, Detroit Free Press

General Motors salaried workers in the U.S. have been told to plan on continuing to work from home until at least June 30, 2021, according to an internal document provided to the Free Press.

“In coming weeks, you will receive instructions from your site leader regarding the process to re trieve personal belongings and any equipment necessary to work remotely,” according to an email signed by GM Global Human Resources Chief Kim Brycz and GM Chief Sustainability Officer Dane Parker.

Hundreds of GM salaried employees are already working at factories, tech centers and other facilities, but the vast majority have been working remotely since the gravity of the COVID-19 pandemic became clear in March.

“Our current outlook is to continue operating as we are today until June 30, 2021,” the memo said, adding GM is working to create “a more flexible work culture” after the pandemic.

The memo concluded with a reminder for all employees to prac tice good safety protocols: “Wear a mask, wash your hands frequently, physically distance whenever possible and get a flu shot when they become available this fall.”

GM had been con sidering bringing some employees back later this year . The revised schedule is the latest sign U.S. business leaders think we’re a long way from having the pandemic under control with treatments or a widely available vaccine.

“Every company is struggling with when and how to bring em ployees back into corporate offices, particularly since mass availability of a vaccine remains months away ,” Cox Automotive Senior Analyst Michelle Krebs said. “Configuration of workplaces and common areas, like the cafeteria and restrooms, have to be contemplated. Ventilation is a consideration.

“Getting people to and from their offices using elevators is a conundrum. Sure, you can try to limit the number of people in an elevator , but then how do you manage people gathering to wait for the elevator.” Separately, employees at Wards Communications cleared out their offices in Southfield, MI, this week at the company that has covered the auto industry for nearly a century. Ward’s employees will work remotely, using a portion of their previous workspace for supplies, occasional meetings and a video studio.

“Employers have discovered that their workforce has been sur prisingly productive working from home, albeit not ideal especially for parents with children being schooled at home,” Krebs said. “And no company—like schools and colleges— wants to get people back into the office only to suffer a virus outbreak and send everyone home.”

We thank the Detroit Free Press for reprint permission.

ProColor Collision to Enter U.S. Market

Mondofix (Fix Network World) has announced plans to launch the ProColor Collision brand in the U.S. “There is tremendous potential for the continued growth of the automotive aftermarket space in the United States, in particular the collision business,” said Steve Leal , president and CEO of Fix Network World. “We look forward to growing the ProColor Collision brand by directly pursuing aggressive new strategies that leverage our global track record and benefit industry partners and customers in the U.S.” Fix Network World acquired ProColor Collision in September 2019 with a vision to expand the valuable brand outside Quebec. The first ProColor Collision location in Ontario, Canada, opened in July of this year, with another 14 lo cations expected to launch across Canada by December . In the U.S., ProColor Collision will initially focus on building its network in California, Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas.

Sour ce: ProColor Collision

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A musty odor in the interior. Damp carpets. Rust around doors.

W ith the arrival of hurricane season and more waterlogged vehicles showing up around the country, CARF AX is releasing information on various aspects of the situation, such as telltale signs of vehicle flooding.

CARF AX is also highlighting statistics such as the fact that 446,836 flood-damaged cars are on the roads in 2020.

That is according to annual CARF AX data, and the company says that number could rise in the wake of Hurricane Laura. CARFAX says Laura damaged as many as 5,000 vehicles. Overall repairable appraisal counts for the industry were down 14.9% in August 2020 versus August 2019.

Severe weather in the Northeast from Hurricane Isaias, significant hail in South Dakota and Minneso ta and dangerous derecho event in Iowa and Illinois led to an increase in comprehensive losses in the first half of the month.

For example, comprehensive losses in Iowa accounted for 70% of all total loss valuations and 66% of all repairable appraisals. This under scores both the severity of the storms and the fact that non-comprehensive losses overall remain down.

Losses from the wildfires in California and Hurricane Laura in Louisiana and Texas also continue to come in. Increases in comprehen sive losses overall will help offset the decline in non-comprehensive losses and if September weather is as volatile, could result in claim counts for the year down only about 5%.

Excluding comprehensive losses, counts also remained down over 25% year -to-date, although August 2020 non-comprehensive counts were down only 20.5% versus down

“This nationwide sur ge can put unsuspecting buyers at risk,” CAR FAX wrote in a news release.

The company also released a list of the top 10 states with the most vehicles reported as flood damaged by entities such as departments of motor vehicles and insurance com panies. Although Texas leads the nation in flood-damaged cars, vehicles with flood damage show up in states where flooding might not be at the top of car-shoppers’ minds, according to CARFAX research. CARF AX general manager of data Faisal Hasan said car shoppers should do their homework, and Hasan reiterated that “flood-damaged cars surface in every corner of the country.”

“Con men can quickly clean up these cars up, move them and then resell them,” Hasan said. “Once a car has been waterlogged, it will never be the same. These cars literally rot from the inside out, and the mechan ical, electrical or safety systems can fail at any time.” 24.7% in July 2020.

Areas hit hardest by the wave of COVID-19 infections in California and Texas have slowed claim count recovery in late July and early August, with areas such as San Francisco, Los Angeles, Dallas, Houston and El Paso still seeing non-compre

California motorist Carole Ross can relate. She was driving her vehicle home from the dealership and owned it for less than two hours before it broke down.

“We ran a CARFAX Report while we were on the side of the road waiting for a tow truck, and that’s when we saw the car had been in a flood in Louisiana a few years ago.”

To help consumers avoid such situations, CARFAX has released its list of the seven telltale signs of flooding. Those include: • A musty odor in the interior, which sellers sometimes try to cover with a strong air-freshener • Upholstery or carpeting that may be loose, new, stained or doesn’t seem to match the rest of the interior • Damp carpets • Rust around doors, under the dashboard, on the pedals or inside the hood and trunk latches • Mud or silt in the glove com partment or under the seats • Brittle wires under the dashboard • Fog or moisture beads in the interior lights, exterior lights or instrument panel hensive appraisals down between 27% and 30%, while volume in other areas such as NYC, Chicago, Atlanta, Denver and others is down between 15% and 20%.

Government data from ear ly August reveals interstate miles are still down most among all road types, and this is consistent with data from other sources showing rush hour traffic is still below average in many cities.

The primary factor most highly correlated to accident frequency is vehicles per road mile —i.e. how many vehicles on a given road at any given point. This is also typically referred to as “congestion,” which right now in most areas still seems to be below normal. cases rising again as many return to school, and the approach of normal flu season, many companies plan to keep at least part of their staff remote through the remainder of the year. This will likely mean non-compre hensive may remain down 10% to 15% for full year 2020.

CARFAX offers a free Flood Check tool at carfax.com/flood to help protect consumers. The tool includes a national map showing where flood cars have washed up, and a flood damage checklist consumers can perform.

The following states have the most flood-damaged vehicles, and all of them have seen an increase since 2019:

Texas: 98,400, +13% Florida: 31,300, +8% Kentucky: 26,400, +6% Pennsylvania: 23,400, +18% North Carolina: 19,300, +3% Illinois: 17,800, +14% New Jersey: 14,500, +15% Louisiana: 14,000, +22% California: 12,400, +10% South Carolina: 12,000, +10%

The CARFAX information also in cluded a list of the top 10 cities with flooded cars. Houston, New York, Philadelphia and Miami-FortLauderdale lead the way.

W e thank Auto Remarketing for

CCC AutoClaims Snapshot—August 2020

With the number of COVID-19 reprint permission.

ASE Survey Finds Adaptions

ASE conducted a comprehensive survey to understand the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the automotive service industry. While 19% of those surveyed have seen an increase in business since the start of the pandemic, 56% report ed a decrease. The survey found that 34% of service facilities have reduced business hours, and the effect on technicians has come in the form of reduction of hours (34%), temporary furloughs (14%) and terminations (8%). Results show nearly 70% of those surveyed are using protective equipment, while 63% have implemented social dis tancing measures and 62% have added supplemental sanitizing measures. More than 65% said they have done some type of selfstudy or enhanced training, while 46% participated in a webinar or online training course.More than 42% of respondents said they have increased their usage of social me dia somewhat or significantly, with Facebook and YouTube named as the top platforms used.

Source: ASE