November 2022 Northeast Edition

Arizona Shop Owner Responds to Collision Repair Industry Pushback

By Ed Attanasio

When our first interview with Jim Huard, owner of Painters Collision Centers’ two locations in Arizona, was published in June, many shops supported his claims. But others were skeptical and claimed it’s impossible for a body shop to make a profit with DRPs in the picture.

detailer, where he quickly grasped the business of running a shop. Huard has held various executive management roles for national MSOs, as a general manager, regional manager and VP of operations.

Q: You received a fair amount of pushback after your interview first appeared in Autobody News. Why do you think that occurred?

A: It’s hard to say. I believe a lot of owner operators struggle with understanding their business. Saying you cannot make a profit while compensating your people well because you work with DRPs is just not true.

New York Governor Accelerates Elimination Of Emission-Producing Vehicles in 2035

By Steve Bittenbender The Center Square

A goal for New York to stop selling new gas-powered vehicles in a little more than a decade took another step toward reality with an announcement Gov. Kathy Hochul made Sept. 29.

Hochul spoke in White Plains, NY, at an event celebrating National Drive Electric Week. While detailing several initiatives to help boost the

sale of electric vehicles, she also called on the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation to establish regulations that any new passenger vehicle sold in the state starting in 2035 produce zero emissions.

Hochul’s announcement comes a little more than a year after she signed a bill into law that set the 2035 deadline for new passenger cars to produce

Autobody News sat down with Huard recently to give him a fair chance to respond to the adverse feedback he received this summer.

Huard is a long-time industry veteran, operating and managing body shops over his 35-year career before becoming the new owneroperator of Painter’s Collision Center, along with his wife, Kelly Huard Huard began his career as a

Q:

Many shops say they can’t make any money being a member of a DRP, but you strongly disagree. What’s your secret?

A: Learn your business first; understand your cost structure. I honestly believe that some folks should not own, operate or even be in this business, period— with DRPs or not. It seems like the same people saying that DRPs won’t work for them are the people who always fight everything. Why is the carrier that is paying for the repair paying for it in a DRP and a non-DRP environment? Why are they different because it’s the same carrier?

The only real difference is if I choose to give them concessions in exchange for bringing me more and

l

CCA, WMABA to Host 2nd Annual Southeast Collision Conference in April 2023

The Carolinas Collision Association (CCA) and the Washington Metropolitan Auto Body Association (WMABA) are excited to announce a partnership to host the second annual Southeast Collision Conference (SCC), April 14-15, 2023, at the Meadow Event Park in Doswell, VA, just minutes north of Richmond.

More information about the event can be found at http:// southeastcollisionconference.com/ SCC will continue to be a premier tradeshow and education

opportunity, and now will feature elevated experiences for both attendees and vendors to take part. Following national meetings held the same week surrounding the Collision Industry Conference (CIC), in Richmond, there will be many national-level contributors taking part in the SCC events.

The intention is to have the conference move annually between regions to serve as many shops as possible, year over year.

l CONTINUED

Jim Huard, owner of Painters Collision Centers, has learned how to work well with his insurance partners and is more than willing to share how he does it

l

Green is more than just a color to us.

The green SATAjet X 5500 FUTURE is not only a reference to nature, it is also a symbol of harmony and hope, especially for the future! We are striving for a sustainable and connected future that makes the most out of the potentials of the digital transformation. The globe-shaped circuits on the spray gun represent the technology which is connecting people and thus enables the globalized world of the future. The radiant green color with the black components not only looks harmonious, it stands for aligning our actions with sustainability and the preservation of nature.

As a manufacturing company, sustainable growth is of great importance to us and an integral part of our daily activities. This includes the consistent conservation of resources and avoidance of waste. As an example, we produce part of our electricity with our own solar power and have reduced our waste volume by around 20% in the last five years.

Contents

REGIONAL NEWS

Bath, PA, First Responder Honored as 5,000th Educated Through NABC F.R.E.E.™ Program 6

Car Repair Coverage Company Ordered to Pay $1.7 Million to PA Consumers 20

CCA, WMABA to Host 2nd Annual Southeast Collision Conference in April 2023 1

Exhibitor Registration Now Open for AASP/NJ’s NORTHEAST 2023 Automotive Services Show 10

MA Official Issues Advisory for Consumers, Auto Dealers on Rights

NATIONAL NEWS

‘Ouch’: Gas Prices Rise for 2 Straight Weeks, OPEC Expected to Drive Them Higher 32

A Look Back at WIN Scholarship Winners: Where Are They Now? 50

AAA Adds Monthly Battery Reports To EV Membership Coverage To Ease Range Anxiety 64

Biden’s AI ‘Bill of Rights’ Baby Step Toward Elon Musk’s Call for AI Regulation 66

Braking Bad: Automatic Emergency Braking Absent When You Need It Most 36

CarMax Earnings Plunge Signals Market Shift 52

Chevron, Texaco Become Far More EV-Friendly 56

Cox Automotive Mobility to Cut Carbon Emissions 70

CREF Hosting Art Meets Automotive 43 Driven Glass Attends Auto Glass Week 38

DUIs Down 25% Nationwide but Fatal Crashes Rising 13

Ford Announces Leadership Changes 64

Ford Overall Sales Down in September, as EV Sales Soar 60

Gas Prices Rise as Ian Heads Toward Florida 56

Georgia Senator’s Bill Would Let More EVs Qualify for New Tax Credit 67

GM Backup Camera Recall Involves Cadillac, GMC Vehicles 78

GM Earns A Sales Trifecta In Q3: No. 1 In Full-Size Suvs, Full-Size Pickups And Large Luxury Suvs 58

GM Engineer Testifies Nikola Badger Pickup Had No Nikola Parts 4

GM Hit with $102.6 Million Jury Verdict in Class Action Over Defective Engines 43

Group 1 Automotive Announces Acquisition of Prime Automotive Group Dealerships 76

and Obligations on Advertising and Pricing 73

New York Governor Accelerates Elimination Of Emission-Producing Vehicles In 2035 1

Short-Term Vermont Loan Program Can Help Struggling Businesses 74

Sweeping Fraud Arrests Announced in Pennsylvania Car Title Washing Ring 70

VT Gas Station Demolished, Will Be Retail Complex 76

COLUMNISTS

Mike Anderson Now is Not the Time for CollisionRepairers to Give Up on OEM Certifications 16

Ed Attanasio

Arizona Shop Owner Responds to Collision Repair Industry Pushback 1

Videos Keep Everyone in the Loop While Building Trust and Confidence 1

Stacy Phillips Award-Winning Shop Owner & SCRS

Treasurer Educates Consumers Through ‘Airing of GRIEVances’ Videos 22

John Yoswick

EV Manufacturers Discuss Restricted Parts, Booth Concerns, ‘Service Mode’ 34 EVs, ADAS Calibrations, Future of DRPs Discussed at Annual CIECA Conference 68

SCRS Urging Auto Body Shops to Help Consumers Remove Personal Data from Total Loss Vehicles 48

Index of Advertisers

Acme Nissan

31

Acura of Westchester 50

Agile Truck & Auto Tools 5

American Icon Automotive Finishes 36 Audi Devon 60

Hertz Planning to Order 175K EVs from GM 42

Honda Unveils First U.S. EV Offering, the Prologue 61

Hughes Joins Auto Care Association 72 Hyundai Theft Fix is a $170 Security Kit 52

I-CAR Announces SEMA Classes 29

Kia Tow Hitch Recall Issued After Fires, Melting Incidents 26 Mitchell 1 Hosting ‘Thank You Thursdays’ 74

More Hertz Customers File Lawsuit After Being Falsely Arrested 30

More Shops Being Paid For Clearing A Driver’s Personal Data From A Total Loss Vehicle 38

MSO Symposium Announces 2022 Master Of Ceremonies 29

NADA Urges FTC to Withdraw Proposed Rule 67

Ram 1500 EMS Model Honors First Responders 76

Rising Auto Insurance Premiums are Killing Home Bundles, J.D. Power Finds 28

Rivian Produced 7,363 EVs in Q3 2022 64

SCRS Announces Full Lineup for 2022 OEM Collision Repair Summit at SEMA 46

Shape Your Career Path with More Than 70 SEMA Show Education Sessions 18

Study: Dealerships can Win in Car Rental Market 72

Survey Shows Concerns for Economy 66

Survey Shows Greater Trust in Auto Technicians 74

Tesla Recalls 1.1 Million Cars for Incorrect Automatic Window Operation 13 U.S. Approves 75K Miles Worth of EV Chargers Across All 50 states, D.C., Puerto Rico 21

Audi Wholesale Parts Dealers 69

Axalta Coating Systems 9

BendPak����������������������������������������������������� 19

Biener Audi 16

Biener Ford 16

BMW Wholesale Parts Dealers 62-63

BRAM Auto Group 33 Brown-Daub Kia 54 Cadillac of Mahwah

48 Central Avenue CJDR 27

Certified Automotive Parts Association 26 Circle BMW 58

Classifieds 78

Colonial Automotive Group 51 Courtesy Mitsubishi 56

DePaula Chevrolet-Ford

28

Dominion Sure Seal, Ltd 12 Dynabrade, Inc 11

Eastchester Chrysler-Jeep-Dodge 38 Empire Auto Parts 32

Equalizer Auto Glass Tools 18

Ford Wholesale Parts Dealers 77

Franklin Sussex Automall 30

GM Wholesale Parts Dealers 65

Grieco Toyota 54

Hoffman Auto Group 57

Honda-Acura Parts Dealers 39, 40-41

Hyundai Wholesale Parts Dealers 72

Industrial Finishes and Systems

25

Infiniti of Norwood 42

Jaguar Land Rover Cherry Hill 43

KECO Body Repair Products 23 Kelly Jeep-Chrysler 10

Kia Motors Wholesale Parts Dealers 75

Kia of Attleboro 56

Kia of Coatesville

34

Kundert Volvo 20

Lexus Wholesale Parts Dealers 76 Liberty Kia 30

Long Automotive Group 22

Mazda Wholesale Parts Dealers

Mercedes-Benz of Atlantic City 47

Mercedes-Benz of Fort Washington 47

Mercedes-Benz of Goldens Bridge 26

Mercedes-Benz of Paramus 49

Mercedes-Benz of West Chester 21

Mercedes-Benz of Wilmington

21

Mercedes-Benz Parts Dealers 79

Wholesale Parts Dealers 61

MOPAR Wholesale Parts Dealers 44-45

New Holland Ford 55 New Holland Toyota 66 Nielsen Ford�������������������������������������������������

Nissan/Infiniti Parts Dealers 74 Northstar Kia 52

Nucar 53

Open Road Acura of East Brunswick 64

Open Road Chevrolet 29

Ourisman Chevrolet 68

Ourisman Chevrolet-VW-Mazda of Rockville 37

Packer Norris Parts 59

Polestar Princeton 24

Porsche Wholesale Parts Dealers 73

Prestige Lexus 8

Rafferty Subaru 66

Rockland Nissan 36 SATA Dan-Am Company 2 Schultz Ford 35

Sheehy Lexus of Annapolis 24 Shoot Suit 13

Sorbothane Soft-Blow Mallet 32

Spanesi Americas���������������������������������������� 7

Steck Manufacturing Company 46

Subaru Wholesale Parts Dealers 67

Sunmight USA 14-15

Symach 38

Toyota Wholesale Parts Dealers 70

TYC Genera Corporation 17

USI of North America

80

Volkswagen Wholesale Parts Dealers 71

Volvo Wholesale Parts Dealers 72 White Plains Volkswagen 66 Yonkers Kia 60

Autobody News is dusting off the shelves and giving our print publication and website a fresh new look.

For the last few months, we have been hard at work revisiting our core values, discussing what makes us stand apart and what you, our readers, have come to expect delivered monthly to your doorstep and daily to your inbox.

We heard from you. We listened. We took to heart what brings you back to Autobody News and incorporated many of the suggestions we have received over the years. We thank you for your feedback.

Today, we are thrilled to announce Autobody News’ “refreshed” print magazine design, along with the complete redesign of our website, autobodynews.com.

“We’re proud of our 40+ year history as the leading national and regional news source for the collision repair industry,” said Barbara Davies, general manager of Autobody News.

“When we sat down to start the discussion of a print magazine refresh, we knew what we wanted,” Davies said. “We knew what our

readers wanted. We didn’t want to lose our essence of ‘news’ magazine, but we wanted a more contemporary look.”

The print magazine features improved readability thanks to updated fonts for better readability, more white

Davies said. “It was time for a complete redesign to deliver a better user experience for our loyal 28,000 monthly website visitors.”

The website boasts a more intuitive, inviting layout, with easier navigation and more graphic

repair shops.

A key feature of the new site is a new digital magazine section, which will allow visitors to read the latest monthly edition in a digital format. In this section, visitors will also be able to access past monthly editions of Autobody News. The website has also been fully optimized to be mobile responsive to accommodate people’s on-the-go news consumption.

“With this new website refresh we wanted to improve the way our visitors consume our content, and to give them easier access to the national and regional news that is important to them,” said Bryan Malinski, digital marketing manager of Autobody News.

Both redesigns are works in progress. As the industry continues to evolve, Autobody News will too.

space and more prominently promotes our columnists’ exclusive content.

“In addition to the print magazine refresh, we also just launched a complete redesign of our website,”

GM Engineer Testifies Nikola Badger Pickup Had No Nikola Parts

By Simon Alvarez Teslarati

Scott Damman, a senior manager at General Motors, testified in Nikola founder  Trevor Milton’s fraud trial. The GM engineer provided insights into the ill-fated Nikola Badger pickup truck, particularly the parts that would have been used, had the vehicle entered production.  In September 2020, Nikola and GM announced a $2 billion deal that gave the veteran automaker an 11% stake in the upstart automaker. The deal involved GM supplying battery and fuel cell technologies, as well as producing the Nikola Badger pickup truck.Milton said in an interview then the Nikola Badger would mostly feature parts from Nikola.

“It’s probably 70% Nikola, 30% GM, when it comes to the parts that are really important to us,” Milton said. This, according to Damman, was false.  While Nikola did own the Badger’s creative design, all the parts of the vehicle were set to come from General Motors, according to Damman. “There

were no components coming from Nikola. They owned the creative design, what the vehicle looked like and felt like, but all of the parts were to come from General Motors,” Damman told the jury in a federal court in Manhattan.

The Nikola Badger actually had some momentum, so much so the company started taking $5,000 down payments for it. It was also heavily promoted online, with Nikola getting the support of notable auto influencers such as the Diesel Brothers. The Nikola Badger was supposed to be unveiled later in the year, but the event was canceled.

Ultimately, the Badger was canceled as GM scaled back its commitments on Nikola and dropped its plans for a stake in the company. Had the Badger been unveiled, however, former Nikola employee Brendan Babiarz told the jury, the company did have a plan of sorts in the form of a vehicle made partly with components from a Ford F-150 Raptor and a chopped-up electric Nikola power sports vehicle.

elements. With this website redesign, we wanted to improve the overall user experience and allow our visitors to have easy access to the news that is important to them and their collision

“We’re committed to bringing industry news to our readers in the most user-friendly print and digital formats,” Davies said. “We hope you like the changes we’ve made and look forward to your feedback.”

Let the team know what you think by emailing bdavies@autobodynews. com.

Bath, PA,

If you’ve been in a car accident and needed assistance getting out of your vehicle, you were likely grateful for the first responder helping you to safety.

On Sept. 17, the National Auto Body Council (NABC) recognized a first responder from Lancaster, PA, for their dedication to safe rescues and honored them as the 5,000th participant in the NABC First Responder Emergency Extrication (F.R.E.E.™) program.

The NABC F.R.E.E. program helps prepare local first responder teams to rescue accident victims from late-model vehicles. The

Honored as 5,000th Educated Through NABC F.R.E.E.™ Program

drivers have the best prepared response in case of an accident. Nationwide donated 10 vehicles for the program and Hurst/Jaws of Life provided the tools and instructors.

manager for Faulkner Collision Centers. “We are honored to be part of the recognition of the 5,000th first responder educated in the NABC F.R.E.E. program. Thank you

firefighters in the community. She was selected by Hurst/Jaws of Life.

“This is an incredible honor and a big surprise,” said Keenhold. “Thank you to my family for supporting me and encouraging me to pursue my training and career. Thank you to my squad for their support, and to John Sileski from Hurst for selecting me for this recognition.”

“Since we launched the NABC F.R.E.E. program in 2009, we have worked with insurers, OEMs, rental car companies, collision repair facilities, the tool providers and first responders around the country to deliver this education program in

“Our associations teaming up together isn’t just a one plus one; it’s an opportunity to multiply our resources to offer a premier event for our entire region, and even the whole country,” said Kyle Bradshaw , CCA president and director of fixed operations of K&M Collision . “Our shared vision is for this to gather the best nationallevel education and networking and deliver it in a weekend package. I am excited for the future of the Southeast Collision Conference, next year and beyond.”

“This is something WMABA has been pushing for in recent years, to offer a high caliber education in our own region that is informative and full of up to date information like we see with the widely known Society of Collision Repair Specialists’

Repairer Driven Education in Vegas alongside the SEMA Show,” said Steve Krieps , WMABA president, owner of Collision Safety Consultants of West Virginia and shop manager with Greg Cline Automotive. “That’s the bar, and we want to meet it for our repairers here as well as those who’d travel from afar to join in. Shops can come for this two-day event and come out of it changed forever.”

With a focus on owners, managers and technicians, this upcoming year’s conference will be pulling from the national connections shared by both associations’ executive directors. Their participation in national events has built relationships with the prominent leaders in the collision industry.

“This trade show has already been growing and leaning into the needs of our area shops,” said CCA Executive Director Josh Kent “When an attendee can hear from

Don’t

multiple experts all in one place, and see for themselves a way to solve a problem they deal with day in and day out, they are grown. They have doors opened for them. Our priority is giving our shops what they need to be better, do better, and be more profitable. We’re doing all this for them.”

“Associations working together for the direct benefit of the collision repairers is exactly what we’re supposed to do,” added Jordan Hendler, executive director for WMABA. “It’s been a dream of WMABA’s to have a national level event---with the highest and best education---here in our own territory. Now, here we are teaming up with a great group of dedicated professionals to make that happen. We literally cannot wait for you to come!”

More information about the event can be found at http:// southeastcollisionconference.com/ — Source: CCA

AUTOBODY www.autobodynews.com

More coverage

can.

zero emissions and a similar 2045 deadline for larger-sized commercial vehicles. It also comes a month after California issued its regulations to transition to zero-emission new vehicles by 2035.

New York’s governor said the transition would not be a sudden stop on gas-powered vehicle sales. The state has a plan to have 35% of new cars be electric vehicles by 2026 and 68% by 2030.

“We’re really putting our foot down on the accelerator and revving up our efforts to make sure we have this transition,” she said.

Hochul announced the state has added $10 million to its “Drive Clean Rebate” initiative to aid in that transition. It gives people who buy or lease a new electric vehicle a $2,000 rebate on top of the $7,500 federal rebate. In the five years since the program started, the state has issued more than $92 million in rebates to New Yorkers.

“As we bring more renewable energy to our electric grid and build out EV charging infrastructure, we continue to invest in market supports that bring us closer each day to zeroemission passenger vehicles by 2035,” said Doreen Harris, the president and

CEO of the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority.

The state is also making nearly $5.8 million available to local governments to help them add zero-emission vehicles to their fleet or install public charging centers or hydrogen fueling stations. The deadline to apply for that funding was Sept. 30.

The U.S. Department of Transportation announced it approved New York’s plan to install the additional charging stations needed to handle the expected increase in electric-powered vehicles. That plan includes $175 million in federal funds to create a network of charging stations to help EV drivers handle long-distance trips.

Hochul said the federal funds, coupled with the $1 billion the state has invested in new charging stations, should raise EV sales. She added this year’s sales are already 30% higher than last year.

The state also plans for school districts to buy only zero-emission buses starting in 2027 and to have any gas- or diesel-powered school bus off the road by 2035.

“New York is a national climate leader and an economic powerhouse, and we’re using our strength to help spur innovation and implementation of zero-emission vehicles on a grand scale,” Hochul said.

Exhibitor Registration Now Open for AASP/NJ’s NORTHEAST 2023 Automotive Services Show

The Alliance of Automotive Service Providers of New Jersey (AASP/NJ) is thrilled to announce that exhibitor registration is open for their flagship event, the NORTHEAST® 2023 Automotive Services Show at the Meadowlands. Now in its 46th year, NORTHEAST 2023, the largest and fastestgrowing event of its kind, is scheduled for March 17-19 at the Meadowlands Exposition Center of Secaucus, NJ.

“We are beyond excited to welcome everyone back to Secaucus, NJ for NORTHEAST 2023,” shares AASP/NJ Past President and Trade Show Committee Chairman Jeff McDowell “After the uncertainty we’ve all experienced over the past few years, I can’t wait to be back among industry professionals to experience what we’ve all come to expect from NORTHEAST: Three days of exclusive training, networking and the best

exhibitors around. We began planning for next year very shortly after NORTHEAST 2022 ended, and I’m confident this upcoming show will be our best to date.”

Badge registration for NORTHEAST 2023 will open on December 1. To reserve booth space for NORTHEAST 2023, please visit the official website of NORTHEAST, aaspnjnortheast.com, and click on Exhibitor Info to get started. For news and announcements regarding NORTHEAST, please visit aaspnjnortheast.com. To learn more about AASP/NJ, visit aaspnj.org.

PROTECT

INVESTMENT WITH ORIGINAL MOPAR

PARTS.

Gear-Driven Sanders

– For quick, aggressive material removal.

– Unique epicycloidal sanding pad motion generates torque and enhanced power for consistent material removal.

– Achieve a swirl-free finish when buffing with optional polishing pads. 5", 6" and 8" diameter models available.

Dynorbital® Extreme

Random Orbital Sanders

Highest power-to-weight ratio and most consistent speed under load in the industry.

– Ergonomic design for increased operator comfort and reduced fatigue. 3", 5" and 6" diameter models available with 3/16" or 3/32" dia. orbit.

Dynafile® II Abrasive Belt Tool

– Grind, deburr, blend and polish using contact wheel, platen pad or slack of belt. Access hard-to-reach areas. Lightweight 7° offset design.

– Grinding head pivots 360°.

Dynorbital- Spirit®

Random Orbital Sanders

Lightweight, comfortable sander is ideal for vertical and contoured applications.

– Small grip housing; ideal for operators with smaller hands.

– 3", 5" and 6" diameter models available with 3/8", 3/16" or 3/32" diameter orbit.

Dynabug II® Orbital Sanders

Feather-edge, finish, sand and blend. Excellent for use in corners and tight areas. Compact, lightweight design reduces operator fatigue, especially during extended use on vertical surfaces. Models available with 3/16" or 3/32" orbit.

more vehicles. They give us volume and we give them a break; it happens in all types of industries. If the prevailing rate is $62, for example, and I say I can do it for $58—that is a business decision.

Why does that mean I cannot pay a technician, estimator or GM a really good income? Why does that mean I cannot repair a car correctly? Explain it to me. I am at a loss.

If I say I can eat sandpaper and some products as the cost of doing business, and then bill for the products that are not, I feel it is a win. If a DRP says there is a paint cap, but I can prove that there was a significant difference and the cost was more via an invoice, how is that a loss? All the carriers want is a level playing field, with full transparency, and I say give it to them.

Example: I need sales at $400,000 monthly to sustain the company— meaning equipment upgrades, quality materials, etc.—and pay everybody well and above industry. So, if that costs $350,000 to do and the location profits $50,000, how is that bad?

I have seen greed in some owners that is the destroyer of their business.

To sustain your business for the long haul you must pay well, upgrade with the times and offer great benefits, recognition programs and good bonus programs.

Do they truly believe that carriers do not want to indemnify their insured? I completely disagree. I think most of all the carriers out there want to retain their customers and want to pay what is the right amount for the vehicle. Nothing more and nothing less.

I often hear all around the industry that the DRPs want you to repair the car using a series of shortcuts, not do it correctly, cutting corners and so on. In my 40 years in this industry, I have never had a carrier ask me to do anything like that. Not one!

I have had quite a few of the carriers ask me why we need to do something, and we always explain everything in full detail with all of the supporting documentation. We are a VeriFacts company as well, so we definitely repair everything correctly.

Have we had a carrier ever ask us for a discounted labor rate? Yes. Have we ever had carriers ask to reduce a labor time? Yes. However, we have never been asked to short a repair, nor have we ever been asked to repair something that is not repairable. Not once. If we did, we would absolutely say no, of course.

We would certainly always be the first to whistle blow if we were ever asked this. So, it is my belief that as a business owner, it is up to me to guarantee that we do the right things and ensure quality OE repairs on each and every job.

Q: Do you ever have to wrestle with an insurance company about the cost of parts, labor rates, etc., and if so, how do you deal with it?

or aftermarket parts either. If we are asked to do this, we immediately explain why this should not be done. aately I have seen more understanding and giving us what we need than not. Everybody knows the impact of a substandard repair.

Q: Are DRPs attracted to working with you because you have a reputation for making it work to where both parties are satisfied?

A:

The carriers I work with, both DRP and non-DRP, have been great. Do they ask us for concessions from time to time? Yes. Do we give it all the time? No. It depends on what it is.

All my DRP rates are in stone so the only time I am asked for labor rate concession is form the adjusted work we do. If our door is $62 and they ask for $60, we will give that to them in most cases. If they try and chop repair time, we argue, as we feel we are the experts.

We are not asked for labor time cuts often. But when we have been, we look at it and say, well what we wrote is fair, right and reasonable. We will not concede. We rarely get pushback.

Parts are interesting; we will not install a used quarter panel, period. We will not use substandard used

A: I would say they want to work with us because we perform, we repair cars correctly, we communicate and we are not confrontational. We are kind in our business practices. We bring our partners in for training and allow then to use our locations as training facilities for their teams.

We have seen a large interest in this. We recently conducted scanning and calibration classes for a large carrier. We brought in the vendor we work with and did an on-site scan and calibration, had a wonderful PowerPoint presentation. Everyone left feeling empowered.

AUTOBODY

Tesla Recalls 1.1 Million Cars for Incorrect Automatic Window Operation

By Andrei Nedelea InsideEVs

Tesla has announced a recall for 1.1 million vehicles built between 2017 and 2022 for a problem with the automatic windows, which may not stop when they detect an obstruction.

This means the windows, which go up automatically, may may cause an injury and as such they do not comply with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) safety guidelines for power-operated windows.

The NHTSA deems this a safety risk, which Tesla will have to address, although no warranty claims or injuries were reported as a result of defect.

Tesla described the problem: “A closing window may exert excessive force by pinching a driver or passenger before retracting, increasing the risk of injury.”

Tesla said it will correct the issue via an over-the-air update it

plans to roll out sometime in the next few months. Owners will be notified via mail Nov. 15.

Vehicles affected by this recall are the 2017-2022 Model 3, 2020-2022 Model Y, 2021-2022 Model S and 2021-2022 Model X.

This is the latest of several big U.S. recalls Tesla announced this year, for issues like a seat belt chime malfunction, the removal of the “Boombox” feature and display issues while charging.

Elsewhere, Teslas were recalled for different problems, like a glitchy automatic emergency call system in Germany and Model 3 and Model Y heat pump issues in China.

AND

WITH

SOFTER

QuoteWizard®, a LendingTree company and online insurance marketplace, released a new report analyzing DUI citations and alcohol-involved fatal crashes.

QuoteWizard found while the number of DUI citations has dropped nationwide, the number of alcohol-involved fatal crashes is rising. QuoteWizard analysts found the number of fatal crashes involving alcohol increased by 5% in 2021.

“Law enforcement, public safety organizations and nonprofit organizations have done a great job raising awareness about the dangers of impaired driving but that message hasn’t been heard by everyone. The number of fatal crashes is up 20% since 2020 and many of them involve alcohol. This is a troubling trend we can and have to fix,” said Nick VinZant, senior research analyst with QuoteWizard.

QuoteWizard analysts also looked at DUIs and fatal crashes in each state going back to 2010. The report includes detailed

information on the number of DUIs, fatal crashes and fatal crashes involving alcohol in each state.

The full report is available here: https://quotewizard.com/autoinsurance/how-long-does-a-duistay-on-your-record#states

Key findings:

• Northern states like Wyoming and the Dakotas have the highest rate of DUIs

• DUI citations have dropped by nearly 70% in North Carolina, Georgia and Ohio

• Montana has the highest number of fatal crashes involving alcohol

• Fatal crashes are up 20% since 2020

— Source: QuoteWizard

Monthly E-Newsletter.

DUIs Down 25% Nationwide but Fatal Crashes Rising www.autobodynews.com

I’ve recently started to get a lot of phone calls and questions from shops when I’m doing seminars asking, “Mike, should I renew my shop’s OEM certifications?”

I say the answer is absolutely yes. Here’s why.

The forecast for OEMs is that a key future revenue stream is going to be app-based subscriptions. It’s going to be a little like what GM has done with OnStar, or how SiriusXM radio operates. As I’ve researched this, here are some quotes I’ve heard or read:

“At least five automakers—Audi, BMW, Cadillac, Porsche and Tesla—are rolling out a subscription model for certain options, meaning consumers would pay monthly or annual fees to use features such as active driving assistance or voice recognition, even if those features are already built into the car,” according to Consumer Reports in December 2021. “Industry analysts tell Consumer Reports that

subscriptions could become a more mainstream way for automakers to deliver features.”

“How would you feel about paying $5 each month for the ability to lock and unlock your car from a distance through an app? What

Up

about a $25-per-month charge for advanced cruise control or $10 to access heated seats? As vehicles become increasingly connected to the internet, car companies aim to rake in billions by having customers

Certifications

are going to feel about such subscriptions, but I think it is important for collision repairers to understand drivers are going to increasingly be tied to the automakers’ apps.

Well, guess what is also likely to be inside those apps? A shop locator helping drivers connect with that automaker’s network of certified shops. I think that bodes well for collision repairers with OEM certifications.

pay monthly or annual subscriptions to access certain features,” Insider reported in February.

“We have 50-some value-added products and services that we’ll be rolling out over the next 36 to 48 months,” Steve Carlisle, president of GM North America, said in February.

I’m not sure how consumers

Here’s another thing to think about: Remember when aluminumintensive vehicles were being more widely rolled out? Some automakers began restricting the sale of certain parts for those vehicles to their certified shops, to better insure major repairs on those vehicles were only done by shops with the equipment and training to do the repairs properly.

With ADAS and the ramp up of electric vehicles, collision repair work

Anderson — From the Desk of Mike Anderson

“I think as

see this OEM

model come into play, it’s going to be really good for certified collision shops.”

MIKE ANDERSON COLLISION ADVICE

Shape Your Career Path with More Than 70 SEMA Show Education Sessions

The 2022 SEMA Show Education program will feature more than 70 seminars designed to inspire personal and professional development.

Led by industry- and subjectmatter experts, the program offers a customizable lineup of sessions and workshops that confront industry challenges, capitalize on emerging trends, highlight and reinforce business best practices, enhance leadership skills and much more.

One of the newest components of the 2022 Show Education program are four sessions focused on the diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in the workplace. The first DEI session, “Diversity and Inclusion: How You Can Advance Equal Opportunity in Your Workplace,” takes place Nov. 1, and will presented by James Pogue, Ph.D., president and CEO of JP Enterprises. In addition to the DEI sessions, three new tracks have been added: “Inside the Shop,” “Enthusiast” and “Keynote.”

The “Inside the Shop” series will motivate aspiring builders and technicians as they hear from leading customizers sharing their experiences crafting off-road machines, hot rods, musclecars and detailed restorations.

The new “Enthusiast” track, scheduled for 8-9 a.m. Nov. 4, will feature industry personalities and celebrities providing insight on building cars, ideas for obtaining sponsorships and the importance of protecting the automotive aftermarket from overregulation.

Stage promises to be an immersive, informative and entertaining experience. The first presentation is scheduled for 10–10:45 a.m. Nov. 1, the opening day of the 2022 SEMA Show. Building on the success the 2021 Show’s education program, the “Leadership Essentials” track, presented by Dale Carnegie, returns to the Show, offering six courses spread out over three days. The courses, which can be taken as a whole or individually, feature trainers from Dale Carnegie providing the institution’s acclaimed leadership, communications and sales program that improve both individual and business performance.

everyone. The 14 tracks available are:

Aftermarket Updates & Future Trends

• Business Management

• Digital Marketing

• Electric Vehicles

• Enthusiast

• I-CAR Collision Repair Training

• Inside the Shop

• International Roundtables

• Keynote

• Leadership Essentials (presented by Dale Carnegie)

• Legislative and Regulatory

• SCRS Repairer Driven Education

• Tire Industry Association

• Vehicle Technology

One of the five sessions, “Celebrity Insights,” moderated by African American Racers Association cofounder Chris Harris, will give attendees a glimpse into the lives of some of their favorite celebrities, legends and luminaries.

The “Keynote” track will feature the new “Main Stage Experience,” where some of the industry’s iconic figures and leaders will bring their unique perspectives on ways to strengthen business strategies. The Main

“The SEMA Show has a lot to offer, from seeing new products and vehicle builds, meeting with manufacturers, learning from experts and developing meaningful relationships that you can only get from an in-person event,” said Tom Gattuso, SEMA vice president of events. “We encourage Showgoers to take advantage of all the elements of the SEMA Show so that they get the greatest ROI.”

With a wide array of seminars and workshops, the education offerings at the Show provide something for

All sessions are held in meeting rooms at the Las Vegas Convention Center, making it easy and convenient for attendees to schedule seminars between meetings with exhibitors. Registrants can sign up for the education program while applying for SEMA Show credentials at www. SEMAShow.com/register.

For a review of the 2022 SEMA Show Education Program, visit www. SEMAshow.com/education.

— Source: SEMA

SEMA and BendPak are back again, and we’re coming in loaded with an amazing display of world-class equipment. Get up close and personal with some of our top brands, like QuickJack and Autostacker and of course, legendary BendPak lifts. When you need a break from the heat, stop by our Cool Boss exhibit and chill out with our new COOLBLAST and COOLBREEZE Series! We couldn’t fit it all in one booth, so be sure to look for us out front by the racetrack, and upstairs in the south hall. See you there!

A court order has been secured for more than $1.7 million in restitution for Pennsylvania residents against Omega Vehicle Services, LLC, which did business as Delta Auto Protect, along with its manager, Charles Seruya, for violating consumer protection laws.

The order was announced Sept. 19 by Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro

Consumers nationwide purchased vehicle service contracts from Delta Auto, with the understanding that the contract would cover needed repairs. When consumers attempted to get coverage or reimbursement, however, Delta Auto would deny claims and fail to honor their contracts.

“Consumers were falsely led to believe that, in signing a contract, their vehicle repairs would be covered,” said Shapiro. “Instead, Delta Auto Protect blocked consumers at every turn, denying claims, withholding services and doing everything they could to deny refunding consumers. Giving consumers the run around like that isn’t just dishonest, it’s illegal. My

office is always ready to take action and get hard working families their money back.”

Consumers paid anywhere from $1,000 to $3,000 in premiums to begin coverage for potential vehicle repairs.

After Delta Auto accepted payment from consumers, many found the business became non-responsive, even though its website alleged 24/7 customer service and a 30-day money-back guarantee. Some repair shops and consumers attempted to contact Omega Vehicle Services and Delta Auto Protect more than 100 times with no success.

Since these consumers were unable to obtain the services outlined in their contract, the consumers would have to pay for repairs out of their own pockets.

This court order prevents Delta Auto and Seruya from, among other things, operating in Pennsylvania or selling these types of contracts to Pennsylvania consumers.

The order sets aside $1,734,314.53 for customer restitution, $17,698.15 in business restitution and civil penalties of

$1,000 for each instance of a past or present violation of the consumer protection law, totaling $826,000.

Delta Auto and Seruya are required to pay Pennsylvania within 30 days of the court order. Once this money is collected, the consumer restitution process can begin.

“Customers of Delta Auto Protect who believe they may have been a victim of deceptive sales tactics should reach out to my office as soon as possible,” said Shapiro. “Before Nov. 11 to qualify for restitution.”

The order includes a provision allowing additional consumers to be considered for restitution now that Delta Auto can no longer operate. Any consumers who have a contract with Delta Auto or believe they may have been harmed by the unlawful business practices of Delta Auto should submit a complaint online or by phone at 800-441-2555 by Nov. 11 to be considered.

— Source: Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General

U.S. Approves 75K Miles Worth of EV Chargers Across All 50 states, D.C., Puerto Rico

By Joey Klender Teslarati

The U.S. Department of Transportation announced Sept. 27 it has approved plans to build enough electric vehicle charging stations to cover 75,000 miles worth of highways across the country and its territories.

After passing a hefty $1 trillion infrastructure bill in November 2021, President Joe Biden’s moves to increase the available number of electric vehicle chargers are officially a go. States will have access to $5 billion to install EV chargers across interstates in the next five years.

This will more than triple the available funds per state, as the DOT said roughly $1.5 billion is currently available.

States are continuously working to expand their electric vehicle charging infrastructure, and depending on the population and overall market share of electric vehicles, and some areas

will need more chargers than others.

Reuters said earlier this year U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg said the states will be more responsible individually on how the charging stations are installed.

However, there are some specific guidelines each state must follow. The DOT is advising dtates to fund DC Fast Chargers with at least four simultaneously-

usable plug-ins.

Chargers should be available every 50 miles along interstate highways. Chargers located off the highway should be within one mile of the interstate.

Federal funds will only cover four-fifths of the total EV charging installation costs. States are tasked with coming up with the remainder of that bill, only needing 20% of the total cost.

First drafts of the plans for EV infrastructure deployment were submitted to the White House on Aug. 2, with 32 of the 50 states receiving approval earlier in September.

In total, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law set aside $7.5 billion for EV charging infrastructure expansion. The remaining $2.5 billion will be invested in community electric vehicle charging projects. It also included a $7 billion investment into supporting domestic mineral acquisition for electric vehicle batteries and components.

Now is Not the Time

is only going to become increasingly complex. I think we’re going to see more automakers restricting more parts sales only to certified shops.

So that’s why I think giving up on OEM certifications now would be short-sighted. You have to look into the future.

It also makes it important to check the shop locators for the automakers that certify your shop. Make sure your profile is correct, and you have really good photos in there of your shop and your lobby. Keep pushing for positive customer reviews online. All that is becoming all the more important.

Listen, I understand some OEM certification programs provide more value than others right now. But I can tell you the automakers are hearing the message loud and clear from collision repairers that the programs need to provide more value.

I think as we see this OEM subscription model come into play, it’s going to be really good for certified collision shops. So don’t give up. Stay the course.

AUTOBODY

Robert Grieve, owner of Nylund’s Collision Center, said his facility is often referred to as the best auto repair shop in Denver, CO. The multiple awardwinning shop owner is committed to providing uncompromising service and precision craftsmanship.

The locally-owned family business employs 20 people and has served the Denver metro and surrounding areas, including Englewood, Highlands Ranch and Littleton, for more than 30 years.

“Our mission at Nylund’s Collision Center is to provide current and future guests peace of mind, ease and ‘industry best’ repairs,” said Grieve. “We make every effort, every day, to earn our guests’ loyalty and referrals.”

Autobody News talked to Grieve about his business success, the importance of being part of an association, such as SCRS, and why he created the weekly video series “The Airing of GRIEVEances.”

A: Forty years ago, I graduated from Bergen County Technical School in Hackensack, NJ, and launched my career. I jumped in and started working on the floor at a Buick dealer.

I found I was not that good at fixing

cars and was a better people person, so I started focusing on estimating and learning business management. Working with adjusters and people was a lot more rewarding for me.

I worked for several New Jersey dealerships in different management capacities. The last one was a Westwood Lincoln Mercury dealer. I started in the body shop and worked my way up to the service department as the fixed operations director. I became operations director over the entire dealership and when they went public, I was given two dealerships to run, which I did for about six years.

Then, I worked for Daimler Chrysler Academy (DCA) in Michigan for the next three years before my wife, Carol, and I moved to Colorado and purchased Nylund’s Collision in 2006. The shop had a great name for doing high-quality work. They were also prominent in Lexus collision repairs, which we still are today. Carol focuses on the administrative side of the

business, and we make a great team.

About five years ago, we bought our own building a mile away. It’s about 18,000 square feet and is more convenient for guests.

A:

We’ve received several awards over the years but the most prominent is the Denver A-List Award, which we received 11 years in a row until the company stopped giving them out.

What makes our business so successful is the consumers. Everything we do centers around customer service and the guest experience—the facility, the people, how we conduct business and even our purchases.

Our guiding principle is how our actions affect consumers. This

Q: How did you get involved in the industry?

Q: Can you share information about your awards and what makes your shop successful?

Stacey Phillips — Shop

Robert Grieve, owner of Nylund’s Collision Center, said he is committed to providing uncompromising

and precision craftsmanship. He is pictured with his wife, Carol, and team

includes the value for guests and that the car is fixed following OEM repair procedures.

We spend a ridiculous amount of money on training. For me, it’s an asset, not an expense and it helps us provide better service. As the only Lexus authorized collision center in Colorado, we do Lexus training, which includes soft and technical skills; it is amazing. Lexus has a similar focus as we do. Everything centers around our guests and what will make a great experience for them. We try to provide the same on the body shop side of things.

We are also the chosen collision repair facility for Lucid Motors in the Colorado market.

Q: When did you decide to get involved in SCRS and what is the value of belonging to an association?

A: Around the time I bought the Nylund’s building, I was looking to be part of something bigger than myself. I decided to join SCRS as a platinum member. I wanted to help the industry and became a board member in 2019. Currently, my role is treasurer.

This is a people business and I love people. Those who embrace being part of an association become bigger

and better. If you go on a racquetball court and play against yourself, you’ll never get better. However, if you play with somebody better than you, you likely will.

Being part of SCRS, there’s not just one benefit. It’s everything bundled together. There’s great networking with shops and vendors and the opportunity to learn about future vehicles.

You may think you’re the only one going through something and then find you aren’t and can solve problems together. Like politics or any other industry, if you want to change something, you have to get involved and put in the effort.

Q: What prompted you to create the “Airing of Grievances” videos series?

A: That happened in my garage while I was smoking a cigar. In January 2021, I decided to start a consumer-focused weekly show, the “Airing of GRIEVEances,” and share the truth about the collision industry. I want to help consumers understand what’s going on behind the curtain in the collision repair industry and the potholes they may experience along the way so they can be avoided.

My co-host, Eric Reamer, edits the YouTube videos and I don’t see them until we air on Saturdays at 9:30 a.m. MT. I’m proud to say that we’ve recorded close to 100 videos.

We talk about insurance policies and carriers, the technology of vehicles and what you should look for when interviewing body shops.

Initially, I set out to help guests understand the before, during and after of the repair process. I believe it’s important for people to know what’s going on when their cars are being fixed because not every repair is the same. It’s all about consumer awareness.

Since filming them, I’ve heard so many amazing heartwarming stories about shops across the nation who share the videos with customers

and listen to them every week. It makes me feel the camaraderie of the industry.

Q: What is your hope for the industry?

A: The collision industry is changing so fast it’s hard to wrap your arms around it. As I learn new things and embrace looking for the manufacturers’ procedures and being there with technicians, I also share information with consumers because they don’t understand the steps to repair their vehicles.

I believe with all my heart our job as shops is to make sure that that car is back functioning as designed and safe for consumers. The second part of that is to retain as much value as possible.

If the paint doesn’t match, the gaps are not right, the electronics aren’t working properly or we’ve used aftermarket parts, the car is worth less than it was. It’s always going to be this way because it was in an accident, but it shouldn’t be any less because somebody didn’t repair it properly. That’s owed to the guest and should be our pledge.

Watch the videos at www.youtube. com/c/RobertGrieve/videos or www. nylundscollision.com/airing-ofgreiveances/

A dealer at heart, Robert Grieve set up his

office

like

dealership with cars displayed and ready to go home to

Kia

Hitch Recall Issued After Fires, Melting Incidents

By David A. Wood CarComplaints.com

A Kia tow hitch recall has caused Kia to warn owners to park outside and away from anything that could burn.

as accessories through Kia dealerships: 2016-2022 Kia Sorento 2021-2022 Kia Sorento Hybrid 2022-2023 Kia Sorento PlugIn Hybrid 2017-2022 Kia Sportage

Kia tow hitch recall documents filed with the government say a short-circuit could occur due to debris and moisture contamination on the tow hitch harness module printed circuit board.

Kia is still trying to determine the origin of the circuit board contamination, but a short-circuit can cause a fire in the tow hitch harness module.

Accessory Fuse Requirement,” to remind dealers to use the required 15-amp fuse when installing a trailer hitch accessory.

The tow hitch module supplier did CT scans of a 2016 Kia Sorento and found damage on the tow hitch harness module printed circuit board. And in September, Kia confirmed three car fires and 30 localized melting incidents on 2016-2020 Kia Sorentos.

The latest Kia tow hitch recall was issued after it was determined the suspect harness module is used in the recalled Kia models.

As of Sept. 12, no fires or localized melting involved the 2021-2023 Kia Sorento HEV, 2022-2023 Kia Sorento PHEV or 2017-2022 Kia Sportage.

According to Kia, a vehicle

A separate Kia tow hitch recall was issued in August

Kia also said there have been no reports of fatalities, injuries or crashes.

Kia is still working on a fix, but Kia tow hitch recall letters will be mailed Nov. 14.

Kia owners with concerns should call 800-333-4542 and ask about tow hitch recall number SC249.

The future of the home and auto insurance bundle, once a mainstay of property and casualty (P&C) insurance customer retention and lifetime value strategies, has come into question as legions of customers have started to break-up their polices.

According to the J.D. Power 2022 U.S. Home Insurance Study, released Sept. 20, rapidly rising auto insurance premiums are largely to blame for potential defection among bundlers.

“Sky-high auto loss costs and resultant auto premium increases are creating ripple effects throughout the insurance industry and, as a result, one area that is being severely disrupted is the home and auto insurance bundle,” said  Robert M. Lajdziak, director, global insurance intelligence at J.D. Power.

“Homeowners, and particularly bundlers, have traditionally been less price-motivated than the typical monoline auto customer, but we are beginning to see cracks in that foundation,” Lajdziak said. “That puts the focus for insurers squarely on the overall brand experience their

customers are receiving across all lines and on understanding how changes in one area, such as telematics adoption in an auto policy, can affect the entire customer journey.”

Following are some key findings of the 2022 study:

• Overall satisfaction declines, led by home and auto bundlers: Overall homeowner satisfaction decreases 6 points (on a 1,000-point scale) and renter satisfaction decreases 7 points this year. The declines among homeowners are driven by a sharp drop in price satisfaction, which is most pronounced among auto bundlers, where customers experience a 10-point decline in price satisfaction, while non-bundlers only see a 1-point decline.

• Retention rates significantly lower among non-bundlers: The average homeowners insurance customer retention rate among homeowners who bundle their auto and home policies is 95%. Among non-bundlers, that rate drops to 85%. Similarly, among

renters, bundlers have a 95% retention rate and non-bundlers have an 82% retention rate.

• Auto premium increases put bundled home policies at risk: Nearly one-third (31%) of bundlers say they “definitely will” switch their home insurer if they switch their auto insurer after an insurer-initiated auto premium increase. Insurer-initiated auto premium increases also negatively affect home insurance intended retention and advocacy, regardless of bundling status.

• Insurtech awareness on the rise: Overall, nearly one-fourth (23%) of home insurance customers are aware of insurtech offerings from companies like Lemonade, Hippo, Kin, Openly, Jetty and Trove. Among homeowners not currently insured by Lemonade, but aware of the brand, 34% say they “definitely will” or “probably will” purchase from Lemonade if it is available in their state.

Study Rankings

Amica Mutual ranks highest in the homeowners insurance

segment for a second consecutive year, with a score of 849. American Family (842) ranks second and The Hartford (839) ranks third.

Nationwide ranks highest in the renters insurance segment with a score of 859. Lemonade (853) ranks second and Automobile Club of Southern California (852) ranks third.

The U.S. Home Insurance Study examines overall customer satisfaction with two distinct personal insurance product lines: homeowners and renters. Satisfaction in the homeowners and renters insurance segments is measured by examining five factors: interaction; policy offerings; price; billing process and policy information; and claims. The study is based on responses from 11,630 homeowners and renters via online interviews conducted from May through July 2022.

For more information about the U.S. Home Insurance Study, visit https://www.jdpower.com/ business/insurance/us-homeinsurance-study.

— Source: J.D. Power

I-CAR®, the Inter-Industry on Auto Collision Repair, announced it will offer a variety of classroom opportunities to increase collision repair industry knowledge and skills for attendees of the 2022 SEMA Show in Las Vegas, Nov. 1-4.

Online registration for the following topics is now open and available through Nov. 3: Initialization and Calibration of Electronic Systems

Coordinate the Repair Process, Managing Quality Control and MIG Welding Technology & Applications.

I-CAR will also hold a free series of live educational presentations on topics including Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS), Electric Vehicles (EVs), Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR), Scanning and Calibrations, Welding and more at the SEMA Collision Repair & Refinish Stage.

Individuals who take I-CAR educational training gain knowledge and credits valid toward the I-CAR Platinum™ designation.

MSO Symposium Announces 2022 Master Of Ceremonies

The Automotive Service Association (ASA) and its board of directors are pleased to announce Dean Fisher of Driven Brands will serve as the Master of Ceremonies for the 2022 MSO Symposium, being held Monday, Oct. 31 at The Venetian in Las Vegas from 9:30 a.m. - 6:30 p.m.

Dean Fisher brings wellrounded insight to this year’s event with almost 50 years of experience in the automotive industry: from owning multiple automotive-related companies, to bringing his independent collision repair facility into the CARSTAR family and becoming a franchise owner, and holding varying leadership roles on the corporate team at CARSTAR, including chief operations officer and president of the CARSTAR brand. Dean now serves as president of collision companies within Driven Brands and is focused on helping ABRA, CARSTAR and Fix Auto USA to maximize its franchisees’ growth, profitability, and operational

attendee of the MSO Symposium since its inception in 2011 and explains just one of many reasons for attending the event. “The panel discussions on different topical items are always my favorite. Hearing the interchange between MSO groups of varying sizes all coming together to discuss what’s working, where we have opportunities, and what we can do together to make the industry better is unmatched.”

This year’s MSO Symposium in Las Vegas encompasses networking opportunities and a dynamic and interactive agenda set to assist small to large and growing repair facilities with their business’ efficiency and productivity. “The MSO Symposium is an open forum for MSOs, from small regionals to large consolidators, to have highlevel strategic discussions on these topical issues,” continued Fisher.

Sessions at the 2022 event include a deeper dive into: the electric vehicle discussion;

AI; and the labor space. To join leading executives from the largest and most successful collision repair facilities in North America at this exclusive annual event, register by following this link.

“I’m humbled and honored to be moderating this year. Looking back, I remember attending the MSO Symposium championing an independent model with a franchise network of 200 locations. Now I’m moderating ahead of my retirement and at the peak of my career, supporting a network of almost 1,000 independently owned locations,” Fisher concluded.

If you would like to register for the 2022 event, please be advised that attendance is limited and you must qualify to attend. To qualify, you must be a MSO, insurer, OEM, or single location repair facility with $3 million or more in annual sales. The only exception is the limited number of sponsors that help underwrite the program.

More

By Auto Rental News Staff

Five Hertz customers have filed a lawsuit accusing the company of faulty inventory tracking, which caused the drivers to face wrongful arrest for car theft, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal.

Filed in the Delaware Superior Court, the lawsuit said the five named customers were stopped in the past year by police and held at gunpoint for renting and driving vehicles that Hertz incorrectly reported as stolen, according to the report.

These types of instances have been a continuing issue for Hertz, according to the plaintiffs’ lawyer, with at least 300 cases since 2015. The majority of legal claims related to false arrests were put into Hertz’s bankruptcy proceedings after it entered chapter 11 proceedings in 2020, said the report.

A Hertz spokeswoman said the company has already sent almost 60 confidential settlement offers to individuals “who had a negative experience with our

company.” She added Hertz is processing individual claims and plans to make progress in reaching resolutions over the coming months, according to the report.

collapsed two years ago. Most of the cases involved vehicles that weren’t returned to Hertz on time, though some claimants have been offered settlements, Hertz said in its latest quarterly report.

Earlier in 2022, a Delaware bankruptcy court judge ruled Hertz needed to make public thousands of documents that allegedly claimed customers rented its vehicles and later stole them, according to multiple news sources.

HERTZ SPOKESWOMAN

“While we remain steadfast in our commitment to defend the company’s interest against those that intend harm, we also want to do right by our customers,” the spokeswoman said.

In court and securities filings this year, Hertz said the falsearrests allegations were an old problem from when the company

The case represented 230 Hertz customers who claimed they were wrongly arrested, according to a report by MSN. Hertz accused these customers of theft and then informed local police these customers committed a crime. These customers were then arrested. There could be as many as 8,000 customers who were wrongly accused of stealing Hertz vehicles.

It seems these cases were mostly mistakes by Hertz’s computer system when it couldn’t physically locate a car, according to MSN.

“While we remain steadfast in our commitment to defend the company’s interest against those that intend harm, we also want to do right by our customers,”

ACME NISSAN

M-F 8am-5pm Sat 9am-1pm Toll Free: 800-367-0269

Direct: 732-821-9300 / 24 Hour Fax: 732-821-8295

E-mail: parts@acmenissan.com www.acmenissan.com

AN ESSENTIAL PART OF YOUR BUSINESS WORKING TOGETHER TO HELP KEEP AMERICA SAFE ON THE ROAD.

Now more than ever, your customers need to know their vehicle will be repaired right the first time. Depend on the factory fit, finish, and performance of Genuine Nissan Parts. Our friendly and knowledgeable staff is here and ready to serve you by phone or online.

We’re following state and local guidlines to bring you the parts you need. The health and safety of our customers is our #1 priority. These are tough times and we’ll get through them together. You can depend on us.

TRUST THE ORIGINAL. GENUINE NISSAN PARTS.

The Nissan Market Shield Program is powered by:

PartsAdvantage.NissanUSA.com

Always wear your seat belt and please don't drink and drive. The Nissan names, logos and slogans are trademarks owned by or licensed to Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. and/or its North American subsidiaries. ©2020 Nissan North America, Inc. All rights reserved.

for

By Casey Harper

The Center Square

Gas prices have continued to rise over the past two weeks, and now OPEC has announced a major decision that will likely drive those prices higher.

OPEC said Oct. 5 it would reduce oil production beginning in November by 2 million barrels per day. OPEC, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries largely based in the Mideast, said in a statement it made the decision “in light of the uncertainty that surrounds the global economic and oil market outlooks, and the need to enhance the long-term guidance for the oil market, and in line with the successful approach of being proactive, and preemptive…”

President Joe Biden helped lower prices by releasing 1 million barrels per day from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve since April, but the reserves meant for emergency situations like natuural disasters or in the event of war are now near decades-low levels.

“In any event, we will continue to take steps to protect American

consumers,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said during an Oct. 4 press briefing. “Our focus, and it’s been very clear for the past several, several months, has been on taking every step to ensure markets are sufficiently supplied to meet demand for a growing global economy.”

of regular gasoline is $3.83, up from $3.77 a week ago. The recent rise in gas prices is due in part to the effects of Hurricane Ian.

Patrick De Haan, a petroleum expert with GasBuddy, said he expects OPEC’s decision to drive prices up 15 to 30 cents per gallon.

“Ouch... and up goes oil after OPEC recommendation…” he wrote on Twitter. “It’s VERY nuanced right now because of refinery kinks, but high [gas prices] will soon fall in the West Coast, Great Lakes and others where they exploded, while rising in the Gulf, South, [Southeast], East Coast and [Northeast] because of OPEC’s decision.”

Biden told reporters he was “concerned” about OPEC’s announcement, calling it “unnecessary.”

According to AAA, the current national average price for a gallon

Prices hit an alltime high in June, surpassing $5 per gallon before declining. Current prices, though, are still much higher than when Biden took office. The average price one year ago was $3.20 per gallon.

A panel of manufacturers of electric vehicles shared information collision repairers will need to know about their vehicles.

A lot of has been written about potential challenges EVs pose in the paint shop, but representatives of several electric vehicles downplayed that concern in terms of their companies’ vehicles. Jake Rodenroth of Lucid Motors noted his company started out producing batteries before vehicles.

“So we’ve been doing this a while, and in our case, baking is not really a concern,” he said. “You don’t want to get crazy with temperatures, but it’s not as bad as it used to be.”

Kelly Logan, senior manager of the Rivian collision repair program, concurred.

“We have a position statement already in place about baking the vehicle. It’s not a concern,” Logan said. “Today’s downdraft paint booths move air very efficiently, and the good thing is the battery is on the outside bottom of the car.

Restricted Parts, Booth Concerns, ‘Service Mode’

“Battery engineers always freak out when you talk about putting the car in an oven and turning it on,” Logan continued. “They think worst case scenario. But in reality, when you’re baking that vehicle, the panel is 150 degrees or maybe it gets to 160.

shops also shouldn’t rely on general practices that say “always do this” or “never do this” for all vehicles; look at the OEM procedure “for the specific vehicle you’re doing at the time you are doing it,” Cid said.

To that end, Rodenroth noted his company prefers use of liquid masking on their vehicles, but in any case doesn’t want the front end bagged improperly because of the vehicles’ cooling fans.

“Those are really powerful, so you can suffocate the car,” Rodenroth said. “Follow the service manual. We have some direction around that.”

parts.

“We do have restricted parts,” said Frank Phillips, collision program manager for Rivian. “We use the phrase anything welded, riveted, bonded is a restricted structural part. Anything to do with high voltage is restricted. Anything to do with safety, such as airbags, seat belts, are all restricted parts. One of the other things we restrict are the targets for calibration. Those are limited to our certified network to help [ensure] confidence that the calibration is being done correctly.”

But at the bottom of that car, with all that air coming down, it’s never really hitting that temp.”

But Ben Cid, collision business manager for Mercedes-Benz, said

Logan, whose company is on track to deliver a total of 25,000 vehicles this year, said the company has visited hundreds of body shops in the past year as it began building a certified network. One thing he said they look for is whether specialized equipment within a shop is clearly being used and not just gathering dust in a corner.

Non-certified shops will find the automaker is limiting the sale of many

Both Rodenroth and Logan acknowledged they don’t yet have a “service mode” for their vehicles that a shop can use to ensure EV owners aren’t able to connect with the vehicle through their app and aren’t getting notifications based on what’s happening with the vehicle during repairs.

“We have a service mode that is in the works that will come over with another update at the end of the year,” Rodenroth said. “We do have

Jake Rodenroth said Lucid Motors prefers the use of liquid masking on their vehicles, but in any case doesn’t want the front end bagged improperly because of the vehicles’ powerful cooling fans

a switch or button in there called ‘tilt and shake mode’. It shuts off the alarm and notifications so it’s not ringing while the vehicle is on the tow truck.”

Logan similarly said a service mode is “in the engineering pipeline” that will be available “in the near future.”

turn this stuff off, because you won’t be actively charging [the vehicle] every night like they do when they are at home.”

The environment can also contribute to parasitic draw and to how often an EV in for repairs will need to be charged.

By Simon Alvarez Teslarati

In the meantime, they said, collision repair shops may want to disable certain systems on an electric vehicle in for repairs, in part to reduce “parasitic draw” on the vehicle’s 12volt system.

“The vehicle’s security system can bring the 12-volt circuit down if the cameras are actively recording for theft or damage,” Rodenroth said.

“In our case, we have 14 cameras. When you’re recording that level of stuff, it can draw the battery down. So if you take a vehicle in, go over it with the owner and make sure they

“Depending on how hot a Rivian gets, it will turn on the air conditioning system to cool and maintain that battery,” Logan said. “Or if it’s extremely cold out, the car may need to heat up that pack. So it’s not uncommon when you have an EV all torn apart, you can see an increase in the parasitic draw. It’s running systems behind the scenes. You may have to charge that vehicle a couple times during the repair process.”

Tesla reported it was able to produce a total of 365,923 vehicles and deliver 343,830 vehicles in the third quarter of 2022.

More specifically, Tesla produced 19,935 Model S/X and 345,988 Model 3/Y. The company was also able to deliver 18,672 Model S/X and 325,158 Model 3/Y in Q3 2022.

As noted by Tesla in a press release, the company has started transitioning to a more even regional mix of vehicle builds per week. This has resulted in the company increasing the number of cars in transit at the end of the quarter.

“As our production volumes

continue to grow, it is becoming increasingly challenging to secure vehicle transportation capacity and at a reasonable cost during these peak logistics weeks.

“In Q3, we began transitioning to a more even regional mix of vehicle builds each week, which led to an increase in cars in transit at the end of the quarter. These cars have been ordered and will be delivered to customers upon arrival at their destination,” Tesla wrote.

Tesla’s Q3 2022 deliveries are successful. In comparison, the company delivered a total of 308,600 vehicles in Q4 2021, 310,048 cars in Q1 2022, and 254,695 vehicles in Q2 2022.

Tesla will be posting its Q3 2022 earnings results after markets close Oct. 19.

“We have a service mode that is in the works that will come over with another update at the end of the year.”

— JAKE RODENROTH BODY REPAIR PROGRAM OPERATIONS MANAGER, LUCID MOTORS

Touted as lifesaving, crashpreventing tech, Automatic Emergency Braking (AEB) is standard equipment in most new cars sold in the U.S.

Over the years, AEB has successfully stemmed rear-end crashes, which often result in injuries, property damage and even fatalities. But AAA wanted to know if the latest generation of AEB can handle higher speeds and detect moving vehicles in its path at intersections. It struggled with the former and failed with the latter.

“Automatic Emergency Braking does well at tackling the limited task it was designed to do. Unfortunately, that task was drawn up years ago, and regulator’s slow-speed crash standards haven’t evolved,” said Greg Brannon, director of AAA’s automotive engineering and industry relations. “Testing requirements for this technology, or any vehicle safety system for that matter, must be updated to handle faster, more realistic speeds and scenarios with the greatest safety benefit for drivers.”

The Issue

AEB uses forward-facing cameras

Braking Absent When You Need It Most

and other sensors to automatically tell the car to apply the brakes when a crash is imminent. It has reduced rear-end crashes at slower speeds, and the technology has been refined over the years with upgraded hardware and software.

But two of the most common deadly crashes at intersections are T-bones and left turns in front of oncoming vehicles. From 2016 to 2020, these two types accounted for 39.2% of total fatalities in crashes involving two passenger vehicles during which the striking vehicle did not lose traction or leave the roadway before the collision.

What AAA Tested

*AEB rear-end crash performance when encountering a stationary vehicle at speeds of 30 and 40 mph (currently mandated testing speeds are 12 and 25 mph)

*AEB performance when encountering moving vehicles in collision scenarios involving an intersection---T-bone and unprotected left turn (test vehicle turning left in front of an oncoming car)

At 30 mph, AEB prevented a rearend collision for 17 of 20 test runs, or 85%. For the test runs that resulted in a crash, the impact speed was reduced by 86%.

But at 40 mph, AEB only prevented a rear-end crash in 6 of 20 test runs, or 30%. For test runs that resulted in a crash, the impact speed was reduced by 62%.

In both the T-bone and left-turn in front of oncoming vehicle tests, crashes occurred 100% of the time. AEB failed to alert the driver, slow the vehicle’s speed and avoid the crash.

AEB is common in vehicles, regardless of price. Starting Sept. 1, 20 automakers representing more than 99% of the US market pledged to make AEB standard equipment on all their new vehicles.

What’s Next AAA strongly urges automakers and regulatory agencies to focus on system design and test protocols to better handle the types of crashes when injuries and fatalities commonly occur.

Automakers must improve AEB systems to assist drivers in intersection-based crash scenarios.

Automakers should include AEB systems as standard equipment on all their makes and models.

Drivers must recognize an AEB system’s limitations and remain engaged when behind the wheel.

Methodology

AAA selected four vehicles for testing, choosing two of each driver monitoring design type, cameraequipped and input from the steering wheel. AAA does not rate vehicle performance. The vehicles were a 2022 Chevrolet Equinox LT with Chevy Safety Assist, 2022 Ford Explorer XLT with Pre-Collision Assist with Automatic Emergency Braking, 2022 Honda CR-V Touring with Honda Sensing and 2022 Toyota RAV4 LE with Toyota Sensing.

The vehicles were procured directly from the manufacturer or specialty rental fleets. To ensure the proper functioning of the AEB system, all vehicles were serviced at dealerships. Please refer to the full report for methodology details, including specific testing equipment and test track characteristics.

— Source: AAA

Driven Glass Attends Auto Glass Week

Driven Glass, home to a portfolio of iconic brands like Jack Morris Auto Glass, Auto Glass Now and All Star Glass, took the stage at Auto Glass Week to share its story about the rapid expansion of its auto glass services network through organic growth and acquisitions.

Driven Glass also took home top honors, winning Auto Glass Repair and Replacement’s (AGRR) top retailer award.

The 2022 Auto Glass Week, held Sept. 14-16 in San Antonio, TX, marked the first official presence of Driven Glass at the event, where it displayed its ever-growing family of auto glass brands, portfolio of glass services and career potential as part of the growing Driven Glass business.

Mars Shah, president, Driven Glass, and Michael Lopez, president, Auto Glass Now, led a discussion Sept. 16, “Working with Other Auto-Related Companies to Drive Business.”

— Source: Driven Brands

Phone synching with a vehicle results in it becoming almost the equivalent of a cell phone on wheels so shops are increasingly offering to erase all that personal data for a customer whose vehicle has been declared a total loss.

because many shops aren’t doing it.

“A vehicle owner today may have their home address stored in their navigation unit of the vehicle, and their contacts get stored when they synch their phone,” said industry trainer Mike Anderson of Collision Advice, who conducts the “Who Pays” surveys with CRASH Network. “Garage door opener codes might be stored. So we need to be asking the vehicle owner, when the vehicle is a total loss, if they would they like us to erase their personal information.”

resources to help shops better understand and use the information presented.

MIKE ANDERSON COLLISION ADVICE

A “Who Pays for What?” survey of U.S. shops this past summer found more than one-third (35%) said they are paid always or most of the time by the eight largest U.S. insurers when they charge for the labor for this procedure. That has more than doubled from the first time the survey asked about the procedure a year earlier. Despite this, more than four in five shops acknowledge not having sought to be paid for this work perhaps

Anderson said the steps necessary to clear this information can generally be found in the vehicle’s owner’s manual.

The final “Who Pays for What?” survey of 2022 is now open through the month of October. It focuses on labor operations related to scanning, system calibrations and labor. Shops can take the survey at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/ RBRG5GY

Survey participants receive a free report with complete survey findings along with analysis and

Anderson said the survey, which will take about 15-20 minutes, can be completed by anyone in a shop familiar with the shop’s billing practices and the payment practices of at least some of the largest national insurers. Each shop’s individual responses are held in the strictest confidence; only aggregated data is released.

The results of previous surveys are also available online at https://www.crashnetwork.com/ collisionadvice

— Source: CRASH Network

More Shops Being Paid For Clearing A Driver’s Personal Data From A Total Loss Vehicle; Latest ‘Who Pays’ Survey Now Open Through October

“A vehicle owner today may have their home address stored in their navigation unit of the vehicle, and their contacts get stored when they synch their phone”

Please contact these dealers for your Honda or Acura Genuine parts needs.

Curtiss-Ryan Honda Shelton

800-523-4190

203-929-0635

Dept Hours: M-F 7-5; Sat 7-4 callen@curtissryan com

Lia Honda of Enfield Enfield 800-221-3131

860-741-3401

Dept Hours: M-F 7:30-5:30; Sat 8-4 jdoucette@liacars com

Berlin City Honda South Portland 800-640-6685

207-774-6685

Dept Hours: M-F 7:30-5:30 mmmparts@berlincity com

IRA Honda Saco Saco 207-391-7910

207-282-0900

Dept Hours: M-F 7:30-6; Th 7:30-7; Sat 7:30-4 klavalle@driveprime com

Criswell Honda Germantown 240-864-0880

Dept Hours: M-Fri 7-7:30; Sat 7-6 hondaparts@criswellauto com

Boch Honda Norwood

833-319-6270

781-619-6791

Dept Hours: M-F 7:30-5 bh-wholesale@boch com

LIA Honda Northampton Northampton 800-369-7889

413-587-2900

Dept Hours: M-F 7:30-5; Sat 8-3 dstanisewski@liacars com

Clinton Honda Annandale

877-657-2787

Dept Hours: M-F 8-5; Sat 8-2 abdulc@clintonhonda com

Honda of Turnersville Turnersville 800-883-0002

856-516-6262

Dept Hours: M-F 8-6; Sat 8-4 mbivario@penskeautomotive�com

Hudson Honda West New York 866-483-6917

201-868-9500

Dept Hours: M-Sat 8-5 mdasilva@hudsonhonda com

Madison Honda Madison 800-648-0293

973-822-1710

Dept Hours: M-Thu 7-7; Fri 7-6; Sat 7-5; Sun 8-4 jay madisonhonda@gmail com

Rossi Honda Vineland

800-893-3030

856-692-4449

Dept Hours: M-F 7:30-5 (W until 7); Sat 7:30-3 dlyons@rossihonda com

Route 22 Honda Hillside

973-705-9100

Dept Hours: M-Sat 8-5 rt22hondaparts@route22honda com

Sussex Honda Newton 800-842-0557

973-579-3500

Dept Hours: M-F 8-5 realhondaparts@sussexhonda�com

Ide Honda Rochester 800-462-0056 (N.Y.)

585-586-4919

Dept Hours: M-Thur 8-8; Fri 8-5:30; Sat 8-5 parts@idehonda com

Lamacchia Honda Syracuse 315-471-7278

Dept Hours: M-F 7:30-5:30 parts@lamacchiahonda com

Lia Honda of Albany Albany 800-272-6741

518-482-2598

Dept Hours: M, T, W, F 7:30-5:30; Thur 7:30-8; Sat 8-5 mjerard@liacars com

Lia Honda of Brewster Brewster

845-278-4177

Dept� Hours: M-F 7:30-5; Sat 8-4 cpaulson@liacars com

Lia Honda of Williamsville Williamsville/Buffalo 877-659-2672

716-632-3800

Dept Hours: M & W 7:30-7; Tu & Thur 7:30-6 Fri 7:30-5; Sat 8-5:30 mmiller@liacars com

Ray Laks Honda Orchard Park 716-824-7852

Dept Hours: M, Tu, Th 8-8; W, F 8-6; Sat 8-5 jmaybee@raylaks com

ACURA

MASSACHUSETTS

Acura of Boston Brighton 800-254-1169 617-254-5400

Dept� Hours: M-Thur 8-7; F 8-6; Sat 8-4 manny aliagra@bernardiauto com

Acura of Peabody Peabody 800-878-3600 978-532-9110

Dept Hours: M-Sat 8-5 dbritt@acurapeabody com

Acura Turnersville Turnersville 888-883-2884 856-516-6060

Dept� Hours: M-F 7:30-5; Sat 7:30-4:30 sbaptist@penskeautomotive com

Autosport Acura Denville 973-361-3117

Dept Hours: M-F 7-6; Sat 8-4 erin@theautosportgroup com

Bill Vince’s Bridgewater Acura Bridgewater 908-704-0307

Dept Hours: M-F 8-7; Sat 8-4 mattn@bridgewateracura com

Elite Acura Maple Shade 856-722-9600

Dept Hours: M-Sat 7:30-6 bmartinsen@eliteacura com

Open Road Acura ofEast Brunswick East Brunswick 732-238-0777

732-238-5466

Dept Hours: M-F 8-5; Sat 8-4 robert talbot@openroad com

Open Road Acura of Wayne Wayne 973-696-5151

Dept Hours: M-F 7:30-6; Sat 8-4 jonathan�tangen@openroad�com

Park Ave Acura Maywood 888-690-7621

201-587-0028

Dept� Hours: M-F 8-6; Sat 8-3 ron@parkaveacura com

Acura of Westchester Westchester 914-834-8887

Dept Hours: M-F 7:30-8; Sat 8-4; Sun 9-4 acura parts@yahoo com

VERMONT

Apple Honda York 800-960-9041

717-848-2600

Dept Hours: M-F 7-6; Sat 7-4; Sun 10-4 applehondaparts@appleauto1 com

Baierl Honda Wexford 818-332-7351

Dept Hours: M-F 8-5; Sat 8-4 markludwig@baierl com

Shenango Honda Hermitage 800-858-0849

724-981-7106

Dept Hours: M-F 7:30-5:30; Sat 8-4 parts@shenangoauto com

Sussman Honda Roslyn 800-682-2914

215-657-3301

Dept Hours: M-F 8-5; Sat 8-1 rendrick@sussmanauto�com

802 Honda Berlin 802-223-9700

Dept Hours: M-F 7:30-5; Sat 8-Noon hondaparts@802cars com

Curry Acura Scarsdale 800-725-2877

914-472-7406

Dept� Hours: M-F 8-6; Sat 8-5 parts@curryacura com

Paragon Acura Woodside 718-507-3990

Dept Hours: M-F 8-6; Sat 8-5; Sun 9-4 parts@paragonacura�com

Smithtown Acura St James 631-366-4114

Dept Hours: M-F 7:30-5:30; Sat 8-4 parts@smithtownacura com

Baierl Acura Wexford 800-246-7457

724-935-0800

Dept� Hours: M-F 8-5; Sat 8-4 cameronegerter@baierl com

Davis Acura Langhorne 267-296-1000

215-943-7000

Dept� Hours: M-F 7-7; Sat 8-4 frankp@davisacura com

Sussman Acura Jenkintown 800-826-4078

215-884-6285

Dept Hours: M-F 8-5; Sat 8-1 rendrick@sussmanauto com

Hertz Planning to Order 175K EVs from General Motors

Hertz and General Motors Co. on Sept. 20 announced an agreement in which Hertz plans to order up to 175,000 Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, Cadillac and BrightDrop EVs over the next five years.

million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions compared to similar gasoline-powered vehicles traveling such a distance.

Hertz and GM believe this plan is the largest expansion of EVs among fleet customers and the broadest because it spans a wide range of vehicle categories and price points, from compact and midsize SUVs to pickups, luxury vehicles and more.

The agreement will encompass electric vehicle deliveries through 2027 as Hertz increases the EV component of its fleet and GM accelerates production of EVs broadly. Over this period, Hertz estimates its customers could travel more than 8 billion miles in these EVs, saving approximately 3.5

“It’s exciting that two iconic American companies that have shaped the evolution of transportation for more than a century are coming together to redefine the future of mobility in the 21st century,” said Stephen Scherr, Hertz CEO. “We are thrilled to partner with GM on this initiative, which will dramatically expand our EV offering to Hertz customers, including leisure and business travelers, rideshare drivers and corporates.”

“Our work with Hertz is a huge step forward for emissions reduction and EV adoption that will help create thousands of new EV customers for GM,” said GM Chair and CEO Mary Barra. “With the vehicle choice, technology and driving range we’re delivering, I’m confident that each rental experience will further increase purchase consideration for our products and drive growth for our company.”

Hertz is investing to create the

largest rental fleet of EVs in North America, with tens of thousands of EVs available for rent at 500 Hertz locations across 38 states. The company’s current goal is for onequarter of its fleet to be electric by the end of 2024.

Hertz expects to begin taking delivery of Chevrolet Bolt EVs and Bolt EUVs in the first quarter of next year. GM deliveries to Hertz are projected to increase as GM rapidly scales its EV production between 2023 and 2025, driven by the opening of Ultium Cells battery cell plants in Ohio, Tennessee and Michigan. GM plans annual production capacity of 1 million EVs in North America by 2025.

— Source: GM

“Our work with Hertz is a huge step forward for emissions reduction and EV adoption that will help create thousands of new EV customers for GM,” MARY BARRA GM CHAIR AND CEO

GM Hit with $102.6 Million Jury Verdict in Class Action Over Defective Engines

In a rare class action trial verdict, a California federal jury on Oct. 4 found the nation’s largest automobile manufacturer hid an engine defect that resulted in excessive oil consumption, leading to engine damage, stalling and premature breakdown in tens

Generation IV Vortec 5300 LC9 engine.

The case was tried in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

Filed in late 2016, the lawsuit claimed internal GM documents showed the company was quickly alerted to a defect in the engine’s piston rings that resulted in the vehicles consuming too much oil. The excess oil infiltrated parts of the engine where it didn’t belong, resulting in damage and, eventually, premature engine breakdown and failure.

advocacy is this case,” said  Christopher Stombaugh, lead trial counsel in the case and a partner at DiCello Levitt. “I am also thankful for the courage of the jury, which did the right thing in holding GM responsible for its deceit and half-hearted efforts to address its problems.”

2014 GMC Sierra 1500

of thousands of General Motors’s 5.3-liter SUVs and light trucks.

The jury returned a $102.6 million verdict against GM in a class action lawsuit led by national plaintiffs’ trial firm DiCello Levitt on behalf of owners and lessees of GM trucks and SUVs sold from 2011-2014 in California, North Carolina and Idaho, which contained the company’s

By 2010, GM recommended to its dealers they clean the pistons of the vehicles in question. That solution was ineffective and company engineers and other employees recommended the piston ring design be changed. GM made other ineffective engine design changes in 2011, but the oil consumption issues persisted until GM finally discontinued production of the engine following the 2014 model year.

“I am exceptionally proud of our trial team for its tireless preparation and aggressive

The jury found GM violated the breach of implied warranty of merchantability to California plaintiffs, the breach of implied warranty of merchantability to North Carolina vehicle owners, and breached the provisions of the Idaho Consumer Protection Act. It awarded each of the 38,000 class members $2,700, bringing total damages to $102.6 million.

The case is Raul Siqueiros, et al. v. General Motors LLC, Case No. 3:16-cv-07244, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

— Source: DiCello Levitt

CREF Hosting Art Meets Automotive www.autobodynews.com

The Collision Repair Education Foundation (CREF) will bring back their popular annual SEMA reception, sponsored by Hertz, featuring a unique student art exhibit where Art Meets Automotive.

The reception and exhibit will be held at the “CREF Career Studio” in the Las Vegas Convention Center, West Hall Atrium Level Three, from 7-10 p.m. Nov. 1.

Art Meets Automotive will feature unique automotivethemed creations in which today’s tech students showcase their design concepts, creativity and collision repair skills. Students will compete in this innovative design challenge for bragging rights and prizes.

More than 30 students have entered their works of art in the contest. Judging by a panel of automotive experts will take place online, and guests at the reception will also have an opportunity to vote on their favorite designs.

— Source: CREF

AN O.E.

ONLY MOPAR® TESTS THEIR PARTS AS A COMPLETE VEHICLE SYSTEM TO PROVIDE OPTIMUM PERFORMANCE AND SAFETY.

Mopar® Parts are designed to precisely match the fit and finish of your customers’ vehicles. They protect your customers and your reputation; and because they’re easy to install, they also reduce your cycle time. For hassle-free installation and higher turn rates, use Authentic Mopar Collision Parts.

We’re happy to fill your order:

CONNECTICUT

ARTIOLI CHRYSLER DODGE

525 Enfield Street Enfield, CT 06082 (888) 436-6727

MARYLAND

ANTWERPEN CHRYSLER

JEEP DODGE RAM

6440 Baltimore National Pike Baltimore, MD 21228

(410) 788-1546

Fax: (410) 788-6724

CRISWELL CHRYSLER

JEEP DODGE RAM

84 Bureau Drive Gaithersburg, MD 20878 (301) 212-4453

OURISMAN CHRYSLER

DODGE JEEP RAM

12430 Auto Drive Clarksville, MD 21029 (410) 988-9570

Fax: (410) 988-9591

WALDORF DODGE

2450 Crain Highway Waldorf, MD 20601

(866) 843-1905 (301) 843-1905

MASSACHUSETTS

KELLY JEEP CHRYSLER

353 Broadway – Route 1 North Lynnfield, MA 01940 (800) 278-8558

Fax: (781) 581-2490 kjcparts@kellyauto.com

NEW JERSEY

FRANKLIN SUSSEX AUTO MALL

315 Route 23 Sussex, NJ 07461

Order Hot Line: (855) 268-1207

Fax: (973) 875-9088

TURNERSVILLE CHRYSLER JEEP DODGE RAM

3100 Black Horse Pike Turnersville, NJ 08012 (856) 875-2627

NEW YORK

CENTRAL AVENUE CHRYSLER JEEP DODGE WHOLESALE DIVISION

1839 Central Park Avenue Yonkers, NY 10710

(800) 967-5298

Fax: (914) 961-4313

EASTCHESTER CHRYSLER JEEP DODGE

4007 Boston Road Bronx, NY 10466 (914) 597-7018

NEMER CHRYSLER JEEP DODGE RAM OF SARATOGA

617 Maple Avenue Saratoga Springs, NY 12866 (518) 584-0058

ROCKLAND CHRYSLER JEEP DODGE

60 Route 304 Nanuet, NY 10954 (845) 623-1367 Fax: (845) 623-0903

VISION DODGE

920 Panarama Trail South Rochester, NY 14625 (585) 385-1275 Fax: (585) 385-6049

PENNSYLVANIA

NEW HOLLAND CHRYSLER DODGE JEEP RAM

508 West Main Street New Holland, PA 17557 (800) 367-3232

Check out MoparRepairConnection.com for resources, promotions and technical information.

©2022 FCA US LLC. All Rights Reserved. Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Ram, Wagoneer, Mopar and SRT are registered trademarks of FCA US LLC. FIAT is a registered trademark of FCA Group Marketing S.p.A., used under license by FCA US LLC.

SCRS Announces Full Lineup for 2022 OEM Collision Repair Summit at SEMA

The Society of Collision Repair Specialists (SCRS) announced details for all three sessions being offered as part of the 2022 OEM Collision Repair Technology Summit, taking place Nov. 3 during the SEMA Show.

Held at the Las Vegas Convention Center, Upper South Hall (Room S233), the Summit’s three sessions feature distinctly different discussions highlighting how trends and technological developments in modern vehicles influence vehicle repairability and collision industry preparation.

* Kevin Earlywine, instructor, collision repair and refinish at Toyota Motor North America

* Wayne Weikel, senior director, Alliance for Automotive Innovation

* Amber Alley, manager at Barsotti’s Body & Fender

* Moderated by Aaron Schulenburg, executive director of SCRS

SESSION II: 11 a.m.–12:30 p.m., “Tackling the Technician Crisis Together”

Technicians play one of the most critical roles in proper repairs, and the increasing shortage of talent is a contributing factor with implications on the collision repair businesses.

and “Is there a difference between the factory tool and an aftermarket tool?”

In this session,  Chris Chesney, VP of training and organizational development at Repairify, will present the results of a research project completed by the company, connecting multiple aftermarket tools to thousands of YMMT vehicles and compiling an analysis of the scan results, DTCs and the ability to clear DTCs in the same manner as the factory tool.

* Devin Wilcox, program manager and strategist, Collision Network at Subaru of America

* Jake Rodenroth, North American body repair program operations manager at Lucid Motors

Tickets can be secured onsite, outside the education classrooms (rooms S229–S233) in the Upper Level of the South Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center.

Register for sessions individually or as part of the Full Series Pass.

The Full Series Pass provides the greatest flexibility and value, giving access to one regular Repairer Driven Education session in each available time slot, all three OEM Summit sessions, the IDEAS Collide Showcase, plus one ticket to the SCRS Sky Villa After-party Nov.3.

The Summit agenda includes:

SESSION I: 9-10:30 a.m., “OEM Repair Procedure Accessibility”

The foundation of a quality repair begins with access and adherence to documented repair procedures from the vehicle manufacturer.

But in the collision repair market, well-trained, well-equipped repair facilities are not struggling to gain access to collision repair procedures--they are struggling to compete against other businesses who don’t prioritize access and adherence to the available information.

In this presentation and panel, automakers will discuss access points for information, means to use the procedures in a repair environment, and ways to overcome myths or perceived obstacles in accessing and using repair procedure data.

Featuring:

* Mark Allen, collision programs manager at Audi of America

* Benito Cid, collision business development manager at MercedesBenz USA

This session, led by  Eliza Johnson of Ducker Carlisle, explores data compiled by the global market research firm that delves into the technician crisis, as well as solutions, in partnership with automakers to bolster the technician pool. The presentation will elaborate on the severity of the technician crisis in the automotive landscape, and how it is expected to evolve over the coming years, while considering technology advancements and demographic expectations.

Johnson will elaborate on tactical examples of the Carlisle recommendations in key areas and how the research and recommendations led to the formation of the Automotive Technician Collaboration (ATC), a Carlisle-led group of nine automotive OEMs jointly tackling an industry response to the technician crisis. The collective goal is to change the perception of the automotive technician career.

Following the presentation, Johnson will then welcome a guest panel to join the conversation, featuring:

* Dara Goroff, vice president, planning and industry talent programming at I-CAR

* John Helterbrand, national program director at Collision Engineering

* Jennifer Maher, executive director at the TechForce Foundation

SESSION III: 1–2:30 p.m., “Managing Scan Tool Choices While Ensuring Safe and Proper Repairs”

When it comes to scanning, some of the most common questions asked in the industry include “Why do the OEMs require the use of their factory tool when servicing safety systems?”

Chesney will provide insight into how the resulting database can identify when, and if, an aftermarket tool can offer the same results as an OEM tool. The OEM Summit will be the first public visibility into the results of testing thousands of vehicles using both OEM and aftermarket tools.

Following the presentation of data, Chesney will welcome automakers to the stage to discuss how the results of their tests align with automaker guidance and requirements, including:

* Dan Dent, manager, collision, Certified Repair Network at Nissan Motor Corporation

The 2022 OEM Collision Repair Technology Summit is made possible with support from AirPro Diagnostics, BASF, CAR-O-LINER, CCC, Enterprise, Reliable Automotive Equipment, Toyota and SEMA.

To learn more about SCRS’ education series at the SEMA Show visit https://scrs.com/sema-rderegistration.

— Source: SCRS

to Help Consumers Remove Personal Data

Auto body shops have long given customers whose vehicle has been declared a total loss a chance to get any of their personal belongings from the vehicle before it is towed away.

But what about all their digital personal information contained in that vehicle?

A Society of Collision Repair Specialists (SCRS) committee is working to raise awareness among shops about assisting customers releasing a vehicle by ensuring their personal data is deleted from the infotainment system.

“We found that most shops don’t know how to deal with this, or don’t have protocols in place yet, so we thought it would be worth addressing from a collision repair perspective,” Amber Alley, vice chairman of SCRS, said during the association’s open board meeting this summer.

The committee pointed to

an SCRS Quick Tip video— available at www.youtube.com/ watch?v=yhMYkmZRwrc—that explains why this is an important step. The systems may be storing information such as the owners’ contact names, addresses and phone numbers; garage door opener codes; and copies of texts, emails and call history.

“Phone syncing really is resulting in the car becoming like someone’s cell phone on wheels,” Alley said. “Pretty much anything on your phone could be getting recorded onto some module inside the car, particularly the infotainment system.”

Alley said the committee hopes to develop some best practices related to this for shops—possibly including sample wording for a customer authorization form— but in the meantime, she said the steps involved appear to be more commonly found in consumer-

Shop owner Ron Reichen said some 360-surround cameras capture images even when the vehicle is not in operation, potentially monitoring activity in a shop where the vehicle is being repaired

focused materials from the automakers rather than in the OEM repair procedures.

“So as a shop, when looking for this information, I would suggest you start with the owner’s manual and customer-based materials from

the car manufacturer,” she said.

The committee noted it’s not just a vehicle’s infotainment system that may include personal customer information. Oregon shop owner Ron Reichen shared images from a vehicle’s 360-surround camera captured even while the vehicle was not in operation as part of the vehicle’s security system.

That data could include images that share information the customer would not like a future owner of the vehicle to have—such as where they drop off their kids at school or daycare—and also could include information from the vehicle’s time in the shop, such as images of license plates of other vehicles in for repairs.

Even if a vehicle with such a system isn’t a total loss and is repaired and returned to the customer, Reichen noted, “It’s monitoring all the activities going in the shop. The client is going to know what your housekeeping is

John Yoswick

Industry Insight

like, when you start work and when you quit work, were you working on the car when you told them you were working on the car. There’s another set of eyes there.”

Shops may want to determine if such a system can be put into “service mode”—with the customer’s permission—to avoid, as Reichen once experienced, a Tesla owner calling over the weekend to say he’d been alerted by his vehicle app that his car door was ajar in the shop.

The committee even discussed whether clearing data is a service shops could also offer their customers in other circumstances, such as prior to the sale of a vehicle.

“I think that would be a great idea,” Reichen said. “People know how to upload [their information] and get so accustomed to using it, but each one has its own nuances on how to remove all that.”

Alley agreed.

“Any time you can reconnect with that customer and build that longterm relationship and trust, when you’re offering more value than just replacing a fender, it’s always a good idea,” she said.

A “Who Pays for What?” survey of U.S. shops this summer found more than one-third of shops (35%) said they are paid always or most of the time by the eight largest U.S.

insurers when they charge for the labor to erase a customer’s data from a vehicle declared a total loss. That had more than doubled from the first time the survey asked about the procedure a year earlier. Despite this, more than four in five shops acknowledge not having sought to be paid for this work---likely because most shops aren’t doing it.

being captured when they plug their phone into a rental vehicle.

“I think we as repairers have an obligation to communicate that to the customer,” he said.

Alley also shared an experience she had that led her to think it’s not just customer information shops may want to remove from vehicles. A trip she’d made to El Salvador about five years ago included visiting some body shops there. It’s not uncommon, she said, for those shops to acquire and repair total loss vehicles from the U.S. In and on some of those vehicles, she said, she saw “window tags from the shop, customer last names and windshield tags slapped on the vehicle by the insurance company or the auction.”

remove their belongings from such vehicles, she said, the shop removes any windshield or key tags, paperwork or seat covers that identify the shop, and makes sure customers haven’t left things without realizing those items may include their address, banking information, etc.

Also speaking at the meeting, Danny Gredinberg of the Database Enhancement Gateway said he had once collected his own items out of a car he was selling, but overlooked the toll road transponder sticker on the windshield.

On a related note, Reichen and Alley at the SCRS meeting said shops may want to caution their customers about plugging their phone into a rental vehicle’s infotainment system.

“I’ve had past phones show up on rental cars that I’ve rented,” Alley said. “The system asked me if I was five other people. That infotainment system is storing that information, and it will continue to be stored in there unless someone goes in and deletes it.”

Reichen agreed most customers won’t think about their information

No matter where a total loss vehicle processed by a shop ends up, “That’s traceable information right on those tags,” Alley said. “Personally, I don’t want these cars tracked back to our facility. We’ve had someone call us two years later about a total, saying, ‘I found this paperwork in the car from your shop. Can you go over what was done,’ or asking us if we have old parts. So we’re recommending that you clean out the [total loss] car thoroughly of your shop information before it’s released.”

After her shop’s customers

“Six months later, I got a bill from the toll company, telling me the car had been rolling through the tolls,” Gredinberg said. “I ended up paying almost $500 in toll fees. They were willing to work with me on that because I had a bill of sale for the vehicle, but it was a good reminder to remove even little stickers.”

CHECK OUT OUR NEW WEBSITE

Phone syncing really is resulting in the car becoming like someone’s cell phone on wheels.”

AMBER ALLEY SCRS VICE CHAIRMAN

www.autobodynews.com

Women’s Industry Network (WIN) launched its newly reimagined scholarship program for the 2022-23 academic year, designed to attract women to collision repair professions.

The updated program now offers increased levels of support, including not only financial awards, but also mentorship, special networking opportunities and membership to the esteemed organization, gifted by WIN to any female student in an accredited collision repair program.

As WIN Scholarship Committee co-chairs Laura Kottschade and Jeanne Esquivel prepare for the impending scholarship applications, they reflect upon the history and success-stories attributed to the long-standing scholarship. Several of these stories were shared during the 2022 WIN Educational Conference, held both virtually and live in Greenville, SC, this past May.

“It’s important to recognize where you have been as an organization, and to follow our scholarship winners through their career journeys. When we were making major changes to our scholarship program, we were not only thinking about what the current life of a student looks like, we wanted to see what their lives were going to look like after graduation— and beyond. Our committee looked at past winners to determine what changes needed to be made for the future,” said Kottschade.

“Everyone is always curious to know more about our scholarship recipients,” Esquivel added. “Our committee takes great pride in being able to share multiple success stories with our member base! The WIN mission is to attract, retain and develop women in the collision repair industry.  We are honored to highlight successful women in the industry who got their start as beneficiaries of the WIN scholarship program!”

Through the “Where Are They Now?” initiative, WIN maintains contact and ongoing engagement with past scholarship winners. The Scholarship Committee is proud to highlight the progress these ladies are making. Thank you to these scholarship recipients for sharing their experiences, which are sure to provide more women considering collision repair a compelling option as a future career.

Jessica Neri, 2011 Recipient

Until she was 23, Neri held one dead-end job after another, but her path changed when she was hired at a body shop, which caused her to realize “I was passionate about it—this career was something I could see

myself doing for the rest of my life.”

Since graduating from the automotive refinish technology program at the College of Western

and even considered leaving school.”

After graduating from UTI, Storey worked at Nationwide Insurance as a material damage adjuster for a year. From 2018 through 2020, she worked for Service King, assessing vehicle damage and writing initial estimates, before relocating to Chicago to take a technical services representative trainee role with Sherwin-Williams’ Automotive Finishes Division.

Storey said, “I met wonderful people through WIN, and I’ll forever be grateful for the opportunities and encouragement I’ve received. I can call on my mentors anytime. They advise and challenge me---they’re willing to condition me to be my best.”

Savannah Moran, 2019 Recipient

Idaho in 2012, Neri worked as a lead production painter before being hired at PPG, where she is now a commercial regional manager.

While being one of the only women in her position has sometimes required working harder to be accepted in a male-dominated industry, she assured young ladies interested in automotive, “That is 100% OK! You don’t have to be ‘one of the guys’ to fit into this industry. Once you prove yourself, you’ll have loyal co-workers and customers who will do anything to help you succeed.”

Jasmine Storey, 2016 Recipient

In middle school, Storey became enthralled with the idea of a career in the collision repair industry while watching MTV’s “Pimp My Ride.”

Since completing her curriculum, she has worked “almost exclusively in the field: training new painters, conducting product demos and assisting and managing installs and color verification. I’m happy to report that I’m where I’m supposed to be. I love being more hands-on and, in an application-centric part of the business. And my co-workers reassure me of the awesome potential the industry has.”

Storey hopes to grow in her current role and department, helping teach others to be their best: “I want to be the best eye for color verification and to be part of any process that makes painters and shop personnel better and more productive.”

Expressing gratitude to WIN,

In 2017, Moran began doing small jobs in a collision repair shop owned by her boyfriend’s dad.

“As I saw wrecked vehicles being restored to pre-collision condition, I started to fall in love with the work and decided to attend school for auto body,” she said.

Being awarded the WIN scholarship allowed to her pay for tools and equipment that better prepared her for a successful career, plus networking at the annual WIN Educational Conference forced her to overcome some of her social anxiety and meet “some amazing women in the industry who have continued to support me.”

Moran worked as a collision repair technician during college until it fell out of alignment with her course

“Restoring a vehicle back to its preaccident condition is a science and requires skill that few have—the idea of being part of that exclusive group was very appealing to me,” she said.

In 2016, while pursuing her education, Storey was selected as a WIN scholarship recipient.

“WIN has truly changed my life,” she said. “The WIN scholarship came at a time when I was very discouraged

Jessica Neri

Jasmine Storey

Hyundai

By David A. Wood CarComplaints.com

A Hyundai theft fix is allegedly being offered as of Oct. 1 in the form of $170 security kits for Hyundai vehicles, while Kia is offering steering wheel locks for its cars.

Hyundai and Kia thefts have skyrocketed in the U.S. after criminals began posting videos about how to steal the cars, sometimes by using nothing more than a USB cable.

“While all of our vehicles meet or exceed Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards, unfortunately, our vehicles have been targeted

is a

in a coordinated effort on social media,” Hyundai said. “Criminals are targeting our vehicles without engine immobilizers. Immobilizers became standard on all vehicles produced after Nov, 1, 2021.”

The thefts seem to have began in Milwaukee where Hyundai and Kia thefts increased 2,500% in one year, typically committed by middle school kids and other teens.

Videos show how a criminal can break or pry out a window, remove a panel and start the Hyundai or Kia by using a USB port or cable. This is possible on vehicles not equipped with engine immobilizers.

And knocking out the rear window is allegedly not a problem because the windows allegedly are not connected to the theft alarm systems.

The Hyundai and Kia thefts occur in vehicles with standard key ignitions as push-button start vehicles are equipped with engine immobilizers.

As of now, a Hyundai customer will be required to pay for the $170 security kit which will take about three hours to install at a dealership. Hyundai said the kit includes an alarm and a kill switch, and a software update will allegedly expand the theft protection.

However, the Hyundai security software update likely won’t be available until sometime in 2023.

The automaker hasn’t announced details about any security kit installation cost.

Hyundai and Kia have been working with local police departments since 2021 to hand out steering wheel locks in an effort to prevent the thefts.

But once lawyers got wind of the Hyundai and Kia thefts in the media, class action lawsuit were suddenly filed across the country.

Instead of blaming the criminals who damage and steal the vehicles, the class action lawsuits blame Hyundai and Kia for selling allegedly defective vehicles.

CarMax Earnings Plunge Signals Market Shift

By Steven Symes Motorious

Thanks to pandemic lockdowns around the world, shortages of supplies—including processor chips, aluminum and even glass— crippled new car production.

Automakers didn’t predict a surge in demand for new cars, sending the prices of both new and used vehicles soaring.

If you’ve been waiting out the market insanity, there have been growing signs prices are deflating and will continue to do so, including a big one from CarMax.

The company reported sales for August, July and June decreased. Investors reacted, sending shares plunging Sept. 30. This might not seem like a big deal, CarMax doesn’t just sell to consumers—it does a lot of wholesale deals, so this is a shadow of things to come, not only for used cars but also the new market.

Speaking with The Detroit News, Chris Frey of Cox Automotive called the CarMax sales drop a “correction period,” which should mean prices are going to come down to a saner

level. If you’ve been looking for a new or used vehicle, you already know dealerships and even some private sellers want a few limbs or your first born.

Demand is in decline. In part that could be from people who have decided to wait until prices go back to what they were pre-pandemic. With rising interest rates, lowincome shoppers who depend on financing to buy a vehicle have been squeezed out of the market. And with everyone paying more for essential items, suddenly having a new car just isn’t a top priority.

According to The Detroit News, dealers are changing what they’re doing with trade-in vehicles. They used to take most to auctions, with the nicest examples fetching way more than what they paid, making for a tidy profit.

Now, many are putting tradeins on their own used lots, hoping consumers will bite on a decent price. But if shoppers keep foregoing buying those vehicles, prices will have to come down.

Ed Attanasio

Videos

Everyone has that one friend constantly taking photos or shooting videos with their cell phone. Apple’s new iPhone 14 has more sophisticated cameras than ever. The camera in my iPhone 13 Max Pro is better than my Nikon and so much easier to use.

Shops now are using more and more videos to perform tasks all the way from providing quick updates for their employees, partners and customers, to training sessions, informational meetings and more. The best part is they don’t need to be Oscar-worthy or highly complex to be effective.

Angel Iraola from Net Computer Business Solutions in Walnut Creek, CA, has been leveraging videos for his clients all over the country for more than a decade. Many of them are less than five minutes in length, and very affordable for even his smallest clients.

In most cases, a technician, painter or front office person can shoot and

in

Loop While Building Trust and Confidence

edit the videos with their cell phones. Then, Iraola posts them everywhere online and uses his strategies to share them with the right markets and the right time. He has also encouraged many of his clients to use videos for customer service and internal communications.

Iraola’s body shop customers love videos and have seen positive results almost every time, he said.

“Many technicians are now using their cell phones to document an entire repair, which is outstanding,” he said. “They are able to engage the customer and keep them in the loop from start to finish. Rarely do they ever question anything because they can see each stage along the way. There are no more surprises on a Friday afternoon when they get their car back.

“Paperwork and even regular photos are not as effective and videos are so easy to produce it ends up being an essential and valuable part of the repair process.”

The video explosion is ongoing, with YouTube firmly at its center. YouTube had 2.6 billion users worldwide as of 2021, according to Statista. The only social network

services,” Iraola said. “It enables them to provide full transparency for itself and its customers and building trust. In an age of instant information, customers will believe it only when they see it, and there is nothing more instant and real than video.”

In the collision repair industry, shops are embracing video, and many insist all their techs and advisors use it on several levels. The scenario differs, but in many cases, a technician will find something additional that requires attention now and wants to communicate it to the customer or insurance company. Rather than using a lengthy text, email or phone call to explain the issue, a video tells the whole story fully and succinctly.

with more monthly active users is Facebook, with 2.9 billion.

“Today, almost every industry in existence is using video increasingly as a tool to sell products and

If you want to monitor the explosive evolution of video worldwide, take a look at the never-ending growth of YouTube and be assured every industry on the planet is currently looking for new and exciting ways to use it.

Marketer Angel Iraola has more and more body shop clients using videos to communicate with their customers.

schedule, but she is pleased to announce she is about to begin her “dream” career as a service advisor/ estimator with a major organization in the collision industry.

Her advice to young women interested in the automotive industry: “You’re going to have people who talk to you differently because you are a woman---always be passionate and confident in your work.”

Hannah Quinteros, 2019 Recipient

Hannah Quinteros studied to be a horticulture science and landscaping technician, but after working a year in the field, she realized she was not passionate about her career choice. Soon after, her Jeep sustained damage, and rather than pay a shop to repair it, she opted to do it herself.

“I started messing around with my Jeep, and I really enjoyed it,” Quinteros said. “When I was younger, I’d spray paint and tinker with stuff. I’ve always been interested in the collision repair industry—I find it fascinating—but that’s when I thought it may actually be a good job for me.”

While in school in 2019, Quinteros was chosen as a WIN scholarship recipient and attended the 2019 WIN

“It was really an eye-opener,” she recalled. “I gained a bigger picture of the industry as a whole. Many of the women I met used to do body work but have branched out into other industries. I learned a lot and met some amazing people, including the other scholarship winners. I feel like I can call them any time I need to.”

Quinteros now works as a body tech at Crown Automotive in Lawrence, KS. She said, “I repair all the used cars with minor damage, do some R&I, work on mirrors, do a little paint prep—I try to dabble in a little of everything to stay busy and learn as much as I can.”

Acquiring the right education is vital, and Quinteros encouraged those interested in a career in the industry to do their research on schools to ensure they are finding the right fit.

“Talk to enrolled students to make sure the curriculum offers what you want to learn,” she said. “I feel like I got more networking opportunities from my formal education than actual experience, but fortunately, my employer is very supportive of continuing education and pursuing certifications.

“Find a job that will work with you on all standpoints of your life, and when you’re interviewing, stand your ground on your experience,”

values you and the skills you’re bringing to the table. I had an offer as a detailer who would pick up the repair slack as needed. I recognized that it could be a dead-end job forever, and I refused it since I know my worth and what I’m capable of accomplishing.”

Jamie Frey, 2020 Recipient

Growing up with a machinist for a dad, Frey was always at the race track and around cars.

“I ran barefoot through the garage for the first eight years of my life!” she said.

placing in several regional SkillsUSA competitions. She took first place at SkillsUSA National for damage appraisal in both 2021 and 2022.

After completing school at Aims Community College, Frey is happily working at Iron Mountain Collision in Loveland, CO. Receiving the WIN scholarship lessened the financial burden of attending school for this single mother of three, allowing her to pursue her passion for automotive: “It makes me who I am, and I wouldn’t trade it for the world.”

You Can Be a Scholarship Recipient, Too

“We are proud of the talent that has been cultivated for our industry as a direct result of the WIN Scholarship Program. The program upgrades designed by our dedicated volunteers on the Scholarship Committee will attract even more women to collision repair and we are looking forward to receiving, and awarding, a record number of applications this fall thanks to their exceptional efforts”, said WIN Chair Tanya Sweetland.

Although she wrenched for a long time, she knew that wasn’t what she wanted to do long-term, and when a friend suggested damage appraisal and estimating as a career path, she

WIN is accepting scholarship applications from Sept. 12 through Oct. 8 for the 2022-23 academic year.

Apply for or learn about WIN’s scholarship program here. For more information about WIN, visit womensindustrynetwork.com.

Jamie Frey

Don’t Miss the Weekly Industry NEWS Your Shop Needs. Sign Up Free Today!

Chevron,

By William Johnson Teslarati

Chevron and Texaco have partnered with FreeWire to equip their gas station locations with EV charging solutions.

Gas stations have a distinct advantage over other EV charging companies: they are already located everywhere. There are nearly 7,000 Chevron gas

Far

within the charger. Then, when an EV hooks up to the charger, the battery charges the vehicle at DC fast charging rates, instead of the wall outlet rate. This saves the location from having to invest in expensive physical charging infrastructure on their site but still allows customers to access DC fast charging.

“Our charging stations are helping retail locations like Chevron’s branded stations to enhance their offering to consumers,” said Arcady Sosinov, FreeWire founder and CEO. “Providing ultra fast, convenient charging at traditional fueling stations can help unlock new customer relationships with EV drivers.”

are excited to join with companies like FreeWire that develop technologies that enhance our retail offerings and can grow our Chevron and Texaco brands.”

www.autobodynews.com

stations and 8,000 Texaco locations in the U.S. And through a new partnership with FreeWire, an EV charging infrastructure company, these countless gas stations can now serve as EV charging locations.

FreeWire’s charging solution is unique. It uses standard wall plug power to charge large batteries

Gas Prices Rise as Ian Heads Toward Florida

Gas prices rose a nickel over the previous week, as the national average pump price hit $3.72 on Sept. 26.

The main reason is higher regional prices on the West Coast and the Midwest due to refinery issues ranging from planned maintenance to a fire. But low domestic demand as fewer drivers fuel up and much lower oil prices have helped to blunt some of the impact.

On Sept. 23, the price of oil slipped below $80 a barrel for the first time since January, primarily due to fears of a recession-led global economic slowdown.

“Slack demand and lower oil prices should take some pressure off rising gas prices,” said Andrew Gross, AAA spokesperson. “But Hurricane Ian could cause problems, depending on the storm’s track, by disrupting oil production in the Gulf of Mexico and impacting large coastal refineries.”

Meanwhile, according to data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA), gas demand decreased from 8.49 million b/d to 8.32 million b/d over the week.

Moreover, according to the EIA, total domestic gasoline stocks increased by 1.6 million bbl to 214.6 million bbl.

Although gasoline demand has decreased, tight supply and fluctuating oil prices have increased the national average price. However, if gas demand remains low, pump price increases will likely be minimal.

The Sept. 26 national average of $3.72 is 14 cents less than a month ago but 54 cents more than a year ago.

The nation’s top 10 largest weekly increases: Oregon (+36 cents), Wisconsin (+35 cents), California (+35 cents), Washington (+29 cents), Nevada (+19 cents), Ohio (+17 cents), Michigan  (+17 cents), Alaska (+16 cents), Indiana (+16 cents) and Iowa (+16 cents).

The nation’s top 10 most expensive markets: California ($5.79), Hawaii ($5.23), Nevada ($5.10), Oregon ($5.00), Washington ($4.92), Alaska ($4.80), Idaho ($4.41), Utah ($4.20), Arizona ($4.10) and Illinois ($3.97).

— Source: AAA

No number of chargers or locations were specified in the company press release. The gas station brands were excited to announce the partnership and that they will be investing billions over the next 10 years to electrify their nationwide fueling network.

Jesse Love, Chevron’s retail brand experience manager, said in a press release, “We are committed to investing billions in lower-carbon projects over the next 10 years and

Gas station companies like Chevron and Texaco are far from the only companies working with FreeWire. According to the FreeWire website, they also work with brands including Rivian, Walmart, Uber and other gas station companies like BP to build EV charging infrastructure.

FreeWire shows many brands, locations and companies that have become integral parts of everyday life aren’t going away with the shift to electric vehicles. Gas station brands are now more aware than ever that change is necessary to survive in the future.

“Our charging stations are helping retail locations like Chevron’s branded stations to enhance their offering to consumers,”

ARCADY SOSINOV FREEWIRE FOUNDER AND CEO

Toyota

Albany Turnpike

Simsbur

-

- 3:30pm

CT 06092

manauto.com

7am-5:30pm

7:30am-3:30pm

Hof fman Honda

Albany Turnpike, West Simsbury, CT 06092

Fax

7am-5:30pm

fmanauto.com

7:30am-3:30pm

Hoffman Audi of East Hartford

Connecticut Blvd. East Hartford, CT 06108

Fax

7-5:30 Sat 7:30-3:30

BMW of Waterbury

Schraffts Drive

CT 06795

274.547

7am-5:30pm Sat 7:30am-3:30pm

Connecticut Blvd. East Har tford, CT 06109

Fax

Hoffman Lexus lexuspar ts@ho manauto.com

7am-5:30pm

7:30am-3:30pm

46 Albany Turnpike West Simsbury, CT 06092

860.658.3370 860.651.9642 Fax

nissanparts@hoffmanauto.com

Hoffman Nissan M-F 7am-5:30pm; Sat 7:30am-3:30pm

630 Connecticut Blvd., West Simsbur y, CT 06108

860.290.5536 860.290.6101 Fax

michael.belvedere@ho manauto.com

Ho man Porsche M-F 7am-5:30pm Sat 7:30am-3:30pm

Audi New London

Broad Street New London, CT 06320

7-5:30, Sat 7:30-3:30

GM Earns A Sales Trifecta In Q3: No. 1 In Full-Size Suvs, Full-Size Pickups And Large Luxury Suvs

General Motors Co. sold 555,580 vehicles in the U.S. in the third quarter, up 24% year over year, based on strong customer demand and improved availability.

Three of GM’s vehicle brands posted double-digit total sales gains, with Chevrolet up 30%, GMC up 24% and Cadillac up 50%.

GM and its dealers were able to translate improved semiconductor supplies, stable production and improvements in dealer inventory into a nearly 3-point improvement in retail market share year over year (J.D. Power PIN), as well as significant sales gains in the commercial fleet market.

“The design, technology and manufacturing investments we have made are helping us meet strong customer demand for our products, and they’ve translated into sales leadership in some of the industry’s most important segments,” said Steve Carlisle, GM executive vice president and president, GM North America. “We are being very intentional in the way we are executing our EV strategy to position the company for the same kind of success that we’ve earned with today’s pickups and SUVs, and with supercars like the Chevrolet Corvette.”

Third-quarter highlights include: Record quarterly sales of the Chevrolet Bolt EV and Bolt EUV, which totaled 14,709 units combined. In response to unprecedented customer demand, GM plans to increase calendar-year production for global markets from approximately 44,000 vehicles in 2022 to more than 70,000 in 2023.

Surpassing Ford F-Series sales calendar year to date: GM sold more full-size pickups than Ford in 2020 and 2021, and is on track to do so again in 2022.

The Chevrolet Tahoe and Suburban and GMC Yukon and Yukon XL earned close to 70% of the retail market for full-size SUVs in the third quarter.

The Cadillac Escalade and Escalade ESV earned close to 31% of the retail market for large luxury SUVs, leading the No. 2 competitor by double-digits.

Sales of the Cadillac XT4 rose sharply in the third quarter, earning the No. 1 retail share position in the small luxury SUV segment.

Total sales of the Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon rose sharply in the third quarter, and allnew models will soon arrive in dealer

showrooms for the 2023 model year.

The breadth of GM’s product lineup, especially customer demand for the Chevrolet Silverado, Tahoe, Bolt EV and Bolt EUV, Equinox and Express helped GM increase sales significantly in the commercial fleet segment calendar year to date. Total fleet deliveries were up 66% in the third quarter versus a year ago.

Ultium Cells opened its first cell plant, located in Warren, OH, which will help enable GMC HUMMER EV and Cadillac LYRIQ production to increase in 2023.

Modestly Improving Inventory

GM ended the third quarter with 359,292 vehicles in dealer inventory, including units in-transit, an increase of 111,453 units from the previous quarter and nearly three times the inventory available at the end of the third quarter of 2021, when COVIDrelated supply chain issues impacted production.

Inventory turn rates remain quick, bolstered by GM software that helps dealers identify and order the most in-demand vehicle configurations, as well as new tools to track the status of in-bound orders.

Chevrolet Bolt EV and Bolt EUV Selling at a Record Pace

Demand for the Chevrolet Bolt EV and Bolt EUV have outpaced supply, especially since a new pricing strategy was announced this summer that makes them among the most affordable EVs on the road. The base MSRP for the 2023 Chevrolet Bolt EV now begins at $25,6001 while the Bolt EUV begins at $27,2001.

Also supporting demand is a unique customer-focused program introduced by Chevrolet for qualified customers who purchase or lease a new Bolt EV or Bolt EUV that covers standard installation of a home charger through Qmerit, or public charging credits through EVGo. Most EV drivers do at least 80% of their charging at home, and nearly twothirds of Bolt EV and Bolt EUV retail customers are choosing Chevrolet’s home charging option.

How GM Regained Truck Leadership

GM’s recent dominance of the full-size pickup market began with the launch of all-new versions of the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra for the 2019 model year, which dramatically expanded choice for customers at all price points and introduced new offroad ready models like the Trail Boss for Chevrolet and the AT4 for GMC.

GM also significantly increased capacity for heavy-duty models by about 90,000 units, which includes the expansion of production capacity at Flint Assembly in Michigan in 2021 and the reopening of Oshawa Assembly in Ontario, Canada, in 2022. This flexibility to meet customer demand has helped GM grow its retail share of the heavy-duty market from 29% in 2019 to 52% through Sept. 25 (J.D. Power PIN), with large increases in total share as well.

GM’s manufacturing teams in Fort Wayne, IN, Wentzville, MO, and Arlington, TX, have also found creative ways to increase capacity for full-size light-duty pickups, mid-size pickups and full-size SUVs.

To fortify its leadership, Chevrolet and GMC have continued to enhance the Silverado and Sierra, with 1500 models receiving significant interior and technology upgrades for the 2022 model year.

Building the Foundation for EV Scale

Since unveiling the Ultium Platform in March 2020, GM and the company’s suppliers and joint venture partners

have been executing a tightly coordinated strategy to scale EV capacity in North America to more than 1 million units annually by 2025.

Four battery cell plants are planned. In addition to the now open Ultium Cells site in Warren, Ohio, Ultium Cells will open a plant in Tennessee next year and one in Michigan in 2024. Details regarding the fourth site will be announced soon.

GM has binding agreements securing all the necessary battery raw material to support its annual EV capacity goal in North America in 2025, including lithium, nickel, cobalt and full cathode active material supply.

In addition to Spring Hill Assembly in Tennessee and Factory ZERO in Michigan, which are already producing vehicles on the Ultium Platform, work is underway at CAMI Assembly in Ontario, Canada, which will build BrightDrop vans, and Orion Assembly in Michigan, which will build EV trucks. When production at Factory ZERO and Orion is fully ramped, GM will have the capacity to build 600,000 EV trucks annually.

Ford’s total U.S. sales of 142,644 vehicles in September was down 8.9% compared to the same month a year earlier, but its EV sales continued to climb up nearly 200% year over year.

“Ford continued to see highdemand vehicles turning at record rates in September, while

tirelessly to recover in Florida from Hurricane Ian.”

Demand is strong with retail orders for ‘23MY vehicles up 244% over ‘22MY vehicles—totaling 197,000 retail vehicle orders. Ford continued to see strong demand growth and record turn rates on dealer lots. For the sixth straight month, more than 50% of Ford retail sales came from previously placed orders.

Ford electric vehicles sales continue to outpace the segment, with sales up 197.3%. Ford share of the electric vehicle segment was up in September 3.1 percentage points over last year with 7% share.

month—99% of Bronco’s retail sales came from previously placed orders for the month.

Sales of Ford hybrid vehicles totaled 74,046 vehicles through September. Year-to-date sales of hybrid vehicles were up 22.6% over last year. F-150 and Maverick hybrids represent America’s bestselling hybrid trucks.

Ford’s hot-selling Maverick truck turned on dealer lots in just six days in September, with sales up 523%. More than 80% of Maverick’s customers are first-time truck buyers, with top competitive conquests coming from CR-V, RAV4 and Civic.

developing electric truck and van leadership and extending our overall truck leadership,” said Andrew Frick, vice president of sales, distribution and trucks, Ford Blue. “Demand remains strong with new retail orders rapidly expanding. We are very pleased with the work from our dealers, employees and the area’s first responders, as they are working

In September, F-150 Lightning continued as America’s bestselling electric pickup; E-Transit was also America’s best-selling electric van in September.

F-Series through September continued as America’s bestselling truck, totaling 467,307 vehicle sales and extending its lead over its second-place competitor to more than 92,000 trucks. Bronco SUVs gained 221% on sales of 10,892 for the

Ford’s BlueCruise and Lincoln ActiveGlide technology now have accumulated more than 21 million hands-free miles with a 130,000mile network of hands-free Blue Zones across North America. More than 83,000 customers have now enrolled in Ford BlueCruise and Lincoln ActiveGlide.

— Source: Ford

Honda Unveils First U.S. EV Offering, the Prologue

By William Johnson Teslarati

Honda has unveiled the design of the upcoming Honda Prologue, its future EV SUV offering coming in

anything electrified to North America since the Clarity.

The Prologue will be its first EV in the U.S. and will be available in 2024.

In the pictures released by

are taken from the Honda E hatchback inspiration; the wide Honda nameplate on the back, the modern black and white styling inside and out, and the reasonably flat front grill all come to mind.

Contrary to what the press release would like you to believe, the design is far from exciting or groundbreaking. Honda chose the conservative design choice, clearly influenced by its work with General Motors on the joint platform. The Prologue looks similar to GM’s own Chevy Equinox EV, but consumers may be willing to ignore the conservative styling if it comes at the right price.

Honda did not release any more specifications about the vehicle nor any pricing information, which is fair considering the SUV is still more than a year away from seeing American roadways.

Sales Trifecta

To respond to growing demand, GM is pulling ahead body shop upgrades at Factory ZERO for the Silverado EV and taking other steps to prepare to scale EV production in 2023. While the work is underway, GM will pause production of the GMC HUMMER EV Pickup for several weeks starting in late November. Chevrolet currently has 170,000 reservations and growing for the Silverado EV, including retail customers and intent from nearly 400 fleet operators. GMC has 90,000 reservations for the HUMMER EV Pickup and SUV.

2024.

While Honda already released its first electric vehicles in other markets with the Honda E hatchback, it has yet to introduce

Honda, the brand shows the Prologue follows more of the design choices from the Honda HR-V instead of the more traditional CR-V and Passport. More elements

But this fact is the one perturbing consumers today: many shared their views online, believing Honda’s first EV product is coming too late, especially considering the brand has seen continuously falling sales over the past couple of months.

Cadillac LYRIQ production will increase in the fourth quarter compared to the third quarter. Additional production shifts for GMC HUMMER EV are planned for 2023. All of GM’s 2023 EV launches, including the Chevrolet Silverado EV, Chevrolet Blazer EV (summer) and Chevrolet Equinox EV (fall), are on schedule.

— Source: GM

UPDATED DAILY

YOU ONLY GET ONE CHANCE AT THE FIRST REPAIR.

Connecticut

BMW of Darien Darien 203-328-1325 203-978-0043 Fax M-F 8am-5pm wholesale@bmwdarien.com

BMW of Waterbury Waterbury 844-895-6839 860-274-5471 860-274-0617 Fax M-F 7:30am-5:30pm Sat 7:30am-4pm John.musco@hoffmanauto.com

Maryland

BMW of Catonsville Catonsville 855-996-2906 410-818-2600 Fax M-F 8am-5pm www.bmwofcatonsville.com

BMW of Silver Spring Silver Spring 301-890-3015 800-288-6982 301-890-3748 Fax M-F 7:30am-5pm wholesaless@mileone.com www.bmwofsilverspring.com

New Hampshire

BMW of Stratham Stratham 800-989-5200 vfollansbee@group1auto.com www.bmwofstratham.com

New Jersey

BMW of Bloomfield Bloomfield 888-261-6471 973-748-8373

M-F 8am-5pm Sat 8am-4:30pm psantos@dchusa.com

BMW of Morristown Morristown 973-796-3145 973-796-3146 Fax M-F 8am-6pm wholesaleparts.bmw@openroad.com www.bmwofmorristown.com

BMW of Newton Newton 973-579-6020 973-579-6702 Fax M-F 8am-5:30pm www.bmwnewton.com

Circle BMW Eatontown 732-440-1238 732-440-1239 Fax M-F 7:30am-5pm Sat 8am-3pm Wholesale@circlebmw.com www.circlebmw.com

Park Ave. BMW South Hackensack 888-349-5168 201-291-2376 Fax M-F 8am-5pm Sat 8am-4pm al@parkavebmw.com www.parkavebmw.com

New York

BMW of Bayside Bayside 516-304-3733 516-570-4268 Fax M-Sat 8am-5pm bmwparts@bmwbayside.com www.bmwbayside.com

Competition BMW St. James 631-724-3322 631-265-0501 Fax M-F 8am-5pm Sat 8am-4:30pm asolla@competitionbmw.com www.competitionbmw.com

Original BMW Parts & Accessories.

Habberstad BMW Huntington Station 631-271-7488 631-271-7931 Fax M-F 8am-5pm Sat 8am-4pm parts@habberstadbmw.com

Keeler BMW Latham 877-553-3909 518-785-4197 518-785-4710 Fax M-F 7:30am-6pm Sat 8am-4pm bmwparts@keeler.com www.keelerbmw.com

Pennsylvania

Apple BMW York 717-849-6597 717-843-2948 Fax

M-F 7am-5pm Sat 8am-4pm applebmwparts@appleauto1.com www.applebmwofyork.com

Rhode Island BMW of Newport Middletown 401-847-9600 401-841-0680 Fax M-F 7:30am-5:30pm gromani@metromotorgroup.com wwwbmwofnewport.com

When you repair a BMW, use the parts that are identical to those used in Series production – and just as reliable. Choose Original BMW Parts and Accessories. Because you can’t repair your reputation.

Ford Motor Company on Sept. 22 announced Doug Field has been named chief advanced product development and technology officer.

In this expanded role, Field will continue to oversee EV products, software and digital systems development, and advanced driver assistance, while also taking on design and vehicle hardware engineering.

Lisa Drake, vice president, EV industrialization, will now also be responsible for manufacturing engineering as Ford scales to a run rate of 2 million EVs per year by the end of 2026.

Chuck Gray, who has been vice president, EV technology, is named vice president, vehicle hardware engineering.

Both Drake and Gray report to Field, as does Anthony Lo, Ford’s chief design officer.

— Source: Ford

AAA Adds Monthly Battery Reports To EV Membership Coverage To Ease Range Anxiety

By Joey Klender Teslarati

AAA is adding monthly battery reports to its membership coverage for electric vehicles to help ease concerns regarding range anxiety.

AAA said its AAA Club Alliance (ACA) partnered with Recurrent to provide in-depth and detailed battery reports that will give EV owners a monthly health check on their battery pack.

“With this new partnership between ACA and Recurrent, we can provide AAA members who drive electric vehicles with personalized monthly battery reports as a benefit of Membership,” said Colleen St. Leger of ACA.

In a poll from AAA, the company surveyed consumers to find their main concerns with electric vehicle ownership. While a higher purchase price and lack of EV charging points were the two most-noted concerns

initially, with 60% of respondents detailing those concerns, range anxiety was second with 58%.

Range anxiety has been a common concern of new EV owners for several years. However, electric vehicle ranges have increased as more competitors have entered the market. There are several EVs that will now give more than or extremely close to 400 miles of range on a full charge.

Standard range EVs still pack at least 250 miles of range, but that simply is not enough for some people who plan to use their vehicles for long road trips or do not have access to fast chargers near their homes.

General Motors said nearly 80% of EV drivers do a majority of their charging at home, a distinct advantage of EV ownership. After all, how many gas cars have a full tank of gas every single morning?

However, the health of an EV battery pack is also important and can affect both range ratings

and charging rates. That’s why AAA is partnering with Recurrent to give a monthly status update regarding EV battery health.

Gas prices in the U.S. have leveled off over the past few months, but they’re still convincing some consumers to switch to electric cars. Of the 25% of respondents in AAA’s poll who said they would be more than likely to buy an EV with their next purchase, 77% said a desire to save on fuel costs was one of the main reasons for their interest.

“With higher gas prices this year, we are certainly seeing a lot of interest in electric vehicles,” said Bob Kazmierczak, director of ACA’s Approved Auto Repairs. “There are some basic things to consider before deciding whether to purchase an EV, from daily driving habits to charging plan to the cost of ownership.

Drivers should also review all tax refund and incentives to make sure their purchase would qualify.”

By Johnna Crider Teslarati

Rivian produced 7,363 EVs at its facility in Normal, IL, in the third quarter of 2022, the company announced, and delivered 6,584 vehicles.

Rivian said these numbers are in line with its expectations and it’s on track for its production goal of 25,000 EVs this year.

In Q1 and Q2, Rivian produced a total of 6,954 vehicles. Combined with Q3’s numbers, Rivian has produced a total of 14,317 vehicles so far this year, and needs to produce 10,683 in the fourth quarter to make its goal.

Rivian is working toward increasing its vehicle production. It’s planning to build an expansive facility just outside of Atlanta, GA. However, there are some challenges.

The Associated Press reported a Georgia judge rejected an agreement that would have given Rivian a large property tax break.

Morgan County Superior Court Judge Brenda Trammell rejected

what is typically seen as a routine request by a local government to validate a bond agreement.

According to her ruling, the development authority was unable to prove that the plant was “sound, reasonable and feasible,” which is required by state law. Rivian’s $5 billion plant is projected to hire 7,500 Georgia employees.

In a joint statement with a local four-county joint development authority, the Georgia Department of Economic Development expressed disappointment.

The groups said they were “disappointed and respectfully disagree with Judge Trammell’s decision.”

“We remain undeterred in our efforts to bring high-paying, American manufacturing jobs to Georgia, and are currently assessing all legal options,” the group said.

Rivian Produced 7,363 EVs in Q3 2022 www.autobodynews.com

INSIST ON GM GENUINE PARTS

Maryland

Ourisman Chevrolet MARLOW HEIGHTS

800-358-7788 301-899-6990 Direct 301-899-9375 Fax M-F 7:30 am - 6 pm Sat 8 am - 4 pm wholesale@ourisman.com www.ourismanchevrolet.com

Ourisman Chevrolet of Rockville ROCKVILLE

800-345-4640 301-424-5332 Local 301-294-6381 Fax M-F 7 - 5:30

Massachusetts

Balise Chevrolet Buick GMC Business Elite SPRINGFIELD 413-233-2185 413-733-8617 Fax M-F 8 - 5 lvazquez@baliseauto.com

Boch Chevrolet NORWOOD 800-559-9210 781-762-9210 800-991-1009 Fax M-F 7:30 - 5 bchwholesale@boch.com

Long Cadillac SOUTHBOROUGH

508-820-9322

800-982-2258 508-879-1212 Fax M-F 7:30 - 5 tschube@longauto.com

Marty’s Buick GMC KINGSTON

800-870-7573

781-585-7570 781-585-2966 Fax M-F 7:30 - 5:30; Sat 8 - 4 brucem@martysbuickgmc.com

Massachusetts

Mastria Buick Cadillac GMC RAYNHAM

888-572-1045

508-822-4074 Fax

M-Th 7:30 - 7:30; F 7:30 - 6 Sat 7:30 - 5 wholesale@mastria.com

New Jersey

Barlow Chevrolet DELRAN

800-220-1452 856-461-8417 856-764-1498 Fax M-F 7 - 6; Sat 8 - 4 pseay@barlowautogroup.com

Cadillac of Mahwah MAHWAH 201-579-6497 201-579-6506 Fax M-F 7 - 5

Malouf Buick GMC NORTH BRUNSWICK 800-669-6256 732-821-5410 732-821-7549 Fax M-F 8 - 4:30; Sat 8 - 1 bsnyder@malouf.com

Malouf Chevrolet Cadillac NORTH BRUNSWICK 800-769-6256 732-821-1517 Fax M-F 7:30 - 5 kdiperi@malouf.com

Nielsen Chevrolet DOVER 973-366-1730 973-366-5867 Fax M-F 7 - 4:30; Sat 8 - 4:30 parts@nielsenchevy.com

Call Any of These Wholesale Parts Dealers BelowCall Any of These Wholesale Parts Dealers Below

New Jersey

Open Road Cadillac FLORHAM PARK

973-845-3014 973-538-6978 Fax M-F 7 - 5 Christopher.salgado@openroad.com

Open Road Chevrolet UNION 800-981-9451 908-686-2727 908-687-4267 Fax M-F 8 - 5; Sat 8 - 4 Christopher.salgado@openroad.com

New York

Cadillac of Manhattan NEW YORK CITY 212-765-0909 718-392-6570 Fax M-F 8 am - 5 pm Sat 8 am - 4 pm vdeliso@bramautogroup.com www.cadillacofmanhattan.com

DePaula Chevrolet ALBANY 800-727-8357 518-489-0184 Fax M-F 7:30 - 6; Sat 8 - 5 parts@depaula.com

East Syracuse Chevy

EAST SYRACUSE 315-437-5464 315-437-0878 Fax M-F 7:30 - 5; Sat 8 - 3 partsdept@esyrchevy.com

New York

West Herr Chevrolet ORCHARD PARK 716-662-7707 716-688-5519 Fax M-F 7:30 - 5; Sat 8 - 4 sgraham@westherr.com

Pennsylvania

Blaise Alexander Chevrolet GREENCASTLE 717-597-2131 717-597-6932 Fax M-F 8 - 5; Sat 8-2 jsnyder@blaisealexander.com

Tom Hesser Chevrolet SCRANTON 800-435-9586 570-558-3677 570-342-8645 Fax M-F 8 - 5; Sat 8 - 2 mhanson@tomhesser.com

Increased interest rates, climbing inflationary costs and a higher cost of living are concerning consumers as they fear a looming recession, leaving them feeling unprepared when it comes to their personal finances.

A recent Nationwide Agency Forward survey showed consumers in the U.S. are feeling vulnerable as they perceive the worsening economy to be negatively impacting their personal finances, mental health and job security.

Roughly three in four (76%) of consumers rate the current U.S. economy as “poor” or “fair.” And when asked about the state of their personal finances, more than half (53%) say their situation is “poor” or “fair.”

The survey, fielded Sept. 6–13, also showed 68% of consumers expected rates to rise in the coming months. And there is no anticipation that inflation will give in the next six months 64% believe inflation will increase, including 69% of Gen Z respondents.

— Source: Nationwide

Biden’s AI ‘Bill of Rights’ Baby Step Toward Elon Musk’s Call for AI Regulation

By Johnna Crider Teslarati

The White House unveiled its AI “bill of rights,” a baby step toward what Tesla CEO Elon Musk has been suggesting.

It’s a baby step because it only offers a set of voluntary guidelines that companies developing or deploying AI can follow to better protect users. It doesn’t set any new restrictions or protections around the use of AI.

In 2020, Musk tweeted all organizations developing advanced AI should be regulated including Tesla. Musk is well known for sharing his thoughts about the downside of AI.

In 2014, he said it could be more dangerous than nukes and told attendees at a Massachusetts Institute of Technology  Aeronautics and Astronautics symposium it was humanity’s largest existential threat and humanity needs to be extremely careful.

In 2018, Musk told Recode’s  Kara Swisher  “we ought to have a government committee that starts off with insight, gaining insight. Spends a year or two gaining insight about AI or other technologies that are maybe dangerous, but especially AI.”

The White House’s Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights: A Vision for Protecting Our Civil Rights in the Algorithmic Age calls for companies voluntarily selfregulate the development and deployment of advanced AI.

It has five key principles:

1. Safe and Effective Systems: You should be protected from unsafe or ineffective systems.

2. Algorithmic Discrimination Protections: You should not face discrimination by algorithms and systems should be used and designed in an equitable way.

3. Data Privacy: You should

be protected from abusive data practices via built-in protections and you should have agency over how data about you is used.

4. Notice and Explanation: You should know when an automated system is being used and understand how and why it contributes to outcomes that impact you.

5. Human Alternatives, Consideration and Fallback: You should be able to opt-out, where appropriate, and have access to a person who can quickly consider and remedy problems you encounter.

The Biden administration said this set of principles is a blueprint to “empower people, companies and policymakers across the U.S. and meet President Biden’s call to hold big technology accountable, protect the civil rights of Americans and ensure technology is working for the American people.”

NADA Urges FTC to Withdraw Proposed Rule

On Sept. 12, NADA filed formal comments in response to the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) proposed rule that would impose a wide range of unwarranted and illadvised new duties and restrictions on motor vehicle dealers.

NADA’s comments explained that the proposed rule is based on flawed assumpions, inadequate research, a lack of input from key stakeholders, no apparent coordination with federal and state agencies that impose similar mandates, the absence of any consumer testing of the proposed mandates, and no attempt to conduct a meaningful analysis of the likely costs and benefits of the proposed rule to consumers and small business automobile dealers.

NADA explained it would dramatically and negatively transform and complicate the process for consumers to purchase, trade-in and finance new and used cars and trucks, and to purchase and finance voluntary protection products like extended service contracts and GAP Waiver.

— Source: NADA

Georgia Senator’s Bill Would Let More EVs Qualify for New Tax Credit

By Steven Loveday InsideEVs

U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-GA, has proposed a new bill that may help more automakers initially qualify for the new U.S. federal EV tax credit.

If the bill passes, it also means more people who are looking to lease or buy an electric car will have options that may suit them.

The new EV tax credit that’s coming as part of the Inflation Reduction Act will limit the number of electric vehicles that can qualify, at least temporarily, mostly due to the fact the legislation also has a goal of promoting EV production and assembly in the U.S.

While promoting EV manufacturing and battery materials sourcing in the U.S. is a wise move, most automakers won’t be able to comply right away.

Warnock’s Affordable Electric Vehicles for America Act aims to provide a grace period to automakers like Hyundai so

people can take advantage of the credit while the brand is working toward producing EVs on our shores.

Electric cars are becoming increasingly popular, but they’re expensive. Many of those that are the least expensive, such as options produced by Kia and Hyundai, are also among the long list of those that won’t qualify under the new rules.

What makes this all especially interesting is that Warnock’s opponent for the Georgia Senate seat, former football player and Republican candidate Herschel Walker, believes electric cars cost more than his house. According to several sources, this is far from true, since he just reportedly bought a new home that cost $11 million.

You may think Walker would like to see changes to the tax credit so the people of Georgia could have affordable options. However, Walker is outwardly anti-EV, and he’s also anti-solar. He said he’s also anti-incentives, and he thinks the government is trying to make

him put solar panels on his car and then live in it.

At any rate, some foreign automakers are already making plans to manufacture EVs in the U.S. so they can take advantage of the tax credit. While they may not necessarily want to comply, it’s important to be able to compete with other brands eligible for the credit. If a buyer can get a $7,500 credit on one car, but not on a rival EV, they’re likely to go with the car that’s eligible.

Georgia is also one of a handful of southern states becoming popular locations for automakers to set up shop. If Warnock can help these foreign automakers in the interim, perhaps they’ll consider Georgia as their future home for EV production.

CHECK OUT OUR NEW WEBSITE

MASSACHUSETTS

Cityside Subaru Belmont (617) 826-5013 (617) 489-0733 Fax Mon.-Fri. 7:30-5:30 parts@citysidesubaru.com

Long Automotive Group Framingham (800) 982-2298 (508) 879-1212 Fax Mon.-Fri. 7:30-5 tschube@longauto.com

Metrowest Subaru LLC Natick (888) 456-2200 (508) 745-2004 (508) 647-1539 Fax Mon.-Sat. 7-9 parts@metrowestsubaru.com

NEW HAMPSHIRE

Belknap Subaru Tilton (800) 358-4029 (603) 729-1300 (603) 729-1301 Fax Mon., Wed., Fri. 7:30-5 Tue., Thu. 7:30-7; Sat. 9-3 awright@belknapsubaru.com

JERSEY

Liberty Subaru Emerson (888) 782-9493 (201) 261-3261 Fax Mon.-Fri. 7:30-6 parts@libertysubaru.com www.libertysubaru.com

EVs,

Yoswick — Industry Insight

Calibrations, Future of DRPs Discussed at Annual CIECA Conference

CIECA’s annual conference in St. Louis in September included presentations on new electric vehicles, ADAS calibration trends and what may lie ahead in terms of direct repair programs.

Greg Peeters of Car ADAS Solutions predicted it won’t be long before the majority of vehicles repaired by the collision industry will require some type of system calibration.

“I think in a year from now the landscape looks very different from this being sort of a minority type thing to the typical,” Peeters said of calibrations. “I think in a year from now, it’s over 50% of repairs that require a calibration, and it becomes less and less frequent that we don’t have one.”

instance, a camera lens on the front grill or a mirror. It’s experiencing a whole lot of car washes, sunlight, sand and gravel, and it no longer sees the way it once saw. I think diagnosing and replacing failing sensors is right around the corner.”

Also at the conference, Bill Brower, vice president of industry relations for Solera, said he foresees “a pretty major redesign” of direct repair programs as the next big change coming to the industry.

“The days of [the customer] being introduced to the shop and going over for an initial estimate, and then going back over to take the car in for repairs and being taken by the body shop to the rental car company, I think that whole process becomes digital,” Brower said. “The customer is very comfortable taking the pictures. So I think the future is the DRP shop receiving a package of photographs, an AI estimate, and they’re going to make a decision at their desk before they call the customer: ‘Do I even need to see this car in advance, or can I digitally schedule the customer in for the repair?’

“Think of the impact that that would have on business if you could take a lot of that front end work away,” Brower said. “To me, the biggest next step is really digitalization of direct repair, especially the assignment process.”

town, I’m happy to share those two documents. The worst thing for us as a new brand is to have one of our cars in a situation where it could hurt somebody because somebody didn’t know.”

One thing unique to the shop certification programs being rolled

need can be done by one of its mobile service providers.

“I’m not asking our [network shops] to do brake jobs and tire changes and things like that,” Rodenroth said. “These cars don’t need as many things as an ICE vehicle.”

There currently is no database of repair times for electric vehicle manufacturer Rivian’s vehicles, but the automaker has personnel who can help shops with repair planning for Rivian vehicles.

out by both Lucid and Rivian: A reliance on body shops in the program to handle mechanical work on their vehicles as well.

“Since we don’t have a dealer network service model, we require our [certified body] shops to take all the mechanical training,” Rodenroth said, something echoed by Rivian’s Frank Phillips. But he noted the bulk of mechanical work Lucid vehicles

“I have a team of folks who will assist our certified shops to make sure they are getting the information they need to get that estimate created,” said Phillips, collision program manager.

That group will work with insurers as well as Rivian’s 100-shop network.

“I use the analogy: I want to be the pillow between the insurer and the body shop,” Phillips said. “You can call those guys or chat with them online or text them or email them. Any method of communication.”

Peeters’ company operates standalone calibration centers and assists those looking to launch one. He said he’s often asked whether vehicles will eventually self-calibrate.

“I can tell you on even the newest technology, they don’t,” Peeters said. “The average age vehicle in a body shop right now is 6.2 years. So we’ve got quite a runway before we’re going to see self-calibrating cars. I will tell you what we’re also seeing in the field is sensor degradation. You take, for

The two-day CIECA conference also included a panel of automaker representatives discussing electric vehicle repair. Jake Rodenroth of Lucid Motors said anyone in the industry can get some information about his company’s vehicles to give first responders in their market.

“I went to our fire department and told them I work for a car company you’ve never heard of, and I’ve got a towing guide and a first responder guide that I would love to share with you,” Rodenroth said.

“They were very thankful. If you as a citizen want to do the same in your

Frank Phillips of Rivian said

“I think diagnosing and replacing failing sensors is right around the corner.”

GREG PEETERS CEO, CAR ADAS SOLUTIONS

Audi Part Professionals are exper ts on collision par ts, replacement components and mechanical items.

Order Audi Genuine Parts from these select dealers.

MARYLAND

Audi Silver Spring Silver Spring 301.890.3015 800.288.6982 301.890.3748 Fax M-F 7:30am-5pm wholesaless@mileone.com www.audisilverspring.com

MASSACHUSETTS

Audi Shrewsbury Shrewsbury 888.751.7214 508.581.5880 508.845.1642 Fax M-F 7:30am-5pm audiwholesaleparts@mcgovernauto.com

NEW JERSEY

Audi Meadowlands North Bergen 201.408.2085 201.223.7842 Fax M-F 7am-6pm Sat 8am-2pm jpooler@bbmcc.com

Bell Audi Edison 732.396.9630 732.396.9090 Fax M-F 8am-5pm Sat 8am-4pm dmcsorley@bellaudi.com

DCH Millburn Audi Maplewood 800.553.9250 973.762.2381 Fax M-F 7:30am-6pm Sat 7:30am-4pm ddipalma@dchusa.com www.dchmillburnaudi.com

Flemington Audi Flemington 800.221.1256 908.782.1795 Fax M-F 7:30am-5pm Sat 8am-12pm www.njparts.com

Paul Miller Audi Parsippany 862.277.0009 973.575.5911 Fax

M-F 8am-6pm Sat 8am-5pm www.paulmilleraudi.com Audiparts@paulmiller.com

NEW YORK

Audi Brooklyn of Bram Wholesale Parts Network 866.770.5999 718.392.6570 Fax M-F 7:30am-5:30pm parts@lexusofqueens.com

Audi Southampton Southampton 631.204.2565

Tue-Sat 8am-5pm parts@audisouthampton.com www.audisouthampton.com

Biener Audi Great Neck 516.487.0127 516.829.4821 Fax M-F 8am-4:30pm Sat 8am-4pm www.bieneraudi.com alutchman@biener.com rfeyjoo@biener.com parts@biener.com

PENNSYLVANIA

Audi Devon Devon 610.263.7026 610.263.7027 610.688.1742 Fax M-F 7:30am-6pm Sat 9am-4pm www.audidevon.com bnawn@audidevon.com wmohler@audidevon.com

Sweeping Fraud Arrests Announced in Pennsylvania Car Title Washing Ring

Criminal charges were brought against 19 individuals and 13 businesses for “title washing,” Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro announced Oct. 5.

The participants in these criminal rings included  George Frietto of George’s Garage,  Luis Salazar of Salazar Auto Sales and N & G Towing, their employees, several used-car dealers from within and outside Pennsylvania, and an authorized tag and title agency.

These individuals coordinated to purchase totaled vehicles, falsify inspection information and submit fraudulent title applications to PennDOT.

This fraud was designed to bypass rigid requirements for reconstructed titles in states such as New Jersey and Massachusetts, or to make stolen vehicles look legitimate for resale or export.

“These defendants used their positions and knowledge of PennDOT requirements to defraud state and federal authorities, hide stolen vehicles and put unsuspecting drivers at risk,” said Shapiro. “Vehicles that have been totaled must not only be repaired but also undergo an enhanced safety inspection to make sure they are safe. These defendants instead allowed hundreds of heavilydamaged vehicles onto roadways in Pennsylvania, and around the country without even looking at them.”

As part of this criminal scheme, Frietto and Salazar did not complete the enhanced vehicle safety inspections that are necessary in order to make a totaled vehicle road worthy again and instead only completed the paperwork required. Many vehicles that were claimed to have been inspected at their shops never actually entered Pennsylvania.

Frietto, Salazar and the other participants in this criminal racket

completed this paperwork not only for those vehicles that have been totaled but also for vehicles that have been stolen. When a stolen vehicle goes through this title washing process, the original Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) is often replaced, and this along with the new title allows for the vehicle to appear legitimate in the eyes of law enforcement and prevents the original owner from reclaiming their vehicle.

As part of this investigation, it was found Frietto claimed to have completed more than 240 “inspections” during a 10-day period in December 2020. During this time, however, investigators conducted surveillance outside of George’s Garage and saw Frietto’s own vehicle was the only one to enter the shop.

As part of each reconstructed title application, Frietto was required to submit photographs of the vehicle he had inspected. Instead, Frietto completed the paperwork using stock photographs of the vehicles which were frequently not the same make and/or model of the vehicle named on the paperwork. On some occasions, he used the same stock photographs for multiple vehicles.

One of Frietto’s employees even admitted to never completing a single enhanced vehicle safety inspection and that Frietto had told his employees they did not need to see a car to complete the inspection paperwork. Despite this, she and her fellow “inspectors” were filling out so many title applications their hands would cramp up, which led them to start preparing the stacks of forms in advance.

Freitto told investigators he charged $60 for each “enhanced inspection” performed at his garage.

The Office of Attorney General also worked with the Lackawanna District Attorney’s Office to uncover

these wrongdoings.

The 19 individual defendants were charged, in varying degrees, with corrupt organizations; forgery; washing vehicle titles; deceptive business practices; tampering with public records; false application for certificate of title; altered, forged or counterfeit documents; insurance fraud; and commercial bribery, among other charges.

Charges against the 13 businesses include, in varying degrees, washing vehicle titles; deceptive business practices; tampering with public records; altered, forged or counterfeit documents; and false application for certificate of title.

The defendants are Frietto, John Mulea, Kara Cosgrove, Angel Rios, Peter Tayoun, Sandra Klassner, Alivia Auriemma, Armando De La Paz, Jorge Santos-Hernandez, Pawel Bryla, Eva Contrares, Alvaro Rodriguez, Luis Leyva, Anibelkis Garcia, Sherif Helmy, Salazar, Cynthia Salazar, Jose Rivea-Rivera and Reyna Bonilla

The 13 businesses charged are George’s Garage in Scranton, PA Tag & Title in Scranton, Luci’s Auto Sales, LLC, in Old Forge, Newroad Motors

in Lebanon, Best Value Auto Outlet/ Oli’s Auto Sales in Scranton, PBJ Motors in Taylor, ALZ Auto Sales in Mount Pocono, Aquino Auto Mall in Lehighton, EOS Auto Sales in Taylor, Alliance Auto/Alliance Auto Sport, Inc. in Exeter, Salazar Auto Sales in York, N & G Towing, Body Shop and Sales, LLC, in Dover and Beltin Auto Sales, LLC, in York.

This case is being prosecuted by Chief Deputy Attorney General Robert LaBar, Senior Deputy Attorney General John Dickinson and Deputy Attorney General Richard Bradbury. All charges discussed are accusations. The defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.

Consumers who believe they may have been a victim of the practices of any of the above dealerships, vehicle inspectors or tag agents, or have information about this or other forms of vehicle or title fraud, should reach out to the Office of Attorney General by emailing the Insurance Fraud Section at titlefraud@ attorneygeneral.gov.

— Source: Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General

As part of Cox Enterprises’ goal to dramatically reduce its carbon, water and waste impact on the environment by 2034, Cox Automotive Mobility is making key advancements in fleet electrification to build a better future for the next generation.

Cox Automotive Mobility’s focus on EV development includes the opening of an Advanced EV Training Center for fleet technicians, nationwide expansion of its mobile charging services and modernized fleet and refurbishment services, such as ICE to EV conversion capabilities.

These innovative initiatives are the first of several that will propel a range of bold new commitments established by Cox Automotive Mobility Fleet Services aimed at preserving the planet.

Cox Automotive Mobility pledges to make at least 50% of its fleet zero carbon emissions by 2030. As concluded in a study by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, the U.S. will need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 50% in the next eight years.

— Source: Cox Automotive

Coming in hot: Your next parts order

CONNECTICUT

Lia Volkswagen Enfield 860-698-6890

Fax: 860-265-7840

M-F 8am-5pm; Sat 8am-12pm aguimaraes@liacars.com

MARYLAND

Ourisman VW of Rockville Rockville 855-417-4511

Fax: 240-499-2488

M-F 8am-5:30pm; Sat 8am-5pm rockvilleparts@ourismanautomotive.com www.rockvillevolkswagen.com

MASSACHUSETTS

Volkswagen of North Attleboro North Attleboro 508-695-7131

Fax: 508-695-0321

M-F 8am-5pm; Sat 8am-2pm kenr@driveavw.com www.driveavw.com

Fresh and ready to go—help increase customer satisfaction with OEM-quality Genuine VW Collision Parts.

NEW JERSEY

Flemington Volkswagen Flemington 877-NJPARTS 877-657-2787

Fax: 908-782-1795

M-F 7:30am-5pm www.njparts.com

Open Road Volkswagen of Bridgewater Bridgewater 908-685-1068

Fax: 908-685-1547

M-F 7:30am-5pm; Sat 8am-3pm vwb.parts@openroad.com www.openroadvwparts.com

Paul Miller Volkswagen Bernardsville 908-360-1162

Fax: 908-766-6171

M-F 8am-5pm; Sat 8am-4pm aaitchison@paulmiller.com www.paulmillervw.com

NEW YORK

Hudson Valley Volkswagen Wappingers Falls 845-298-2365

Fax: 845-224-3686

M-F 7:30am-5pm; Sat 8am-5pm billsantoro@thepremiercollection.com

Platinum Volkswagen Hicksville 516-822-4800

Fax: 516-822-4831

M-F 7:30am-5:30pm parts@platinumvw.com www.platinumvw.com

PENNSYLVANIA

Ciocca Volkswagen Allentown 610-791-4177

Fax: 610-289-7016

M-F 8am-5pm; Sat 8am-4pm cioccavwparts@cioccadealerships.com

Find an authorized Volkswagen dealership near you at vwwholesaledealers.com

Hughes Joins Auto Care Association

The Auto Care Association on Oct. 3 announced the addition of Ted Hughes as its new senior director of community engagement and AWDA executive director.

Hughes will lead the association’s efforts to evolve community engagement among its members while also serving as the liaison between the association and its Aftermarket Warehouse Distributors Association (AWDA) community.

In his role as senior director of community engagement, Hughes will be a key leader in establishing engagement strategies, communicating membership benefits to existing and prospective members while also strengthening the communities’ membership base,

Hughes will provide guidance and primary administrative support for all AWDA-related organizational activities, including assistance in the engagement, growth and retention of this 600+ member community.

“I am very excited to have Ted on board,” said Bill Hanvey, president and CEO, Auto Care Association. “Ted’s experience in the aftermarket as well as his communication and customer relation skills made him a natural fit for this position. Our communities especially AWDA, which is celebrating its 75th anniversary are the backbone of the association and we are looking forward to further enhancing our community engagement for the betterment of the industry and the association.”

“As we celebrate our 75th anniversary, it could not be more fitting than to have Ted as

to the new energy that Ted will bring to AWDA while helping to preserve our legacy.”

Ted Hughes brings more than 20 years of aftermarket experience to the association, with his most recent role being the head of marketing for MAHLE Aftermarket Inc. In his role as head of marketing, Hughes was responsible for promotions, public relations, advertising, motorsports programs and the advancement of all electronic and web-based activities.

Since 2020, Hughes has served as the vice chair of the Auto Care Association’s Marketing Communications Committee since 2020 the chair of the Marketing Executives Committee for AASA.

Learn more about the Auto Care Association’s member communities, including AWDA, at autocare.org/networking-anddevelopment/communities.

— Source: Auto Care Association

Study: Dealerships can Win in Car Rental Market

A survey completed by J.D. Power showed dealers have competitive advantages in customer service, fleet management, facilities and proximity to local rental customers.

To learn how existing dealership fleet programs meet customer mobility needs, and which ondemand rental offerings dealership customers say they value the most, download the full report at www. dealerware.com/research/mobilityoffering-preferences/

Dealerships have adopted mobile contracting and digital fleet management tools that make it simple, convenient and fast for customers to use dealership courtesy fleet vehicles. In turn, these investments have increased customer satisfaction with dealership experiences.

The study showed providing alternate mobility options in the form of courtesy, rental or shuttle vehicles is a key piece of a great experience, and is a determining factor for dealerships’ ability to win business and build customer loyalty.

— Source: Dealerware

7:30am

-

Mon-Fri 7:30am -

MA Official Issues Advisory for Consumers, Auto Dealers on Rights and Obligations on Advertising and Pricing

Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey on Sept. 28 issued an advisory to consumers and auto dealers, notifying them of their respective rights and obligations when it comes to automobile advertising and pricing.

Specifically, the advisory reminds auto dealers of their obligation to accurately advertise prices, honor advertised prices and comply with consumer lease contract provisions. The advisory is being issued in response to a significant increase in consumer complaints to the Attorney General’s Office regarding unfair or deceptive pricing practices by auto dealers. Consumers allege that dealerships advertise certain prices online, only to deny consumers those prices at the dealership, and in some cases even after the dealer had confirmed the advertised price in an email. Other consumers report dealers would not honor buyout provisions in lease agreements, which allow consumers to purchase leased vehicles at the

end of their lease terms, instead requiring consumers to return their vehicles.

a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the new and used car markets have experienced an increased demand for cars coupled with a car supply shortage, as people turn away from public transportation over concerns about spread of the virus and manufacturing has been disrupted by production slowdowns. This has led to significant increases in pricing for new and used vehicles, creating the potential for auto advertising and pricing violations. The attorney general’s advisory addresses these concerns by reminding auto dealers of their legal obligations to consumers, including:

“Purchasing a vehicle is a significant financial investment for many individuals and families,” said Healey. “After a surge in complaints to my office, we’re making sure consumers are aware of their rights under the law, and that auto dealerships know our office will take action against these deceptive sales tactics.” As

• Dealerships can’t refuse to sell a vehicle for the price advertised.

• It is unfair or deceptive for dealerships to post or advertise inaccurate prices or prices that the dealership will not honor.

• It is unfair or deceptive for dealerships to make misrepresentations about the value of a vehicle.

• Dealerships must clearly and

conspicuously disclose all included and excluded charges in any advertised price of a vehicle as well as the expiration date of any advertised price.

• Dealerships have legal obligations to honor the terms of any contract with a consumer regarding the lease of a vehicle, including a consumer’s right to purchase the vehicle.

• Dealerships must comply with existing statutes, rules, regulations and laws intended to provide protection to consumers.

Consumers who believe an automobile dealership has violated the law regarding automobile advertising, pricing and/or lease buyout provisions should file a complaint with the Attorney General’s Consumer Advocacy and Response Division at www. mass.gov/how-to/file-a-consumercomplaint or call the AG’s consumer hotline at 617-727-8400.

— Source: Massachusetts Office of the Attorney General

your local authorized Porsche dealer.

MARYLAND

Porsche Silver Spring Silver Spring, MD 800-288-6982 301-890-3748 Fax wholesales@mileone.com

MASSACHUSETTS

Porsche Norwell Norwell, MA 781-261-5230 781-261-5274 Fax porschenorwell.com

NEW JERSEY

Flemington Porsche Flemington, NJ 800-221-1256 908-782-9397 Fax rmuir@flemington.com

Porsche Monmouth West Long Branch, NJ 732-483-8560 M-F 8-5; Sat 8-4:30 avacchiano@penskeautomotive.com

NEW YORK

Porsche Huntington Huntington Station, NY

8-5; Sat 8-4 parts@porschehuntington.com

Porsche Manhattan New York, NY 347-226-3913 212-208-0916 Fax parts@manhattanmotorcars.com

Porsche of Southampton Southampton, NY 631-204-2565 631-204-2559 Fax gspano@porscheofsouthampton.com

Porsche South Shore Freeport, NY 516-277-0542 516-277-0543 M-Sat 8-5:30 mtotaram@mcgovernauto.com

“After a surge in complaints to my office, we’re making sure consumers are aware of their rights under the law, and that auto dealerships know our office will take action against these deceptive sales tactics.”

MAURA HEALEY MASSACHUSETTS ATTORNEY GENERAL

Short-Term Vermont Loan Program Can Help Struggling Businesses

By Brent Addleman The Center Square

A short-term forgivable loan program is now open to businesses in Vermont.

The Short-Term Forgivable Loan Program, which will be run through the Agency of Commerce and Community Development and the Vermont Economic Development Authority, launched Sept. 15 and is designed to help businesses that are still seeing working capital shortfalls stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic, Gov. Phil Scott said.

“Supporting businesses in every region of the state to recover and rebuild remains a top priority of my administration, and that’s why we worked to secure this funding from the Legislature,” Scott said in a release. “This will help those businesses disproportionately impacted by the pandemic remain in operation, preserve jobs, and strengthen the economy.”

Senate Bill 11, known as Act 183, will send $19 million of the state’s American Rescue Plan Act funding

Mitchell 1 Hosting ‘Thank You Thursdays’

As a way to show appreciation for the automotive service professionals who keep American motorists driving safely, Mitchell 1 announced the return of its “Thank You Thursdays” Facebook sweepstakes.

Running through Dec. 15, one lucky winner of a $100 gift card will be announced on the Mitchell 1 Facebook page every Thursday.

To enter the sweepstakes, visit Mitchell 1 on Facebook and click on the mobile link to fill out the online form by Dec. 9. Each entry is valid for the duration of the sweepstakes period.

For more information about Mitchell 1, visit www.mitchell1. com, call (888) 724-6742 or locate an independent sales consultant at www.mitchellrep.com.

— Source: Mitchell 1

to eligible businesses, including sole-propietors and nonprofits, financial aid as they continue to recoup economic harm related to the pandemic. Applicants can receive up to $350,000.

According to the release, applicants must be able to show a reduction in adjusted net operating income that is at least 22.5% in 2020 and 2021 when compared to its 2019 figures. The businesses must include funding from prior programs was received that did not completely help the businesses from ongoing economic hardships.

“The health of Vermont’s economy is dependent on the health of the small business community and the intent of this program is to help businesses with their cash flow needs to get back on stable footing so they can thrive beyond the pandemic,” VEDA’s CEO Cassie Polhemus said in the release. “VEDA’s expertise in small business financing combined with our previous work in administering similar programs such as the SBA Paycheck Protection Program

positions us well to help these businesses access this money so they can continue providing the goods and services that are vital to us as consumers and to fuel the Vermont economy.”

According to the release, the program is designed to make sure all loans will be forgiven if proceeds are spent on eligible operating costs. Plus, there will be no restrictions placed on how the funds are spent, but only that the money is used for operating expenses, including payroll, mortgage interest, rent and utilities.

The hardest hit business sectors, according to the release, that will receive funding include travel and tourism, food service, lodging, child care and agriculture. Priority will be given to Black, indigenous and people of color businesses in all industry sectors.

Applications will be processed on a first-come, first-served basis, according to the release. Applicants are urged to contact the Vermont Small Business Development Center for assistance.

Survey Shows Greater Trust in Auto Technicians

In a survey conducted for the National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence (ASE), automotive service providers have gained a higher level of trust and respect among the motoring public than in recent years.

Almost 1,500 vehicle owners were surveyed across the country and more than 70% reported increased levels of trust in manufacturers, dealerships, independent repair shops and/or service technicians.

Respondents were asked to rate certain aspects of service, including the level of trust placed in the technicians servicing their vehicles and the importance of having their vehicles serviced by technicians with industryrecognized certifications.

Tthe three most-important considerations in the selection of a service/repair facility were: great value for the money (48%), knowledgeable/friendly staff (4%) and conveniently located providers (43%).

— Source: ASE

MARYLAND

are Superbly

to Strict Quality Standards.

We’ve Got Your Parts Covered 100% Genuine. No Exceptions.

CONNECTICUT

Napoli Indoor Kia Milford 203-876-3331 (203) 876-3325 Fax

8am-6pm Mon-Fri paulc@napolimotors.com

Gary Rome Kia Enfield 860-253-5095 (860) 265-2674 Fax

8am-7pm Mon-Thu 8am-5pm Fri; 8am-4pm Sat parts@garyromekia.com

MASSACHUSETTS

Kia of Attleboro

South Attleboro 508-761-9300

(508) 761-0768 Fax

8am-8pm Mon, Wed; 8am-5pm Tue, Thu, Fri 8am-4pm Sat frank@courtesyma.com www.courtesyma.com

Lev Kia of Framingham Framingham 800-462-1014 (508) 626-1585 Fax

7:30am-6pm Mon-Fri parts@levkia.com

MARYLAND

Bob Bell Kia Baltimore 800-638-4967 (410) 285-1376 Fax

7am-7pm Mon-Fri 7am-5pm Sat smelson@bobbell.com

NEW JERSEY

Liberty Kia Ramsey 201-818-8995 (201) 783-8848 Fax

8am-5pm Mon-Sat joel@libertykiaofnj.com www.libertykiaofnj.com

NEW YORK

Kia of Middletown

New Hampton 845-374-6575 (845) 374-4718 Fax

8am-5pm Mon-Fri 8am-3pm Sat nissankiaofmiddletownparts@yahoo.com www.kiaofmiddletown.com

Find your local Kia dealership today at www.kia.com

Northstar Kia Long Island City

(718) 683-5300 (718) 489-9889 Fax

M-F 7:30am-5pm; Sat 8am-2pm www.northstarkiany.com

Yonkers Kia Yonkers 914-268-0279 (914) 652-7665 Fax

7:30am-8pm Mon-Thu

7:30am-7pm Fri; 8am-5pm Sat

PENNSYLVANIA

Brown Daub Kia Easton 610-829-3020

(484) 546-0292 Fax

7am-5pm Mon-Fri 7am-3pm Sat parts@browndaubkia.com www.browndaubkia.com

Kia of Coatesville Coatesville 610-384-7700

(610) 384-2171 Fax

7:30am-5pm Mon-Fri

7:30am-4pm Sat jkiernan@jimsipalakia.com www.kiaofcoatesville.com

Kia of West Chester

West Chester 610-429-3500 (610) 429-0164 Fax

7:30am-5pm Mon-Fri 7:30am-4pm Sat jkiernan@jimsipalakia.com www.kiaofwestchester.com

Outten Kia Hamburg 610-562-4166 (610) 562-9436 Fax

7:30am-5pm Mon-Fri 8am-12pm Sat jhenne@outtencars.com www.outtenkia.com

VERMONT

Berlin City Kia Williston 800-684-5779

(303) 928-6905 Fax 6am-6pm Mon, Wed, Fri 6am-7pm Tue, Thu 7am-3pm Sat ableau@berlincity.com

Group 1 Automotive Announces Acquisition of Prime Automotive Group Dealerships

Group 1 Automotive, Inc., an automotive retailer with 188 dealerships located in the U.S., U.K. and Brazil, announced it entered into a definitive agreement to purchase substantially all the assets, including real estate, of Prime Automotive Group, headquartered in Westwood, MA.

In 2020, the corresponding Prime dealerships generated $1.8 billion in annual revenues and retailed more than 52,000 new and used vehicles.

“Group 1 has successfully operated in the Northeastern U.S. for many years. We are pleased to have this opportunity to leverage our existing cost structure and to further diversify our U.S. footprint,” said Earl J. Hesterberg, Group 1’s president and CEO.

With 30 dealership locations and three collision centers in the Mid-Atlantic and New England markets, Prime’s brand portfolio includes Acura, Airstream, Audi, BMW, Buick, Chrysler, Dodge, Ford, GMC, Honda, Jeep, Land Rover, Mazda, Mercedes-Benz, MINI, Porsche, RAM, Subaru, Toyota, Volkswagen and Volvo.

Once the acquisition is completed, Group 1’s consolidated brand mix is expected to be approximately 43% luxury, 36% non-luxury import, and 21% nonluxury domestic.

“We know Prime’s markets well and the opportunities they represent. We are also proud to welcome Prime Automotive’s 1,800 employees as new teammates to the Group 1 family. The addition of Prime Automotive enables us to extend our reach of AcceleRide, Group 1’s industry leading digital retailing process, to even more customers,” said  Daryl Kenningham, president of U.S. and Brazilian operations for Group 1 Automotive.

“While this transaction provides a transformation in scale for our company, our U.S. credit facility pro-forma leverage ratio will be approximately 2.0x after taking into account the financing of this transaction with debt and cash on hand, and liquidity remains comfortably within our targets,” added Group 1’s SVP and CFO  Daniel McHenry

“This gives us the flexibility to continue shareholder-focused capital allocation, which includes accretive acquisitions, share repurchases, dividends and returndriven capital expenditures.”

Year to date 2021, Group 1 has completed $420 million of acquired revenues, and with this proposed acquisition, total acquired revenues are expected to be at least $2.25 billion at the anticipated closing date in late November. With the addition of the Prime dealerships, Group 1’s total U.S. dealership count would increase to 147, which includes 46 locations in the Northeast, and 218 locations globally.

Lazard acted as financial advisor and Vinson & Elkins L.L.P. acted as legal advisor to Group 1 Automotive, Inc. Jefferies LLC acted as financial advisor and Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher and Flom LLP acted as legal advisor to Highline Management Inc.

— Source: Group 1 Automotive, Inc.

Ram 1500 EMS Model Honors First Responders

Ram Truck announced the second installment of its Built to Serve limited-edition models geared toward first-responder services. Ram is honoring these heroes with a new Ram 1500 Built to Serve Emergency Medical Service (EMS) model.

This latest model honors the frontline heroes who provide emergency medical services and save lives every day. Production will begin at the Sterling Heights (MI) Assembly Plant in the fourth quarter of 2022.

The Ram 1500 Built to Serve EMS edition is offered in two specially selected exterior paint colors that evoke the spirit, mission and history of that service, Hydro Blue and Bright White, with a black interior with blue accent stitching.

Ram 1500 Built to Serve trucks feature other unique interior and exterior features that set them apart, including a U.S. flag and a “Built to Serve” decal on each of the rear quarter panels.

— Source: Ram Truck Brand

VT Gas Station Demolished, Will Be Retail Complex

A former service station and auto repair shop at 67 Pleasant St. at the foot of Hartland Hill Road at the eastern gateway to Woodstock Village, VT, is being demolished to make way for a new, 2,440-square foot building and adjoining 900-square foot service annex.

The new complex will eventually house four as-yetundisclosed retail operations, according to paperwork filed with the Village of Woodstock by the project developer, Eva Veson of Pleasant Garage LLC.

The Woodstock Village Design Review and Development Review Boards gave their unanimous approvals to the project as presented by Veson and Pleasant Garage

Don’t Miss the Weekly Industry NEWS Your Shop Needs. Sign Up Free Today!

LLC’s architect, Belinda Watt, last spring. Demolition of the one-time Gulf service station commenced in September, with the stripping of recyclable building materials such as the siding from the exterior of the old structure. Later in the month, a crew began toppling the old building using an excavator.

The new building, which will house the proposed retail outlets, will consist of a 30-by-82-foot gabled structure located parallel to Pleasant Street at the northeast corner of the one-third-of-an-acre site. A flat-roofed service annex at the southeast corner of the lot will measure 22 feet by 41 feet. The building will be offset by an exterior courtyard covering just over 1,600 square feet.

AUTOBODY www.autobodynews.com

TRUST FORD PARTS

CERTIFIED PARTS WHOLESALING DEALERS

CONNECTICUT

Hoffman Ford Lincoln EAST HARTFORD 860-282-0861 860-290-6336 Fax

Hours: M-F 7-5:30 Sat 7:30am-3:30pm fordparts@hoffmanauto.com

MARYLAND

Packer Norris Parts BALTIMORE 855-767-7278 410-574-8305 410-574-8389 Fax

Hours: M-F 7-5:30; Sat 8-3 www.packernorrisparts.com

MASSACHUSETTS

Colonial Ford of Plymouth PLYMOUTH 888-754-3380 508-830-1650 508-830-1658 Fax

Hours: M-F 7:30-5; Sat 7:30-4 www.buycolonialford.com

Sarat Ford Lincoln AGAWAM 413-786-4474 413-789-3715 Fax

Hours: M-W 7-6; Th 7-8; F 7-5; Sat 8-4 www.saratford.net

NEW JERSEY

Ditschman/Flemington Ford FLEMINGTON 800-221-1256

908-782-1795 Fax

Hours: M-F 7:30-5; Sat 8-3 www.njparts.com

NEW JERSEY

Malouf Ford Lincoln Mercury NORTH BRUNSWICK 800-959-6256 732-951-1429 Fax

Hours: M-F 8-5; Sat 8-1 fordparts@malouf.com www.maloufparts.com

Nielsen Ford SUSSEX 973-702-4296 973-875-7016 Fax

Hours: M-F 8-6; Sat 8-3:30 gbraden@nielsenford.com

NEW YORK

Biener Ford GREAT NECK 516-466-6406 516-407-3537 Fax

Hours: M-F 8-5 kshakur@bienerford.com www.bienerford.com

Schultz Ford Lincoln NANUET 845-623-5111 845-624-0075 Fax

Hours: M-F 7-12, 12:45-5:30; Sat 8-12 parts@schultzflm.com

PENNSYLVANIA

New Holland Ford NEW HOLLAND 800-367-3232

717-354-9633 Fax

Hours: M-F 7-5:30

Publisher Jeremy Hayhurst

General Manager

Barbara Davies

Contributing Writers

Ed Attanasio, Janet Chaney, Toby Chess, Stacey Phillips, John Yoswick

Advertising Sales

Joe Momber, Norman Morano

Office Manager

Louise Tedesco

Digital Marketing Manager

Bryan Malinski

Art Director

Rodolfo Garcia

Senior Designer

Vicki Sitarz

Editor

Abby Andrews

Accounting & HR Manager Heather Priddy

Permissions Editor Randi Scholtes

Office Assistant Dianne Pray

Serving New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Northern Virginia, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and adjacent metro areas. Autobody News is a monthly publication for the autobody industry. Permission to reproduce in any form the material published in Autobody News must be obtained in writing from the publisher.

©2022 Adamantine Media LLC.

Autobody News P.O. Box 1516 Carlsbad, CA 92018 (800) 699-8251 (760) 603-3229 Fax www.autobodynews.com editor@autobodynews.com

GM Backup Camera Recall Involves Cadillac, GMC Vehicles

By David A. Wood CarComplaints.com

A General Motors backup camera recall includes more than 95,000 Cadillac and GMC vehicles equipped with the optional Surround Vision features.

The GM backup camera recall involves 2020-2021 Cadillac XT5, Cadillac XT6 and GMC Acadia vehicles.

Those models are equipped with rearview camera coaxial cable connectors that may not have been crimped properly, causing the backup cameras to fail, or they may function just part of the time.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration opened an investigation into Cadillac and GMC backup camera failures in July. Vehicle owners complained the rearview camera screens turned black and red triangles with circles appeared on the screens.

GM previously investigated rearview camera-related complaints involving the same

vehicles in July 2020. GM closed the investigation based on evidence which indicated the rate of field complaints was low and there were no vehicle crashes.

The automaker also noted the backup camera performance was checked both at the end of the assembly line and at dealer pre-delivery inspections.

Once NHTSA opened its investigation, GM opened a second investigation and engineers found the rate of complaints had increased, a lot.

GM expects to mail backup camera recall letters Nov. 7, and dealerships will replace the coaxial cables once they have replacement cables. Second backup camera recall notices will be mailed once dealers have the cables.

With questions about the GM backup camera recall, Cadillac owners should call 800-4588006 and GMC owners may call 800-462-8782.

GM’s backup camera recall number is N222378380.

Finish It Like a Masterpiece with GENUINE PA RT S

The Dealers Below Ar e Mer cedes-Benz Genuine Pa r ts Specialists:

DELAWARE

Mercedes-Benz of Wilmington Wilmington 302-995-5030 302-995-5033 Fax

M-F 7:30am - 5pm Sat 8am - 2pm parts@mbofwilmington.com www.mbofwilmington.com

MASSACHUSETTS

Mercedes-Benz of Burlington Burlington 833-768-5924

617-275-2182 Direct 781-229-1600 Main M-F 7am-6pm Sat 8am-5pm parts@mbob.com www.mbob.com

NEW YORK

Mercedes-Benz of Goldens Bridge Goldens Bridge 914-232-8146 914-232-4770 Fax M-F 8am - 5:30pm Sat 8am - 2pm achristiano@mercedesbenzgb.com www.mercedesbenzgb.com

Mercedes-Benz of Smithtown St. James 631-265-5339 631-265-8146 Fax M-F 8am - 5pm Sat 8am - 4:30pm mlevantino@mbofsmithtown.com www.mbofsmithtown.com

NEW JERSEY

Mercedes-Benz of Atlantic City Egg Harbor Township 609-645-9310 201-765-9760 Fax M-F 7:30am - 6pm Sat 7:30am - 5pm mbpartswholesale@yourmercedes.com

Mercedes-Benz of Newton Newton 800-842-0557 888-302-2369 973-383-1284 Fax M-F 8am - 5pm realmercedesparts@mbofnewton.com

Mercedes-Benz of Paramus Paramus 888-30-PARTS 201-265-7808 201-483-2782 Fax M-Th 7:30am - 7:30pm F 7:30am - 5pm Sat 8am - 5pm parts@prestigemb.com

PENNSYLVANIA

Mercedes-Benz of Fort Washington Fort Washington 267-419-1414 201-765-9760 Fax M-F 7:30am - 6pm Sat 7:30am - 5pm mbpartswholesale@yourmercedes.com

Mercedes-Benz of West Chester West Chester 484-313-1110 484-313-1002 Fax M-F 7:30am - 6pm Sat 7:30am - 5pm parts@mbofwestchester.com

RHODE ISLAND

Viti Mercedes-Benz Tiverton 800-544-5580 401-624-6181 401-624-4817 Fax M-F 7:30am - 5:30pm Sat 9am - 5pm eric@viti.com www.viti.com

Please see us at

Booth #