Camaro Production Stopped

their employees. Typically, most of them want something built in their agreements about it. Their employees become like family over the years. They really do genuinely try to look out for them and try to make sure that they’re taking care of them after the sale. But, once the deal is done and the ink is dry, they really don’t have any control over the situation.

Deciding to sell is a big concern too because it involves a whole new way of thinking. These owners have dedicated everything to their shops and used to playing the role as the owner.

Some of them just want to cash out, like your younger second- or third-generation owners, who are normally in their 40s. I would say a lot of them are suffering from burnout after years of fighting with the insurance companies. Many of them don’t possess the mental strength they’ll need to reinvent themselves. I mean, being an independent repairer in today’s market is not easy.

And can you survive? Absolutely. Are you going to have to change your mentality? Maybe. Is it going to be easy to navigate? Probably not.

I try to get them to think about the next three years, and what the landscape of the collision repair space is going to look like? Sometimes that helps them to make the big decision—should I stay or should I go?

Q: What types of shops are consolidators looking to acquire?

A: I intimately know all of the consolidators very well because I do deals with all of them. That background knowledge gives us a distinct advantage and helps us to make better decisions as a result.

They’re usually looking for a minimum size of 10,000 square feet, but in some markets, they’ll look at smaller shops that are typically doing $2 million in sales or more. They prefer DRP-friendly shops that have some OEM and I-CAR Gold certifications.

That would be my cookie cutter answer, but it’s different with each market.

AUTOBODY

Supply chain disruptions have unfortunately become a part of everyday life, affecting everything from the availability of certain foods to the new car market.

GM is currently grappling with parts shortages, leading to C8 Corvette production stopping for a week in March. Now, production of the Chevy Camaro along with the Cadillac CT4 and CT5 has been halted for the week of April 4.

GM insists the production stoppage isn’t because of the chip shortage that has vexed the automaker since last year. Just like with the last two production stoppages for the C8 Corvette, GM wouldn’t specify what supply shortage has caused the unscheduled downtime.

With production having been stopped at Lansing Grand River Assembly, home of the Camaro and the Caddie twins, the people wanting to buy those cars have had a harder time getting ahold of exactly what they want. In turn, GM has ceded market share to its competitors.

The plan is for the production halt at Lansing Grand River to last just the week of April 4. On April 11, everything is scheduled to come back online, although it’s not clear at what capacity.

Meanwhile, GM has announced the shutdown of the Fort Wayne Assembly plant the same week and next. That production stoppage, which affects Chevy Silverado 1500 and GMC Sierra 1500 trucks, has been triggered by the chip shortage.

Also hit hard by shortages is Ford. The Blue Oval is shutting down Flat Rock Assembly Plant the week of April 11 because of a lack of semiconductor chips. That means there’s about to be a Mustang shortage. In other words, the Dodge Challenger will be the only new American muscle car being made continuously in April. These are truly strange times.

Other automakers have struggled with supply shortages which have spilled into 2022. According to AutoForecast Solutions, 1.2 million units of planned car production have been lost so far this year with more expected as 2022 progresses.

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