Dozens of industry leaders and experts will take the stage at the 2022 SEMA Show Education Program, where attendees will have the opportunity to learn about current and future trends, proven business strategies and new opportunities while at the annual event taking place in November in Las Vegas.
See Data for Sale, Page 18 See SEMA Show, Page 20
The ongoing discussion about auto body shop data privacy at the quar terly Collision Industry Conference (CIC) meetings took a new turn this summer when an association lead er described what a data aggregator company had recently offered to sell to his organization.
Page 11
SEMA Show to Feature Educational Program Focused on Personal and Professional Development
Beginning Oct. 31 the day before the official opening of the four-day SEMA Show the 2022 SEMA Show Education Program will include more than 70 free and premium sessions within 14 tracks. Showgoers may choose individual sessions across different tracks, mixing and matching the offerings to create a personalized agenda that meets one’s individual needs.
AL / FL / GA / MS / NC / SC / TN / VA / WV SOUTHEAST EDITIO N YEARS40 AUTOBOD YNEWS.C OM Vol. 13 / Issue 7 / September 2022 EPRESORTEDSTANDARDU.S.POSTAG AIDP PERMIT CA8#28ANAHEIM, P.O.BOX1516,CARLSBAD,CA92018 ChangeServiceRequested
Aaron Schulenburg, executive director of the Society of Collision Repair Specialists (SCRS), said the company contacted him, after speak ing with one of SCRS’s state affili ate groups, to see if SCRS might be interested in acquiring data it has on recently-written collision repair quotes. The company, which Schulen burg did not identify by name, told him the information could be used by SCRS member shops to contact consumers who received a recent es timate to say, “Hey, I know you’ve gotten a recent quote, and our busi ness could do the work for you.” Schulenburg asked what type of information was available. The company told him, “through our data aggregation partners and pro
Driven Brands Holdings Inc. an nounced the continued expansion of its auto glass offering in the U.S. with the acquisition of longstanding Tennessee-based Jack Morris Auto Glass Family-owned and operated since 1951, Jack Morris Auto Glass grew from one location in Down town Memphis to 10 facilities serv ing 90 counties throughout the MidSouth and Middle Tennessee.
On May 8, 2018, Barrett Riley drove his father’s Model S with his friends. Riley lost control of the ve hicle while driving 116 mph. The Model S hit the concrete wall of a house in Fort Lauderdale and caught on fire. Riley and one of his passen gers died, while a third person sur vived the crash. James Riley filed a product li ability suit against Tesla in Florida
Page 11See Jack Morris
SEMA Show attendees can learn about current and future trends, proven business strategies and new opportunities from industry leaders and experts as part of the 2022 SEMA Show Education Program.
Tesla to Pay $10.5M for 1% Negligence in 2018 Model S Crash
Company Says it Has Recent Auto Body Shop Estimate Data for Sale by John Yoswick
Driven Brands Acquires Tennessee-Based Jack Morris Auto Glass
See Tesla to Pay $10.5M,,
“To build and sustain a business through multiple generations is no easy feat,” said Michael Macaluso, EVP and paint, collision and glass group president, Driven Brands. “We are proud to welcome anoth er leading operator to our growing glass division, where we can apply our scale and resources to enhance by Maria Merano, Teslarati
On July 19, a Fort Lauderdale, FL, federal jury released its verdict on a 2018 Tesla Model S crash that result ed in 18-year-old Barrett Riley’s death.The jury found Tesla 1% neg ligent for the Model S accident and ruled the victim and his father were 99% at Thefault.six-person jury found Bar rett Riley was 90% to blame for the crash, while his father, James Riley, was 9% liable and his mother, Jenny Riley, was 0% responsible. As per Bloomberg, the jury also ruled James and Jenny Riley sus tained $10.5 million in pain and suf fering damages for their son’s death.
“The Education Program is one of the SEMA Show’s key pillars, and it’s always been highly rated by participants,” said Pamela Brown-Matthis, SEMA director of education. “We challenged ourselves and pushed to make the program better than ever. We focused heavily on bringing in elite subject matter experts and high-profile industry leaders. SEMA Show attendees are encouraged to take advantage of the opportunity to hear from industry experts while at the show.”
New this year are four sessions focused on challenges and opportunities associated with Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) in the workplace. The first DEI session, “Diversity and Inclusion: How You Can Advance Equal Opportunity in Your Workplace,”
2 SEPTEMBER 2022 AUTOBODY NEWS / autobodynews.com SATA®RPS™ #02 CLEAN #03 SAFE #04 REFILLABLE Firm connection between lid and cup (thread). No accidential detaching of cup from lid. The *SATA RPS cup can be safely tilted by up to 45° forward, right and left to facilitate easy access to almost any painting situation. The cup can be easily, cleanly and safely separated from the spray gun without making a mess! The cups can be easily be refilled. The paint strainer can be exchanged by a spare strainer at any time. #01 BENDABLE tonothowevercups,standardRPSSATAalltoapplies* series.olderand3000SATAminijet The exclusive independent distributor of SATA products in the US and Puerto Rico 800-533-8016 email: satajet@satausa.com www.satausa.com SATA, SATAjet and/or other SATA products referenced herein are either registered trademarks or trademarks of SATA GmbH & Co. KG in the U.S. and/or other countries. ScanINFO for more info on the SATA RPS Cups SATA RPS Sept.indd 1 8/8/22 2:28 PM
autobodynews.com / SEPTEMBER 2022 AUTOBODY NEWS 3 Publisher & Editor: Jeremy Hayhurst General Manager: Barbara Davies Contributing Writers: John Yoswick, Janet Chaney, Toby Chess, Ed Attanasio, Stacey Phillips Advertising Sales: Joe Momber, Norman Morano, (800) Office699-8251Manager: Louise Tedesco Digital Marketing Manager: Bryan Malinski Art Director: Rodolfo Garcia Graphic Designer: Vicki Sitarz Senior Editor: Abby Andrews Accounting & HR Manager: Heather Priddy Permissions Editor: Randi Scholtes Office Assistant: Dianne Pray Serving Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Virginia, West Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina and adjacent metro areas. Autobody News is a monthly publica tion 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 Carlsbad,P.O.AutobodyLLC.NewsBox1516CA92018 (800) 699-8251 (760) 603-3229 Fax www.autobodynews.com editor@autobodynews.com Accudraft Paint Booths 56 American Icon Automotive Finishes 22 Audi Gwinnett 32 Audi Wholesale Parts Dealers 49 Auto Data Labels 5 AutoNation Ford-Lincoln 30 Axalta Coating Systems 7 Beaman CDJR Wholesale Parts 35 BendPak 9 Car-O-Liner 19 Carworx Distribution, Inc. 21 Certified Automotive Parts Association 18 City Kia of Greater Orlando 48 Classifieds 54 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet 34 Dominion Sure Seal, Ltd 16 Eagle Abrasives 23 Equalizer Auto Glass Tools 6 Ford Wholesale Parts Dealers 55 GM Wholesale Parts Dealers 52 Gus Machado Ford 42 Harper Volkswagen 31 Hendrick Automotive Group 47 Hendrick Honda Pompano Beach 36 Hendrick Kia Cary 24 Hendrick Kia Concord 24 Hendrick Volvo Cars of Charleston 48 Honda-Acura Wholesale Parts Dealers 27, 28-29 Hyundai Wholesale Parts Dealers 55 Industrial Finishes and Systems 43 Kia Motors Wholesale Parts Dealers 51 KSI Auto Parts 8 Landers Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep 26 Launch Tech USA 33 LKQ Corporation 39 Mazda Wholesale Parts Dealers 50 Mercedes-Benz Wholesale Parts Dealers 50 Miami Lakes Automall 10 MINI of Charleston 38 MOPAR Wholesale Parts Dealers 41 NOROO Paint & Coatings 17 Parks Chevrolet 40 PPG 15 Rick Hendrick Chevrolet Naples 38 Rogers-Dabbs Chevrolet 45 SATA Dan-Am Company 2 SEMA Trade Show 25 Shoot Suit 11 Spanesi Americas 37 Steck Manufacturing Company 20 Stivers Decatur Subaru 44 Subaru Wholesale Parts Dealers 53 Sunmight USA 12-13 Symach 14 Tameron Hyundai 46 Volkswagen Wholesale Parts Dealers 50 ADVERTISERSOFINDEXCONTENTS REGIONAL Atlanta Single Mother Receives Reliable Transportation Courtesy of NABC Recycled Rides®, GEICO, Classic Collision 6 CARSTAR Car Crafters Opens in Blue Ridge, GA 6 Chesapeake, VA-Area Service Members Receive Gift of Reliable Transportation 8 Driven Brands Acquires Tennessee-Based Jack Morris Auto Glass ................................. 1 Georgia Taxpayers to Provide $1.8B in Incentives to Hyundai for New EV Plant 10 Hyundai and Hyundai of Asheville Donate $20,000 to Special Olympics North Carolina 14 Mississippi Welcomes Its First Tesla Store 14 Nashville First Responders Learn New Rescue Skills through NABC F.R.E.E.™ Program ....... 8 Tesla to Pay $10.5M for 1% Negligence in 2018 Model S Crash 1 Volkswagen Starts Assembly of All-Electric ID.4 in Chattanooga, TN 16 COLUMNISTS Anderson - Don’t Let Higher Sales Take Your Eye Off the Ball 24 Attanasio - Forward-Thinking Program Creating Great Auto Body Techs of the Future 44 Attanasio - How is Your Auto Body Shop Dealing with the Great Resignation? 32 Attanasio - Mike’s Auto Body Gave Away 100 Cars in 21 Years, Changing Countless Lives .. 46 Phillips - How to Profit from ADAS Services and Calibration—It’s Not Just About the Targets 26 Phillips - Lemonade to Use Mitchell’s Claim Solutions for Newest Product 52 Phillips - OEM Roundtable Working to Improve Quality of Collision Repair 38 Phillips - Repairify’s New Partnership with ATG Will Provide Industry with Advanced Diagnostic Training 42 Phillips - Technician/Painter Recovering from Severe Burns Recognized During 11th Annual CIF Gala 48 Strandberg - Build Your Collision Repair Business with a Buyer in Mind 36 Yoswick - Gerber Collision CEO Talks Parts, Personnel Challenges 34 NATIONAL 3M, CREF Donate Products to 300 Schools 55 Agenda Announced for CONNEX 2022 4 AirPro Diagnostics, CCC Partner 50 Appeals Court Rejects GM’s Attempt to Overturn FCA Racketeering Lawsuit Ruling 31 Audi, VW Vehicles Recalled Airbags 14 CIECA Forms AI Committee 49 Collision Repair Association Conducting Study of Blend Time Formula 49 Company Says it Has Recent Auto Body Shop Estimate Data for Sale 1 CREF Invites Collision Industry to Fall 2022 High School & College Transportation Student Career Fairs 55 CREF Raises $100,000 at Golf Fundraiser 20 Ford’s July Sales Up 37% Compared to Same Month a Year Ago 50 GM Offering EV Education 8 Hyundai Gets $19.2 Million Penalty for Tarnishing Millions of Customer Credit Reports 54 Lightning Strikes Across America: Customer Deliveries Now Stretch Across All 50 U.S. States 4 Lordstown Reaffirms Endurance Pickup Production for Q3 4 Ohio Groups, Lawmakers Praise CHIPS Act Passed to Boost Intel Investment 22 Rivian Amazon Vans Delivered 430K-Plus Packages During Pilot Program ................... 40 SEMA Show to Feature Educational Program Focused on Personal and Professional Development 1 Tesla Cybertruck Prices, Specs to Change, Probably Be Worth It 20 TikTok’s Latest ‘Kia Challenge’ Encourages Users to Steal Cars 22 YANG Announces TopGolf Fundraiser 11
Source: CIECA Agenda Announced for CONNEX 2022
Ford’s newest truck is winning EV fans. Nearly 80% of early reser vation holders said in a survey that F-150 Lightning will be the first full EV in their household.
“This truck is a workhorse. We have driven more than 3,000 miles already and towed and carried hundreds of pounds of concrete in the frunk,” — Emre Gol by Joey Klender, Teslarati Lordstown Motors reaffirmed its plans to start production of the En durance all-electric pickup during the third quarter of 2022, while re porting its earnings for Q2 in early August.
Jeff and Tammy Head, owners of both an F-150 and now an F-150 Lightning, who have pri marily used their new electric truck to tow a boat from Anchorage to Kenai River, about a three-hour drive, for salmon fishing.
“And the guy in me likes having the baddest truck on the planet,” Jeff Head added. Among the most popular and most-photographed features of the F-150 Lightning so far is the Mega Power Frunk. Owners are using the 400 liters of space1 to store gear and are taking advantage of the 2.4 kW of Pro Power Onboard in the frunk to help power their campsite or charge their power tools while driving.“This truck is a workhorse. We have driven more than 3,000 miles already and towed and carried hun dreds of pounds of concrete in the frunk,” said Emre Gol of Texas, who uses his F-150 Lightning Lar iat pickup for work at his kitchen and bathroom remodeling business. Recently, he helped his neigh bor’s wife, who was away from home with only six miles of charge left on her electric sedan’s battery. Gol connected his F-150 Lightning with the sedan’s charging adapt er and provided enough energy to safely get her back home.
Source: Ford Lightning Strikes Across America: Customer Deliveries Now Stretch Across All 50 U.S. States
— Edward Hightower
That was quick lightning quick. In just two months, Ford has delivered electric F-150 Light ning trucks to customers in all 50 U.S. states, from the shores of the Kenai River in Alaska to Houston and even
truck capital of America and California the EV capital of America lead the way with the highest number of F-150 Lightning deliveries through late July. Early customers have discov ered F-150 Lightning can handle a variety of needs, regardless of where they are located.
“From the time we watched it at the reveal, we knew that we wanted it,” Tam my Head said. “We had no doubt that this truck will have trademark Ford quality which gave us the confidence to transition to an electric vehicle.”
“In Q2, we made signif icant progress towards our plan to launch the Endurance in Q3 of 2022 and begin sales in Q4. We look forward to getting the Endurance into customers’ hands, as we think they are going to love it,”
Lordstown Reaffirms Endurance Pickup Production for Q3
In the company’s Q2 Sharehold er Deck, it listed several outlooks for the future, as Lordstown has struggled to begin production of the pickup. Struggling with cash flow and having trouble keeping its doors open, Lordstown formed a joint venture with Foxconn, with the au tomaker becoming the company’s primary development partner for EV development in North America. Lordstown expects Q3 to see the start of commercial production, while deliveries should begin in Q4, it said. However, the company only expects to produce around 500 units through early 2023. “In Q2, we made significant progress towards our plan to launch the En durance in Q3 of 2022 and begin sales in Q4. We look forward to getting the Endurance into customers’ hands, as we think they are going to love it,” said Edward Hightower, CEO of Lordstown Motors.Hightower also hinted that Lordstown and Fox conn’s first project as a joint venture is currently undergoing “pre-devel opment work.” In terms of financials, Lord stown CFO Adam Kroll noted the automaker will need to raise more money to support the 500-unit pro duction goal. However, Lordstown only requires between $50 million and $75 million to accomplish this, a substantial reduction from the $150 million it said it would need earlier this year.Lordstown reported an operating profit for the first time in its history, but it did not come from the sale of any vehicles, obviously. Instead, Fox conn’s acquisition of the company’s Ohio production facility is where the realized gains came from.
Take for instance
“The Lightning is the best thing I have ever purchased,” said Chris Ashley, a resident of Maryland and a first-time electric vehicle buyer. “With this truck, I can enhance my love of tailgating while at the same time play a small role in creating a better planet for my children.”Ashleyhas contemplated pur chasing an EV for the past couple of years before his wife, Emily, convinced him to buy the F-150 Lightning.Fordhas sold more than 4,400 F-150 Lightning electric trucks in the U.S. and Canada (YTD).
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CIECA announced its agenda and speakers for the upcoming CIE CA CONNEX Conference, to be held Sept. 13-14 in St. Louis/St. Charles, MO. In addition to a line-up of top industry speakers, there will be networking opportunities, a gifting ceremony by the National Auto Body Council® (NABC) as part of its NABC Recycled Rides® program, CIECA’s open annual meeting and a tour of Hunter Engi neering.This year’s theme is “CIE CA Next Gen: Evolving to Meet the Needs of the Collision Indus try.” All industry stakeholders, including CIECA members and non-members, are invited to attend. Conference attendees are el igible to receive credit toward a professional designation from the Automotive Management Institute (AMi).The day prior to the confer ence, NABC will be holding the Boone Valley Golf Club Fundrais er in Augusta, MO.
4 SEPTEMBER 2022 AUTOBODY NEWS / autobodynews.com
autobodynews.com / SEPTEMBER 2022 AUTOBODY NEWS 5 VEHICLEEMISSIONCONTROLINFORMATIONConformstoregulations:2016 MY California: Not for sale in states with California emissions standards. TWC/HO2S/WR-HO2S/CAC/TC/DFIU.S. EPA:T2B4 FED2.3L-Group:LDVGFMXV02.3VJWEvap:GFMXR0125NBVNoadjustmentsOBDII Fuel: Gasoline ABZ VEHICLEMFD.BYFORDMOTORCO.INU.S.A. DATE: EXTPNT: RC: DS0: WB BRK INTTR TP/PS R AXLE TR SPR 114 4 GP K 45 V DB F05 UTC THISVEHICLECONFORMSTOALLAPPLICABLEFEDERALMOTORVEHICLESAFETYSTANDARDSINEFFECTONTHEDATEOFMANUFACTURESHOWNABOVE.01/03 VIN:TYPE:00000000000000000 MPV FRONTGAWR: 2735LB AT AT 205 kPa/30 240 kPa/35 1240KGP235/70R16SL16X7.0J REARGAWR: 3325LB 1508KGP235/70R16SL16X7.0JGVWR: 5880LB/2667KG WITHTIRESRIMSPSICOLD WITHTIRESRIMSPSICOLD F0085T0183 UA 13 3U51B TIRE SIZE COLD303kpa 44psi 303kpa 44psi 303kpa 44psiThecombinedweightofoccupantsP265/70R17P265/70R17P265/70R17FRONTREARSPARE ADDITIONALINFORMATIONSEATING CONTROLVEHICLEEMISSIONINFORMATION Conformstoregulations: 2015 Fuel: Gasoline U.S.EPAclass/stds: LDV/TIER2 Californiaclass/stds: PC/ULEVqualified Group: FGMXV01.80111.2L Evap:SFI/HO2S/TWCFGMXR0095805,OBD:II 00000000 FRONTREARSPARE 215/55R1697H215/55R1697HT125/85R1699 SEATINGCAPACITY TOTAL 4 FRONT 2 REAR 2 Thecombinedweightofoccupantsandcargoshouldneverexceed352kgor776lbs.240kPa,35PSI240kPa,35PSI420kPa,60PSISEEOWNER’SMANUALFORADDITIONALINFORMATIONTIREANDLOADINGINFORMATION TIRE SIZE COLDTIREPRESSURE COUSSINSRSSIDEAIRBAGGONFLABLELATÉRAL(SRS) TOAVOIDSERIOUSINJURYORDEATH:•Donotleanagainstthedoor.•Donotuseseatcoversthatblocksideairbagdeployment.Seeowner’smanualformoreinformation.POURÉVITERDESBLESSURESGRAVESOUMORTELLES:•Nevousappuyezpascontrelaporte.•N’utilizezpasuncouvre-siègequipeutbloquerledéploiementducoussingonflablelatéral.Voirlemanuelduconducteurpourdeplusamplesrenseignements. WARNINGAVERTISSEMENT VEHICLE MFD .BY: TOYOTA MOTOR MANUFACTURING, GVWR 4233LB GAWR FR 2668LB RR 2668LB THIS VEHICLE CONFORMS TO ALL APPLICABLE FEDERAL MOTOR VEHICLE SAFETY , BUMPER , AND THEFT PREVENTION STANDARDS IN EFFECT ON THE DATE OF MANUFACTURE SHOWN ABOVE . PASS. CAR C⁄ TR : 4Q2 ⁄ LA43 ACV30L --CEPGKA A ⁄TM: --01A ⁄ U241E MADE IN U.S.A. 08270KENTUCKY,00000000000000000INC.02 ⁄ 04 THIS VEHICLE RAL MOTOR STANDARDSVEHICLEINEFFECTONSHOWNABOVE.V.I.N.:00000000000000000STKAAA5--NH737M --A --A GAWR Contact Us : Contact your LKQ/Keystone Local Sales Rep Upload your photos to the Website: www.AutoDataLabels.com Email your photos: Labels@AutoDataLabels.com DELIVERY IN 1-3 DAYS! SUPPLY CHAIN ISSUES COSTING YOU TIME & MONEY? AUTO DATA LABELS ARE CUSTOM DESIGNED AND MADE IN AMERICA Place Your Label Order Via One of These 3 Easy Ordering Options: To Visit Our Website SCAN HERE FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ABOUT AUTO DATA LABELS: visit our website at www.AutoDataLabels.com email us at labels@AutoDataLabels.com or call us at (631) 667-2382 ©2022 Auto Data Labels an LKQ Company. Visit us at Shop.LKQcorp.com and LKQcorp.com Vin Labels AC Labels Caution LabelsEmission Labels Tire Pressure Labels Paint Code Labels SRS SIDE AIRBAG COUSSIN GONFLABLE LATÉRAL (SRS) TO AVOID SERIOUS INJURY OR DEATH: D not lean against the door.D not use seat covers that block side air bag deployment.See owner’s manual for more information. POUR ÉVITER DES BLESSURES GRAVES OU MORTELLES: Ne vous appuyez pas contre la porte. N’utilizez pas un couvre-siège qui peut bloquer le déploiement du coussin gonflable latéral. Voir le manuel du conducteur pour de plus amples renseignements. AVERTISSEMENTWARNING TIRE AND LOADING INFORMATION TIRE SIZE COLD TIRE PRESSURE 303kpa 44psi 303kpa 44psi 303kpa 44psi The combined weight of occupants and cargo should never exceed 505 Kg or 1114 Lbs. P265/70R17P265/70R17P265/70R17FRONTREARSPARE SEE INFORMATIONMANUALOWNERSFORADDITIONAL SEATING CAPACITY TOTAL 3 FRONT 3 REAR 0 VEHICLE EMISSION CONTROL INFORMATION Conforms to regulations: 2016 MY California: Not for sale in states with California emissions standards. TWC/HO2S/WR-HO2S/CAC/TC/DFI U.S. EPA T2B4 LDV 2.3L-Group: GFMXV02.3VJW Evap: GFMXR0125NBV No adjustments needed. FED OBD II Fuel: Gasoline ABZ VEHICLE MFD. BY FORD MOTOR CO. IN U.S.A. DATE:EXTPNT: RC: DS0: WB BRK INT TR TP/ PS R AXLE TR SPR 114 GP K V DB F05 UTC THIS VEHICLE CONFORMS TO ALL APPLICABLE FEDERAL MOTOR VEHICLE SAFETY STANDARDS IN EFFECT ON THE DATE OF MANUFACTURE SHOWN ABOVE. 01 03 TYPE:VIN: 00000000000000000FRONTMPVGAWR: 735LB AT AT205 kP 30 240 kP 35 16X7.0JP231240KG570R16SL REAR GAWR: 3325LB 16X7.0JP231508KG570R16SL GVWR: 5880LB 2667KG PSIRIMSWITHIRESCOLD PSIRIMSWITHIRESCOLD T0183F0085 UA 13 3U51B
On Aug. 10, Nicole Watson and her 6-year-old daughter, Sophia, received a refurbished 2021 Nis san Versa courtesy of the National Auto Body Council (NABC) Recy cled Rides® program, along with car donor GEICO and repairer Classic Collision Sandy Springs in Georgia.
Short ly after, Nora DePalma, president and CEO of Dialogue Marketing, contacted O’Neal-Kyles to see if she had any candidates for the NABC Recycled Rides program. O’Neal-Kyles said she immediate ly pitched Watson, and soon after, DePalma confirmed Watson as the recipient.“I’m so grateful for this gift; in disbelief, but grateful,” Watson said. “It has been a long journey. There were moments I wanted to give up, but at the end of the day my daughter needs me and depends on me. That’s why I’m so thankful for what Every Women Works has taught me, and now this! I can’t be lieveWatsonit.” added that her car, which came with a trunk full of goodies and a brand new bike for Sophia, not only provides Watson with reliable transportation, but also allows her to aid other women.
6 SEPTEMBER 2022 AUTOBODY NEWS / autobodynews.com
CARSTAR Car Crafters is a 14,000-square foot facility with 16 trained, dedicated and hardwork ing employees. In addition, the fa cility is I-CAR Gold certified and has various OEM certifications.
Atlanta Reliable Transportation Courtesy of NABC Recycled Rides®, GEICO, Classic Collision
Single Mother Receives
CARSTAR Car Crafters Opens in Blue Ridge, GA www.autobodynews.com
CARSTAR, North America’s fastest growing network of inde pendently owned and operated collision repair facilities, cele brated the opening of CARSTAR Car Crafters, located at 80 Scenic Drive, Blue Ridge, GA 30513. Jeff Beavers, owner of CARSTAR Car Crafters, began his career in the collision repair industry at the age of 18. He grew up around cars, as his father spent his free time painting vehicles. Through this, he became familiar with the different aspects of colli sion repair and opened his first fa cility when he was 26. Beavers and his wife, Lori, opened this facility in 1999. From here, Beavers has worked to build an incredible team, with many members having worked for him for more than 15 years. Beavers’ general manager came on board 10 years ago and has helped signifi cantly increase revenue.
“CARSTAR provides our owners with training, equipment and operations support to help grow their business and exceed customer expectations,” said Dean Fisher, collision group president, Driven Brands. “With Jeff’s extensive expe rience in the industry, coupled with the robust support of CARSTAR, we know the sky is the limit for this team and their growth potential.” Beaver and his team are com mitted to serving their community.
Classic Collision Sandy Springs hosted the event, and sever al representatives attended. “Getting to be a part of the re cipient’s life-changing moment is unreal,” said Ray Triscik, Classic Collision area vice president of op erations in Georgia and Tennessee. Classic Collison has 190 loca tions from Miami, FL, to Anchor age, AK.“It’s really cool to see how many companies come together for such a great cause,” said Jason Lowry, PPG strategic accounts di rector. “It’s emotional, certainly for the family who receives the car, but also for everyone helping out.
CARSTAR Car Crafters donates re sources to local schools and sports teams year-round. The team looks forward to continuing to give back to their community and becoming in volved with new charitable initiatives. Please join us in welcoming CARSTAR Car Crafters to our growing CARSTAR family.
“Joining CARSTAR is the best way to help grow my business,” said Beavers. “I have been working in the repair side of the business for most of my career. But now, I’m ready to grow and I am excited to leverage the support CARSTAR provides to help reach our goals.”
PPG donated paint products for the 2021 Nissan Versa refinishing process.“Classic Collision has been a terrific member of the National Auto Body Council,” said Debby Robinson, head of NABC public relations, marketing and advertis ing. “It’s great to see their success as they give back to the communi ties where they do business. This is their fifth NABC Recycled Ride this year, and they say there are more to come.”
The famous GEICO Gecko accompanies Sophia Watson, center, and Nicole Watson, right, as they pose with their refurbished 2021 Nissan Versa
“I founded Every Woman Works on the premise that instead of giving women fish and only feed ing them for a day, we teach them how to fish, so they can feed them selves, their children and their com munities,” said O’Neal-Kyles, who attended the O’Neal-Kylesevent. said Watson missed out on a job opportunity due to lack of transportation.
“This has been an absolutely amazing experience,” said J.R. Carter, GEICO salvage analyst. “Donating vehicles to the Recycled Rides program is a way we can give back and hold a philanthropic posi tion in the community. We aim to donate 30 cars per region annually.”
“I’ve been a part of number of these events and it’s always really special to see how this vehicle can transform their life.”
by Victoria Antonelli
Watson is a recent graduate of the Atlanta-based nonprofit Every Woman Works, founded by Tillie O’Neal-Kyles in 2004. According to the organization’s website, Ev ery Woman Works helps women in challenging situations transition from “dependency to self-sufficien cy.”
USAA, in partnership with NABC Recycled Rides, provides the vehicles to Caliber, then Cali ber’s skilled auto body repair tech nicians volunteer their time and ex pertise to restore them. Typically, nonprofits nomi nate recipients. In this case, all 10 were nominated by Armed Services YMCA. The gift of reliable trans portation helps recipients better manage daily activities, such as commuting to work, medical ap pointments, school and more.
“Gifting vehicles to the men and women who give so much of themselves daily for our coun try is an honor. It is just one of the ways that Caliber lives by our purpose, Restoring the Rhythm of Your Life®,” said Caliber CEO and President Mark Sanders. “We are incredibly proud of our Caliber teammates whose technical exper tise makes these giftings possible. They are passionate about serving their community and making a dif ference in the lives of others.” This gifting marks 25 of 46 vehicles Caliber teammates are restoring to like-new condition throughout 2022, and more than 500 vehicles restored and gifted since 2012. The vehicles will bene fit active-duty service members and military veterans in need of reliable transportation across the country.
More than 30 first responders from fire departments in Nashville, TN, and surrounding areas gathered June 25 for a hands-on demon stration of the latest techniques in emergency vehicle extrication, preparing them to provide the best response for car accident victims.
The training was thanks to the National Auto Body Council® (NABC) First Responder Emer gency Extrication™ (F.R.E.E.) pro gram, Gerber Collison & Glass, Nissan North America and Genesis Rescue Systems. When drivers in Nashville and surrounding areas have an accident, they rely on the com munity’s first responders to be there to help them to safety. And when they are driving a late-mod el vehicle with numerous airbags, advanced technology or electric/ hybrid engines, the rescue can be more“Aschallenging.aNashville resident, this NABC F.R.E.E. event was extra special,” said Kyle Mederios, chair of the NABC F.R.E.E. committee. “Being able to witness firsthand the scenarios first responders are pre sented with and the quick, precise thinking they must perform gave me an even greater respect for them. As a result of this event and our great partnerships with Geber Collision & Glass, Nissan North America and Genesis Rescue Systems, we’re already working to host another event soon.”
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On Aug. 11, Caliber teammates and representatives from USAA and National Auto Body Council Recycled Rides® gifted vehicles to 10 active-duty service members in Chesapeake, VA.
Caliber previously gifted vehi cles in San Antonio and Nashville and will present the remaining cars to recipients in California, North Carolina, Arizona and Texas. This program is a part of Caliber’s Re storing You™ community platform, which serves teammates, customers and communities alike. Visit the Caliber website to learn more about Restoring You and its history of NABC Recycled Rides giftings.
The NABC F.R.E.E. pro gram helps first responders stay abreast of the rapid changes in vehicle design, including highstrength steel, airbags, advanced restraint systems and onboard technology. Alternative fuel sys tems found in electric and hybrid vehicles present new challenges for first responders on the acci dent Gerberscene. Collision & Glass at 999 Polk Ave. in Nashville hosted the first responders. Nissan North America provided the vehicles, and Genesis Rescue System sup plied the classroom education and extrication demonstration.
As part of its mission to make EV ownership accessible to all, General Motors on July 25 launched EV Live, an immer sive, virtual experience that al lows participants to interact oneon-one with EV specialists and learn everything about electric vehicles for free. EV Live allows anyone to connect with an EV specialist from any internet-connected mo bile or desktop device. These EV specialists will answer EV-re lated questions in real time and give virtual tours of the EV Live studio, which houses real EVs and dynamic displays of home charging, public charging, bat tery technology, sustainability, commercial applications, EV apps and more. EV specialists can also guide participants through the home charging installation pro cess and refer them to certified installers.Formore information, visit evlive.gm.com.
Source: Caliber Chesapeake, VA-Area Service Members Receive Gift of Reliable Transportation
“We take Caliber’s purpose of Restoring the Rhythm of Your Life very seriously and embody it every day,” said Executive Vice Presi dent of Operations, Northeast, Paul Krauss. “Seeing the cars lined up for this gifting made me proud of my fellow teammates and the support given to our military community.”
Source: NABC Nashville First Responders Learn New Rescue Skills through NABC F.R.E.E.™ Program
Source: GM GM Education
“We take Caliber’s purpose of Restoring the Rhythm of Your Life very seriously and embody it every day,” — Paul Krauss
Offering EV
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Georgia officials point to their “history of partnership” with Hyundai, saying it is “a window into what a great community and corporate partner the company will be for decades to come.” Hyundai has a controlling stake in Kia Cor poration, which in 2009 agreed to invest $1.2 billion in a manufactur ing plant in West Point and create 2,500 jobs.
by T.A. DeFeo, The Center Square Georgia governments and develop ment authorities offered Hyundai Motor Group more than $1.8 bil lion in incentives. In May, Hyundai said it had selected Georgia for its first fully dedicated electric vehicle and battery manufacturing facility. The plan calls for Hyundai to invest more than $5.5 billion in building the facility in the 2,923-acre Bryan County Megasite along Interstate 16, while non-affiliated Hyundai suppliers plan to invest roughly $1 billion in the project.
Hyundai received a 26-year property tax abatement and will be gin making “leasehold ad valorem property tax payments” starting in 2026 after it completes the initial construction of its facility. State officials said Hyundai would pay more than $357 million during the period.
“When fully staffed, the es timated payroll generated by the HMGMA project alone will reach $4.7 billion over 10 years,” Georgia Department of Economic Develop ment Commissioner Pat Wilson said in a statement to The Center Square. “As we work together to deliver a state-of-the-art facility in Bryan County that will provide well-paying jobs to Georgians, we know Hyundai Motor Group will give back to the region, investing in our schools, families and com munities, and we are grateful for those planned investments.”
According to state documents, the Savannah Harbor-Interstate 16 Corridor Joint Development Au thority is expected to invest more than $71.8 million. The JDA con tributed $18 million to purchase the original three BCMS parcels, while a state grant funded an addi tional $43 million to purchase the site.
Officials said the project would create 8,100 jobs with an av erage salary of $58,105. Under the deal, by the end of 2031, Hyundai and its suppliers must meet 80% of their commitment to invest $5.5 billion and create 8,100; they must maintain the jobs through 2048.
Under the deal, Georgia will give Hyundai a $50 million Re gional Economic Business Assis tance grant doled out in a pair of $25 million payments to help pay for site development, building or equipment purchases. It will also give a $112.6 million grant to the Savannah Harbor-Interstate 16 Corridor JDA for wetlands miti gation, additional land acquisition and site clearing and grading. The state will provide a dedi cated Quick Start Training Center, expected to cost $62.5 million. The Peach State will also cover operat ing costs and training services for five years, at an estimated cost of nearly $5 million per year. Economic development offi cials plan to ask state lawmakers to allocate an additional $10.6 million for the Technical College System of Georgia to expand the existing Georgia Quick Start Advanced Manufacturing Training Center in Savannah. The Georgia Department of Transportation plans to make $200 million in road improvements. Ad ditionally, nearly $6.9 million in state funding will go toward a rail extension to the project site for the Georgia Central Railway, a Gene see & Wyoming subsidiary.
Georgia Taxpayers to Provide $1.8B in Incentives to Hyundai for New EV Plant 10 SEPTEMBER 2022 AUTOBODY NEWS / autobodynews.com 305-820-3862305-556-2777Fax 16600 NW 57th Ave Hialeah, FL 33014 Hours: M-F 7-7 Sat 7-5 Sun 9-3 Miami Lakes Chevrolet Your Premier GM Part s Warehouse • Extensive Inventory • Professionally Trained Staff • Daily Deliveries Miami Lakes Kia 305-820-3862www.kiaoflansing.comFax 16600 NW 57th Ave Hialeah, FL 33014 305-556-2777 Hours: M-F 7-7 l Sat 7-5 l Sun 9-3 We’ve Got the OEM Parts You Need
The Young Auto Care Network Group (YANG), an Auto Care Association community of young industry profes sionals, is partnering with the Auto motive Aftermarket Charitable Foun dation (AACF) to raise support for the foundation through a nationwide Top Golf event Sept. 8. In continuing its ef fort to provide support to members of the auto care industry, YANG is proud to once again partner with AACF to bring the auto care community togeth er while raising funds that will provide resources, guidance, financial support and more to those in need. Six major TopGolf locations across the country will host events for the fundraiser, with the support of industry sponsors: At lanta, GA, Midtown location; Denver, CO, Thornton location; Detroit, MI, Auburn Hills location; Houston, TX, Katy location; Omaha, NE; and San Antonio,ContactTX Danielle King at dan ielle.king@autocare.org for more in formation.
Continued from Cover Jack Morris
their operations and provide a plat form for these talented people to continue to advance in their careers. We look forward to continuing the Jack Morris legacy of exceptional customer service through our added support.”Jack Morris Auto Glass spans three generations, with brothers John and Paul Morris leading the business through continued expan sion, while still maintaining its com mitment to delivering the highest level of customer service and repair quality.“John and I chose to sell to Driv en Brands because we want what is best for our people and customers,” said Paul Morris. “Their team was great to work with throughout the transaction process, and we believe Driven Brands is well positioned to continue the Jack Morris legacy of happy employees and happy cus tomers. I’m excited to have Driven Brands take this business to the next level as they nurture the exception al talent on our team and help grow their careers while staying true to our longstanding roots and values.” Driven Brands offers auto glass repairers with resources, industry expertise, and purchasing power. Any auto glass owner-operators interested in selling to the Driv en Glass family can contact erika. keil@drivenbrands.com for more information.
Source: Driven Brands federal court in 2020. In his com plaint, Riley claimed the vehicle’s lithium-ion batteries “burst into an uncontrollable and fatal fire” after his sonThecrashed.Riley family argued Bar rett might have survived the acci dent if the Model S hadn’t caught on fire because of a defective Tesla battery design. On June 29, a judge dismissed the Rileys’ claim about a defect in Tesla’s lithium-ion battery cells and battery pack before the tri al started.The family also noted Tesla removed the speed-limiting device Jenny Riley requested for the Mod el S, designed to cap the vehicle’s speed at 85 However,mph.Tesla’s lawyers ar gued the teenager told the compa ny’s service center staff to remove the speed limiter on the Model S. A testimony from one of Barrett Ri ley’s friends revealed the 18-yearold “tricked” a Tesla technician into deactivating the limiter. “A driver makes the car safe, the speed limiter does not,” Tesla’s lawyers told the Florida jurors. Tesla CEO Elon Musk reached out to James Riley a few days after his son’s death. Riley, a father of seven, asked Musk to acknowledge the death of his son and his friend “led to the enhanced safety of oth ers.” Following the request, Tesla updated its release notes for Speed Limit Mode with a dedication: “In memory of Barrett Riley.”
Source: Auto Care Associa tion
YANG Announces
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Continued from Cover Tesla to Pay $10.5M
12 SEPTEMBER 2022 AUTOBODY NEWS / autobodynews.com
autobodynews.com / SEPTEMBER 2022 AUTOBODY NEWS 13
Mississippi Welcomes Its First Tesla Store Credit: Brandon042 on Facebook by
253-2834.Volkswagen’s and Audi’s recall numbers are
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“We’re so very grateful for Hyundai’s support as well as the innovative work of the Automotive Industry Running Group,” — Keith L. Fishburne by Johnna Crider, Teslarati
Exploding Audi and Volkswagen passenger airbags have caused a recall of more than 1,200 of these vehicles. 2016 Audi TT Roadster 2016 Audi TT Coupe 2016 Audi S3 Sedan 2016 Audi R8 Coupe 2016 Audi A3 Sedan 2016 Audi A3 e-tron 2016 Audi A3 Cabriolet 2016 Volkswagen Golf Sportwagen 2016 Volkswagen Golf R 2016 Volkswagen Golf GTI 2016 Volkswagen Golf A7 2016 Volkswagen e-Golf Dealers will replace the passen ger airbag modules once owner recall letters are mailed Sept. 23. Owners may
Hyundai Motor America and Hyun dai of Asheville recently donated a total of $20,000 to the Special Olympics North Carolina (SONC), an organization that uses the trans formative power of sports to im prove the lives of children and adults with intellectual disabilities, in support of the Automotive Indus try Running Group. A ceremonial check was pre sented to SONC in Asheville, NC.
Special Olympics North Caro lina offers year-round training and competition in 20 Olympic-type sports on local and state levels as well as health and wellness initia tives to improve the health status and increase access to communi ty health resources for individuals with intellectual disabilities. As athletes are never asked to pay for their involvement in Special Olym pics, this donation will ensure that athletes have quality training and competition events in the form of regional invitationals and state-lev el competitions.“We’reso very grateful for Hyundai’s support as well as the innovative work of the Automo tive Industry Running Group,” said Keith L. Fishburne, president and CEO, Special Olympics North Car olina. “Special Olympics athletes deserve the same quality sports ex periences as anyone else. Hyundai’s support will help to ensure that hap pens.”
Tesla store is a 25,000-square foot building Mayor Butch Lee said wasn’t a typical“Thisdealership.isnota typical dealer ship. This is a build it and bring it to the consumer,” Lee said.
Audi
Mississippi welcomed its first Tes la store with a ribbon-cutting cer emony.WJTV reported Tesla opened its first “dealership” in Brandon, MS, and those attending the cere mony were able to test drive some of theThevehicles.Mississippi
“Hyundai is passionate about building better communities to sup port our progress for humanity vi sion, which begins with those that we live, work and do business in,” said Brandon Ramirez, director, corporate social responsibility and external relations, Hyundai Motor North America. “We are grateful for the collaboration with our jour nalist and dealer partners to support organizations like Special Olympics North Carolina that create oppor tunities and support the mission of inclusion.”Created by automotive jour nalists, the Automotive Industry Running Group hosted a 15-day vir tual running challenge, after which
Hyundai and Hyundai of Asheville Donate $20,000 to Special Olympics North Carolina
Source: Hyundai Motor America
“We created the Automotive Industry Running Group out of our passion for running and physical activity,” said Jill Ciminillo, man aging editor, Pickup Truck + SUV Talk and vice president, Chicago Area Runners Association. “With the support of Hyundai and its generous donation, we are proud to see how a shared interest can transcend our journalist community and impact the broader athlete community.”
Hyundai donated $25 to SONC for every mile ran between July 1529, up to $10,000. SONC received $10,000 after the interest group logged over 660 miles during the 15 days. Hyundai of Asheville donated an additional $10,000 to the cause.
swagen
The new store used to be Courthouse Fitness and a physical rehabilitation center for UMMC. Local developer RCI, LLC, and Trihelm Properties have been working together to bring Tesla to Brandon.InMay, it was not ed this would be for a Tesla store, making it the first of its kind for Mississippi. The city of Brandon shared a short message of welcome To Tesla on its Facebook page.In the photo above, members of the local community got to see the Tesla Model X do its Chrismas carol dance. For Brandon, Tesla brought Christmas in July. David A. Wood, CarComplaints.com contact Volk at 800-893-5298 or customer service at 80069DY
autobodynews.com / SEPTEMBER 2022 AUTOBODY NEWS 15
How Waterborne Technology Can Improve Cycle Time Performance
Color ID and Matching Efficiency
The number of color coats required to make a refinish repair is one primary consideration for evaluating the throughput performance of a refinish paint system. Yet, as most know, the most accurate way to vet a system’s productivity is to evaluate the entire refinish process – from color identification, right on through to the final clearcoat. As example, PPG’s waterborne refinish system incorpo rates a host of features designed to speed cycle time performance.
SPONSORED EDITORIAL
Given that refinishing most often calls for blending, how efficient a system can perform an accurate repair and eliminate chances for redos is especially critical to achieving maximum cycle time performance. PPG’s waterborne system employs an easy, one-gun process designed to achieve a fast, tight blend and accurate match the first time out. In fact, in a 2-3 coat application, it’s possible to perform a spot repair in less than an hour. This fast blend process is aided by a very thin film build, enabling the basecoat to dry fast. Only 2-3 minutes flash time is needed between coats and the clearcoat can be applied in 10-15 minutes. The system’s EN-V® Series clearcoat line offers fast bake times as short as 10 minutes. To ensure color accuracy, the basecoat’s latex particles orient metallic flakes smoothly to accurately match the color travel from face to flop. Painters won’t find any evidence of mottling or halos around the repair, which can appear using conventional basecoats. Any dirt or specks can be easily de-nibbed, further facilitating a fast blend repair.
Since color variants to OEM prime colors are an everyday challenge for identifying a correct formula, those identified by PPG’s color variance team are quickly incorporated into PPG’s comprehensive color formula database. Formulas are updated daily through PPG’s PAINTMANAGER® XI color software. In the long run, the daily update of the database saves the technician valuable time searching for the right color formula.
Blending Performance
The throughput of a refinish system must include its color-matching ability. Afterall, if the color doesn’t match, how fast the repair was achieved won’t matter. In this regard, PPG has heavily invested in ensuring the ENVIROBASE® High Performance waterborne basecoat system delivers color-matching excellence. Its color variance program is one example of this commitment.
Another real time saver is the Chromatic Variant Deck since it can significantly reduce sprayouts. Comprised of thousands of variant and prime color chips, each chip is sprayed with actual waterborne paint. “The color deck is ‘dead-on’,” says Jeff Smith of Pro Collision, Grand Rapids, Michigan. “If the color is in the deck, there’s no need to do a sprayout, like we always had to perform with our previous system.”
To summarize, when evaluating throughput performance— from color identification to final clearcoat—the Envirobase High Performance system covers all the bases to achieve the cycle time performance demanded by today’s high-production collision centers.
Volkswagen of America on July 26 marked the start of production of its all-electric ID.4 compact SUV in Chattanooga, TN, the company’s first electric vehicle assembled in the U.S. The ID.4 is Volkswagen Group’s most popular all-electric model, with 190,000 units delivered to cus tomers globally since its launch in 2021.Volkswagen aims to ramp up ID.4 assembly in Chattanooga to 7,000 vehicles per month later this year, with the goal to further in crease output through 2023. Con al Volkswagen brand. “When we promised to bring Volkswagen EVs to the millions, it always included American workers building those EVs right there in Chattanooga. We couldn’t be prouder to see that vision realized today with our ID.4 electric flagship rolling off the lines. This is another milestone in Volkswagen’s ambitious electrifi cation strategy for the U.S. market and globally.”Thestart of production is the result of Volkswagen’s $800 mil lion investment into the electrifi cation of its Chattanooga factory, Kentucky and North Carolina. The EV battery will be supplied by SK Innovation located in Georgia. As part of the preparation to launch the ID.4, suppliers have in vested $2.7 billion throughout the North American continent, includ ing the battery partnership with SK Innovation. More than 3,000 U.S. jobs on supplier side have been cre ated. supporting us as we begin assembly of the ID.4 for the North American market.”Volkswagen Chattanooga em ploys more than 4,000 people, and is actively hiring more than 1,000 new production team members through 2022, to help meet high customer demand for the ID.4 and Atlas SUV family. To prepare for the EV transition, the factory has or ganized more than 75,000 hours of workforce training on battery-pow ered vehicle and high-voltage sys tems.Volkswagen has committed
Volkswagen Starts Assembly of All-Electric ID.4 in Chattanooga, TN
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“Our goal is to actually docu ful to Mrs. Jones, the customer,” Allen said. “To show, not only did we fix your car properly, it was done
Continued from Cover Data for Sale This summer’s Collision Industry Conference (CIC) in Pittsburgh drew hundreds of attend ees from around the country 18 SEPTEMBER 2022 AUTOBODY NEWS / autobodynews.com YOUR ASSURANCE OF QUALITY www.capacertified.org
He confirmed it was not coming from public registries, DMVs or po lice reports, Schulenburg said.
The 40-plus data fields the com pany said it has include on a daily basis more than 62,000 VINs and 135,000 quotes---written by shops or insurers. It includes customer name and contact information—ad dress, phone and email—where the collision occurred and where the re pair quote was generated. It includes nearly $72 million of quoted parts per day, and the year, make, model and mileage of vehicles along with body, trim and engine descriptions.
Virginia shop owner Barry Dorn asked the panel how a shop can know a company that says it is only pulling limited estimate data needed for a specific purpose---like parts locating or customer satisfac systems.Panelist Tom Allen of Condi tion Now said he understands body shops’ frustration with their estimate data resulting in an entry on a given vehicle’s CARFAX or other history report.“The shop becomes the face of this incident,” Allen said. “The offi cer directing traffic [at the accident scene] may come and go. The insur ance company may be just a voice on the other end of the line, or the other side of the app. But the first human we see in this instance is the shop. I believe they get the brunt of things, right or wrong.” Allen said his company for about a decade has offered a way for body shops “to control the negative,” a way to use a vehicle history report to “show the good, not the bad,” by playing up the use of OEM parts in the repair of the vehicle, for example.
“The point here is not that they have this data, but it’s where they are getting it from,” Schulenburg said.
The revelation was of interest to a CIC committee that, like SCRS and other organizations, has been looking into how shop estimate in formation sometimes ends up as entries on vehicle history reports. Schulenburg said the company of fering to sell the data was not one he, nor anyone else he has talked to about it, has heard of.
“It was a complete shock to us below the waterline is all of your DRP relationship information: who you have DRP relationships with. What your negotiated labor rate is. Who you buy parts from. What dis counts you offer. Anything that can be gleaned off that estimate is being taken, compiled and aggregated, and being used for other purposes.”
Though some believe estimate data finds its way to CARFAX or vehicle history reports after the VIN and other information is sent to “live” parts locating services during the es timating process, Tagliapietra blamed thousands of “data pumps” running on shop computer systems, scraping esti mate data sometimes without a shop’s knowledge or consent.
cesses, we collect 86% of all quoted collision repairs in North America, whether the quote is taken through a body shop or any insurance carri er.” Even if that quote doesn’t reach an insurer, Schulenburg said he was told, “that data goes into our system within 24 hours.”
The founder of the company, who Schulenburg said he spoke to after the initial call, said a non-dis closure agreement prevented him from revealing the source of the data; he told Schulenburg he couldn’t say more because “if I answer too many questions, you’ll figure it out.” He said it was a company Schulenburg would know because their primary business model “has something to do in collision,” and that licensing the data to be sold is “just a side stream of revenue.”
“It is coming from a data aggre gator, who is selling it,” Schulenburg said. “There’s a lot of good compa nies out there that are utilizing data to do the right thing for this indus try. And there’s at least one compa ny who is not doing the right thing. There’s at least one company that is turning it into a separate revenue stream to take the information you shared with them for one intended purpose, and selling it to someone else to sell for an entirely different purpose that you didn’t intend.”
The leaders of the CIC com mittee, knowing Schulenburg’s long-standing work on data privacy issues, noted the irony that a data aggregator selling such information would contact him.
autobodynews.com / SEPTEMBER 2022 AUTOBODY NEWS 19
“Celebrity Insights,” moderated by African American Racers Association co-founder Chris Harris, features automotive celebrities, legends and luminaries with diverse backgrounds and experiences. The one-hour discussion will give attendees a glimpse into the lives of some of their favorite personalities.
“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.”
Initially, the Cybertruck was available in three trims with start ing prices ranging from $39,900 for the single-motor RWD version to $69,900 for the tri-motor AWD. Even though Tesla has had a lot on its plate with the pandemic, supply chain issues and inflation, it has continued to refine the Cy bertruck’s design since 2019. In June, Musk confirmed Tesla had finalized the design. At the Q4 2021 earnings call, he said Tesla added a lot of new technology to the Cy bertruck. Musk hinted that striking a balance between the Cybertruck’s new technology and affordability would decide its final updated price.
Tesla Cybertruck Prices, Specs to Change, Probably Be Worth It
The Collision Repair Education Foundation’s (CREF) 20th Annu al Golf Fundraiser, co-hosted by PPG Automotive Finishes, was a roaringHeldsuccess.onJuly 19 at the Edge wood Country Club in Pittsburgh, PA, the event sold out to capacity with 146 sponsors and industry supports enjoying a day on the green while raising over $100,000 to support collision repair pro grams, schools and students around the country. The winning team, with a score of just 56, consisted of Rich Finoli, PPG; Steve Morel li, community supporter; Derek Severns, Bowser Automotive; and John Parran, PPG. Participants also had the chance to win great prizes by competing in individual hole con tests.Helicopter ball drop winners included Linda Mazur, commu nity supporter; Charlie Jordan, Caliber Collision; and Mary Ma honey, Enterprise Holdings.
“Celebrity Insights” takes place Nov. 4, along with five other sessions that comprise the brand-new Enthusiast TrackReturningprogram. by popular demand is the Leadership Essentials Track, presented by Dale Carnegie. Consisting of six courses spread out over three days, the program can be taken as a whole or individually. Each course features acclaimed trainers from Dale Carnegie Training. Known for having a leadership, communications and sales program that improves both individual and business performance, Dale Carnegie Training focuses on core human relations principles and is said to transform lives. Also continuing in 2022 are comprehensive programs from partners, including the Society of Collision Repairers (SCRS), the Inter-Industry Conference on Auto Collision Repair (I-CAR) and the Tire Industry Association (TIA).
takes place Nov. 1, and will be presented by James Pogue, Ph.D., president and CEO of JP Enterprises. Part of the Business Management Track, each DEI session will feature thought leaders, skill-building seminars, networking, inspiring role models and action-oriented content.
“But what I can say is that the Cybertruck will be one hell of a product. It’s gonna be like a damn fine machine,” he said.
Source: SEMA
In June, at the Shareholders Meeting, Musk said Cybertruck production is on track for mid-2023. Musk assured everyone the Cybertruck is still a mind-blowing EV pickup truck.
Continued from Cover SEMA Show
20 SEPTEMBER 2022 AUTOBODY NEWS / autobodynews.com • Easy, safe removal of inner bearing race • No need for expensive tools • Works much faster than other options available INNER RACE I NE HUB HSAVER UB SAVER Part #71310
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.Those who are already approved for credentials can add education sessions by going into their SEMA Show dashboard. Sessions will also be able to be added through the SEMA Show mobile app. This year’s information will be updated in the mobile app in August, but the app can be downloaded now from the app store. The SEMA Show is the world premier automotive trade show, featuring new products and trends in vehicle customization. Complete details about the Nov. 1-4 SEMA Show taking place in Las Vegas, NV, are available at www.semashow. com.
by Maria Merano, Teslarati Tesla CEO Elon Musk admitted at the 2022 Annual Meeting of Stock holders that Cybertruck prices will change. However, a lot has changed since the cyberpunk truck’s unveil ing. Tesla might make the price change worth it. The all-electric pickup truck was unveiled in 2019, before the pandemic. Prices have gone up across the board, so it wouldn’t be surprising if the price of the Cy bertruck went up as well. Tesla has increased the price of its other vehi cles as“Cybertruckwell. pricing, it was un veiled in 2019, and the reservation was $99,” Musk reminded everyone at the meeting. “A lot has changed since then, so the specs and the pric ing will be different. I hate to give sort of a little bit of bad news. But I think there’s no way to sort of an ticipate the inflation that we’ve seen and the various issues.”
“I worry more about like how do we the Cybertruck affordable de spite having awesome technology. That’s the thing that will really set the rate,” he said in Q4 2021.
Source: CREF Golf Fundraiser www.autobodynews.com
CREF Raises $100,000 at
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“We did insert some language that I supported on the so-called guardrails to avoid just what you had talked about. I think that’s important. China is very interested, as you know, in investing a lot of money in chips and providing huge incentives, far more than what we are talking about in the CHIPS legislation here, and so are other countries, by the way, South Korea, Japan, Taiwan of course,” Portman said in theOhiointerview.Gov. Mike DeWine said in January an additional 7,000 construction jobs could come from the project that is expected to add $2.8 billion to the state’s annual grossOhioproject.committed nearly $2 billion in incentives and tax breaks to Intel.“The best thing this does with the CHIPS Act is to make sure these jobs are brought home,”
Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, said in a Twitter video statement. Business and manufacturing groups throughout the state praised the Senate passage. “Ohio’s economy stands to benefit even more from the transformational nature of Intel’s investment in semiconductor manufacturing in our state thanks to the CHIPS Act, which will bolster American manufacturing and national security,” said Steve Stivers, president and CEO of the Ohio Chamber of Commerce. The Ohio Manufacturers’ Association called passage and Intel’s planned investment a unique opportunity for the state and country. “Right now, our country has a once-in-a-generation opportunity to strengthen U.S. manufacturing and ensure it consistently competes and wins on the world stage,” said Ryan Augsburger, president of the OMA. “Just as it has since its earliest days, Ohio will play a key role in the next chapter of American innovation. It is time to finally enact this game-changing investment.”
22 SEPTEMBER 2022 AUTOBODY NEWS
by J.D. Davidson, The Center Square The lack of federal subsidies Intel said was holding up its planned $20 billion chip plant in suburban Columbus, OH, cleared the U.S. Senate on July 27. It was signed into lay by President Joe Biden on Aug. 9. The CHIPS Act, which passed the Senate 64-33, will provide $52 billion to U.S. semiconductor manufacturers to help build plants to makeAftermicrochips.announcing in January plans to build and create 3,000 jobs at a microchip facility in Ohio, Intel pulled back over the summer, canceling its July 22 groundbreaking while the federal money remained in limbo.
An artist rendering of Intel’s planned $20 billion chip manufacturing plant expected to be built in central Ohio. Credit: JobsOhio by Brad Anderson, CarScoops A viral challenge across TikTok and YouTube has led to a spike in thefts of Kia and Hyundai models out the U.S. The “Kia Challenge” shows so cial media users how to steal certain Kia and Hyundai models by simply removing the plastic cowl under the steering column and using a USB cable. The issue has become partic ularly prevalent in Milwaukee, WI, where there is a group of young teen agers known as the “Kia Boys” who have become notorious for stealing cars and taking them on dangerous joyrides.It’s not just in Milwaukee where car thefts have surged though. In St. Petersburg, FL, the police depart ment said 23 of the 56 cars stolen on local streets since July 11 have been Kia and Hyundai models model year 2021 and older. Writing on Twitter, authorities encouraged Hyundai and Kia owners to be cautious.
in a CNBC interview that language was inserted into the bill he believes can avoid China concerns.
“Today’s passage of the CHIPS Act is critical in the effort to bring semiconductor manufacturing back to the United States, protect our na tional security and create thousands of high-paying jobs in Ohio,” said Sen. Rob Portman, R-OH. “I was proud to help lead efforts in the Senate to pass this legislation and ensure that Intel’s planned semi conductor plant in central Ohio re mains on track and reaches its full potential. Intel’s announced invest ment is already the largest in Ohio’s history and the company has indi cated that with this CHIPS legisla tion its record investment will grow even larger over time.”
Opponents argued the bill serves as both $250 billion in taxpayer subsidies to multi-billiondollar companies and would subsidize construction of factories in China.
“Anyone with a Kia/Hyundai that uses a key, please #lockitup,” it wrote. Speaking with the Bay Times, police said Kia models
TikTok’s Latest ‘Kia Challenge’ Encourages Users to Steal Cars
Ohio Groups, Lawmakers Praise CHIPS Act Passed to Boost Intel Investment
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with Mike Anderson
Don’t Let Higher Sales Take Your Eye Off the Ball
Mike Anderson is the president and owner of Collision Advice, a consulting company for the auto body/collision repair industry. For nearly 25 years, he was the owner of Wagonwork Collision Center, an OEM-certified, full-service auto body repair facility in Alexandria, VA.
There’s an expression I’ve been thinking about in relation to the col lision repair industry: “Pigs get fat and hogs get slaughtered.” As it applies to business, I think it means if you end up being greedy or taking the good times for granted, it’s going to catch up with you. It reminds me of another ex pression I use a lot: “Lots of sales cover lots of sins.” You can substi tute “mistakes” for the word “sins.” I hear from a lot of body shops about how much their sales are up, some times to record levels, and I’m con cerned a false sense of security can settleItin.can be easy to take your eye off the ball when work is plentiful. Let’s start with the higher sales number. At least some portion of that is likely attributable to more parts per repair order. CCC Intelli gent Solutions reported there were almost 12 parts per claim on aver age last year, a number that has been climbing since 2011, and especially in more recent years. I’ve seen some other statistics that suggest there’s anywhere between seven and nine more parts per repair now. Add to that the increased price of those parts. Again, CCC data shows parts prices increased 5% in the first quarter of this year alone, after a 7.4% overall increase last year. I’ve seen other statistics show ing some parts prices have gone up between 18% and 23%, depending on the type of part. So if there are more parts per repair order, and the prices for those parts have gone up, then of course your sales should be up. But remem ber, as a repair order includes more parts and less labor, your overall gross profit as a percentage starts to decline.
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From the Desk of Mike Anderson
I’m not saying that’s bad or good. All I’m saying is looking at just your increased sales may be giv ing you that false sense of security. Remember the start of the pandemic, when work temporari ly stopped coming to the door? So many shop owners and managers told me during that time they real ized they needed to get back to ba sics, in terms of making sure SOPs were being followed, focusing on selling and capture rate, and offering great customer service. That’s what I’m suggesting to you here, that your increased sales may have led you to stop keeping your eye on the ball. Maybe your estimate quality isn’t as good as it should be, but the higher parts dollars are masking that. Are you continuing to watch your profit margins on labor, parts, materials, sublet, etc.? Is the backlog of work leading to any customer service “sins”? It can be easy to get complacent when you know if one customer gets mad at you, you have 20 more lined up at the door. But you still need to care about that customer not going some where else. Make sure your custom er service isn’t slipping. Maybe your outstanding parts credits are stacking up. Maybe your receivables have started to slip. Maybe you’re not closing out ROs in a timely manner. Are you still watching your efficiencies? There are a lot of things to still make sure you’re keeping an eye on. I’m not an economist. I don’t know what the future holds. But in every recession, I’ve seen shops wish they had stuck to the basics. Take some time right now to make sure lots of sales are not masking a lot of sins in your business, and that you’re not going to suffer the fate of the hogs.
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The floor should be painted in a neutral tone, be pristinely clean and be able to be written on. He also stressed the importance of having evenly-diffused lighting with minimal shadows. LED bulbs should be 300-400 lumens that can be adjusted based on the seasons, weather and time.
Frank Terlep said lighting should be diffused with minimal shadows
Shop
and calibration business fa cility should ensure all calibration procedures are performed indoors without obstructions or uneven surface shadows. Credit: Courtesy of LaMettrey’s Collision, Glass & More See How to Profit from ADAS, Page 30 26 SEPTEMBER 2022 AUTOBODY NEWS / autobodynews.com Mopar® Parts. There’s nothing like them. Compared to aftermarket replacement parts, Mopar Collision Parts offer better fit, function and reliability. What an original concept. ©2021 FCA US LLC. All Rights Reserved. Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Ram, 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. ORIGINAL. JUST LIKE OUR PARTS. 315 East Goodman Road Southaven, MS 38671 Order Hotline: (800) 238-5919 or (662) 349-9090 Fax: (662) 349-9050 Mon.–Fri. 7:30 a.m.–5:30 p.m. 43380_COL20_Q_AB.indd 1 3/12/21 10:02
Stacey Phillips is an award-winning freelance writer and editor for the automotive industry. She has 20 years of experience writing for a variety of publications, and is co-author of “The Secrets of America’s Greatest Body Shops.” She can be reached at sphillips.autobodynews@gmail.com.
“These are moving variables depending on the shop’s location and time of year,” said Terlep. Ideally, the facility’s walls should be a matte color. He rec ommended a solid color coating in beige, grey, light grey or white with no patterns.
How to Profit
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For owners/operators consider ing opening a mobile business, Ter lep said to consider the skills person nel will offer, the cost of insurance and equipment, space availability, lighting, who will be checking the alignments and how documentation will be collected.
“Targets are patterns and you don’t want to confuse the sensors you are calibrating with patterns be hind the targets,” explained Terlep. “Ensure there are no reflections or shadows and there are no reflective surfaces that might interfere with the calibration equipment.”
Industry statistics show nearly 50% of the North American car parc will be Advanced Driver Assistance Sys tems (ADAS)-equipped by 2025. By 2030, the percentage of ADASequipped vehicles will be more than 75%.With the overwhelming growth in this area, Frank Terlep, co-found er of Auto Techcelerators, said col lision repair facilities are currently faced with many challenges conduct ing ADAS services and calibrations.
The first is location. Based on industry data, Terlep said 80% of collision repair facilities do not have the required space to perform these services. They also need a business operating system, trained person nel and equipment, which includes targeting systems, diagnostic tools, alignment systems, vehicle lifts and more.One of the biggest challenges is identifying a vehicle’s ADAS tech nologies and required calibrations, which Terlep noted most shops do He shared a February finding from Honda that identified 80% of appraisals processed through CCC Intelligent Solutions that needed a calibration did not include a line item related to calibration. During a recent webinar spon sored by Auto Techcelerators, Terlep shared some of what he believes are the requirements to run a properly outfitted ADAS services and cali brationEstablishedbusiness.in 2019, Auto Tech celerators assists the automotive, collision, glass, insurance and truck industries to properly estimate, cal ibrate and validate ADAS systems, repairs and calibrations. The compa ny’s Test Drive CoPilot™ platform was chosen as one of 15 semifinalist solutions in the 10th annual Special ty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) Annual Launch Pad Com petition. The Facility For businesses planning to perform 10 or more calibrations or ADAS repairs per day, Terlep advised fa cilities allocate at least 4,000 square feet. “If you are going to do calibra tions properly, you can’t do them in a parking lot, under a tree or in space where there isn’t enough room for targets to be the proper distance,” he explained.Terlep recommended setting up three work bays and outfitting the facility to ensure all calibration pro cedures are performed indoors with out obstructions or uneven surface shadows.Each calibration bay needs a floor space of at least 33 feet wide by 17 feet in length to perform the calibrations, and the floor should be level within four 10ths of an inch from one side of the workspace to the other.“Aslight incline along the floor of the space could result in the miscalibration of a camera or radar sensors, thus skewing the vehicles’ reactions,” Terlep explained.
Tools One of the essential tools for a cali bration center to acquire, according to Terlep, is an OEM and/or after market diagnostic tool and/or soft ware.“You probably need both,” said Terlep. “You need multiple after market tools because they all have limitations.”Theyalso need to be kept up to date.“You aren’t going to do a 2022 calibration with 2021 software,” he from ADAS Services and Calibration—It’s Not Just About the Targets with Ed Victoria Antonelli Strategies with Stacey Phillips for Busy
Frank Terlep recommends a properly outfitted ADAS services
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“It’s critical to have the right size targets,” said Terlep. “Be pre pared to purchase additional targets when new ADAS systems or com ponents are introduced.”
Terlep shared what he referred to as the “seven moments of truth” when repairing/calibrating ADASequipped vehicles. They include identifying and locating the tech nologies and needed calibrations; communicating with the customer; preparing an accurate repair plan; ordering and scheduling the ser vices; documenting all pre-calibra tion requirements; documenting calibration actions and results; and performing, managing and docu menting the test drive.
He noted five of the largest or ganizations in North America cur rently manage calibrations in this way. Documentation and Liability Terlep recommended facilities doc ument every aspect of the ADAS service/calibration process as if the shop were going to court tomorrow.
Terlep highly recommended having OEM tools on hand for the vehicles the facility typically repairs or subscribing to a remote diagnos tic service. He said there are current ly five of these types of businesses available today. Not only do remote diagnos tic companies perform pre- and post-scanning, but many also offer remote calibration services. In some cases, Terlep said they provide free targets or a low dollar amount and split the revenue with the facility. He recommended owners/op erators compare the remote cost vs. the cost of purchasing OEM soft ware.Another consideration he not ed is related to alignments. With 11 auto manufacturers requiring a calibration following a wheel align ment, Terlep said in most cases, a vehicle needs an alignment check before a “Alignmentscalibration.and calibrations are like peanut butter and jelly sand wiches,” he said. “If the vehicle isn’t aligned correctly, there’s a good chance the ADAS systems aren’t going to work.”
noted.One of the costliest pieces of equipment required is the targeting system, which is typically rectangu lar with black and white patterns.
ADAS repairs and calibrations also require additional tools such as reflective metal sheets, metal cones, window calibration tools, floor mat calibration targets, doppler simula tors, HUD systems and more.
Although some shops organize pric ing by service category, Terlep and his team have found organizing by manufacturer is preferable. He also recommended shops take steps to ensure they have an ac curate and detailed billing system.
As a result, he said facilities must be in the alignment business or have an alignment company nearby.
ADAS/Calibration Software
For shops planning to enter this side of the business, Terlep said it is critical to have a software platform. However, he believes there isn’t one on the market to meet all of the cur rent needs.“I’vetalked to a lot of business es and most are using five to seven different systems to manage and op erate their companies,” he said. He said the ideal software would help identify and locate ADAS technologies, calibration triggers and required calibrations, educate customers about what needs to be done with their vehicles, and assist shops to create better, fast er and more accurate repair plans. The software would also help the business manage all workflows and processes, generate, share and store detailed documentation, and operate an efficient and profitable business.
Workflows and Processes
Because most collision repair facilities don’t have the required space to prefer a calibration, Terlep foresees the industry will operate in a “hub and spoke” model in terms of calibrations, where several stores in a certain area will use a central loca tion for these services. As a result, ADAS/calibration software should ideally include this business model.
Organizing Pricing and Getting Paid
GM has long believed it had a strong case, a federal judge in mid-2020 ordered General Mo tors CEO Mary Barra and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles CEO Mike Manley to meet and resolve the lawsuit. The judge noted there were more urgent issues facing the U.S. and the lawsuit was a “waste of time and resources.”
FCA Racketeering
GM tried multiple times to have the lawsuit reinstated but ear lier in August, the three-judge pan el of the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the attempt, Auto News“Evenreported.accepting GM’s theo ry as true, the chain of causation between FCA’s bribes and GM’s injury is still too attenuated,” the three-judge panel said in its ruling. The lawsuit alleged FCA cor rupted the contract bargaining pro cess between GM and the UAW in an attempt to force a merger be tween the two car manufacturers. The lawsuit claimed late FCA CEO Sergio Marchionne was responsi ble for conceiving, executing and sponsoring the wrongdoing.
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Appeals Court Rejects GM’s Attempt to Overturn Lawsuit Ruling
This includes the vehicle com ponents, calibration triggers and required calibration types, pre- and post-scans, repair order/lines, a health scan and images of a vehicle.
It should also include a calibration results report, post-calibration safe ty system verification test results, a detailed invoice and a workflow re port.“How can any organization look at a customer and give them the keys to the vehicle without provid ing them with validation and docu mentation that they accurately test ed and validated the systems work properly?” said Terlep. He advised shops to remember that ADAS systems directly affect acceleration, braking and steering.
An appeals court in the U.S. has upheld a 2020 ruling tossing out the racketeering lawsuit that Gen eral Motors filed against Fiat Chrysler Automobiles. General Motors filed the racketeering lawsuit against FCA in November 2019. It claimed its rival had bribed United Auto Workers (UAW) union officials to corrupt labor talks to its advantage. GM claimed this cost it billions of dollars.While
FCA had long called the law suit “meritless” and said GM’s recently amended complaint was “full of preposterous allegations.”
“If one is off and doesn’t work, the outcome is not good,” he pointed out. “If an ADAS system fails, who is to blame? The driver, the OEM, the shop or the insurer?” Without documenta tion, Terlep said, you don’t know. The Investment When determining the investment to begin offering ADAS services/ calibration, Terlep said to consid er the cost of the facility, targeting systems, targets, the alignment sys tem, diagnostic tools and business software.While he estimates a mini mum investment might be around $150,000, it could easily reach $250,000-$300,000.
Return on Investment (ROI) To be successful in the ADAS repair and calibration business, Terlep ad vised facilities to focus on process and volume.“Thekey to success is to cap ture three to 10 customers who re pair 100 vehicles a month where you can expect to receive 25-40% of those vehicles,” he said. For shops doing 4,800 calibra tions annually, he estimated $773,577 annual gross profit. For more information, visit www.autotechcelerators.com. To watch the webinar, visit www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbhttps:// f5Css50Hk by Brad Anderson, CarScoops
It’s a whole new game out there and those shops that can adapt will succeed, while others might encoun ter a never-ending carousel of new and returning employees. The pandemic changed the rules, but many principles of em ployee communication are still the same. Try to keep stress levels low, keep your eyes open for changes within your team and proceed care fully, and you will be able to retain your people and avoid the pitfalls of the Great Resignation.
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tempt your best people to pursue otherTheoptions?best thing to do is to step up employee engagement and keep everyone in the fold. Turnover can seriously impede a body shop, and poaching can spread quickly. Joe Technician is happy at his new shop and the word is out they’re looking for more people, so a strong bond with your employees is more im portant now than ever. Focus on retaining your female employees, because they are the most likely to switch or quit alto gether. According to NPR, 865,000 women left the U.S. workforce— four times more than men—in just September last year.
One of the smartest ways to do this is to start inviting employ ees outside the leadership team and closer to the rest of the crew to par ticipate in the decision-making pro cess.
Keep Millennials in your dis cussions. They’re focused on things such as diversity and inclusion, so keep them in the loop. The worst thing is to have them feeling like they’re not being heard. Let them play a role and watch them excel as people and leaders. To accommo date your younger crew members, keep your meetings short and sweet and create mechanisms to enable them to contribute.
Some body shop owners said communication improved tremen dously during the pandemic because it became mandatory. “People were no longer in the same room, so im parting communication changed,” one owner said. “We became a Zoom culture, and in many cases, we became more comfortable with it and adapted.”Thepandemic created a virtu al world, but unfortunately it won’t have much of an impact down the road in collision repair, because you can’t fix cars via Zoom. It means some employees who were sitting home for more than a year are going to undergo major changes, like commuting and spend ing less time with their families. Some people won’t adapt well and it may take a month or two to re-en gage, so patience but accountability should play a role.
During the pandemic, many shop owners and managers decided to push employee communication to the sidelines. The idea was they should not focus on engagement, saying “We can’t ask our manag ers, techs, estimators and painters to do one more thing!” Stressed out employees were on their own and forced to navigate it all solo. Some quit and many were laid off, and even a few took early retirement or sold their shops to an MSO. So now is the ideal time to re connect with your top talent if you want to retain them. Post-COVID, your disengaged employees will start looking for a better deal else where. Will the return to normal
by Ed Attanasio You thought we would be done with the pandemic by now, but like Al Pacino’s character, Michael Corle one, said in The Godfather II, “Just when I thought I was out, they drag me back in!” Will the effects of the pandemic always be a part of our lives? It sure looks like Thereit.are still many questions we never had to deal with before, and many things we thought would be in our rearview mirrors by now. Are you prepared for the postCOVID work environment? Are you ready for a majority hybrid-remote office model? Are other shops try ing to hire away some of your top people? Will some of your upper management take this opportunity to retire? Is it time to sell? These are life-changing deci sions and the time to make them is here.We’re now entering the post-pandemic world and many of your employees have different opin ions. While some of your crew is en thusiastically returning to work, oth ers are reluctant and have concerns about hours, safety and other issues. Regardless of whatever your employees think will happen next, body shop owners and managers are just happy to return to some level of normalcy after these 30 months. But, are things really back to nor mal—and what is normal now, any way?In many parts of the country, the shortage of qualified people got even worse during the pandemic. An MSO owner told me recently he could put 80 collision professionals to work immediately, if they existed. I would bet any shop out there right now could use a few more qualified people, as car counts rise and cus tomers who were reluctant to bring their vehicles for repairs start show ing up at their doors.
“The coronavirus pandemic is wreaking havoc on households, and women are bearing the brunt of it,” the NPR study said. “Not only have they lost the most jobs from the be ginning of the pandemic, but they are exhausted from the demands of childcare and housework—and many are now seeing no path ahead but to quit working.
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Poaching employees is a prob lem, especially in states like Cali fornia and New York, and it will un doubtedly get worse within the next year or so, I believe. So, with moti vating your crew and strengthening them more important than ever, here are some methods to help you retain your best employees. The pandemic caused body shop owners and managers to cen tralize decision-making to be more efficient, pulling it into the leader ship team without feedback from key stakeholders, like top techni cians or the head painter. This was essential during the pandemic, but this will need to change to ensure long-term effectiveness and contin ued employee engagement.
How is Your Auto Body Shop Dealing with the Great Resignation?
autobodynews.com / SEPTEMBER 2022 AUTOBODY NEWS 33
“Last year, we probably thought maybe the beginning of the second quarter of this year, but I haven’t seen it,” he said. “I’ve heard tem porary positive signs, but nothing that’s systematic that’s going to drive the change we need. So I think we’re probably in for a couple of years of challenging times.”
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“I think if you talk to a parts manager or estimator at one of our stores, if price and margin were equal, they would buy the OE part because it tends to be reliable a high percentage of the time,” O’Day said. But he noted the gross profit margin on non-OEM parts is better, so “our staff is motivated both in terms of how we get measured by our insur ance partners, and in how it drives our profitability, to identify and source higher-margin, lower-cost al ternativeO’Dayparts.”said the company is working toward centralized parts or dering for its more than 800 shops in North“WhenAmerica.we leave the buying de cision at a local level, there’s some times influences that aren’t consis tent with what our objectives are,” O’Day said. “It could be something as simple in the old days as ‘I got tickets to the ballgame tonight, so I’m going to buy parts from this sup plier,’ to something worse than that, that may not be good for our busi ness. The direction we’re moving is to establish contractual relationships in writing with a supplier.” Part of that agreement will be all electronic parts ordering.
When asked to compare suppli er service levels, O’Day said “prob lems with parts that come in incor rectly is much, much lower with OEM than it is with the aftermarket.
Gerber Collision CEO Talks Parts, Personnel Challenges with Ed Attanasio Shop Showcase with Ed SocialAttanasioMedia for Shops with Ed MediaAttanasioand Publicity for Shops SEMAAttanasioShow Goes On Industry Insight with John Yoswick with Stacey Phillips Shop Strategies with Victoria Antonelli Shop Strategies with Stacey Phillips Tips for Busy Body Shops with Stacey Phillips Body Shops Giv ing Back with Stacey Phillips My SEMA —John
“We’re going to get to the point where if you do business with us, and one of our stores calls you and says, ‘Deliver me this part, I need it this afternoon,’ if you don’t get the order electronically, I don’t want you to deliver it,” O’Day said. “Because what’s going to happen is you’re going to deliver the part. I’m going to put it on the car, and I’m never going to charge my customer for it. And 60 days from now, you’re going to come back to me and say, ‘You owe me for that part, because you didn’t get it in your payables system and you haven’t paid for it yet.’ “So it’s a huge loss for me when we do that. So we want to do busi ness with suppliers that are connect ed electronically,” with ordering, invoicing and payment all handled electronically.O’Dayalso discussed the tech nician shortage impacting all colli sion repair businesses. He serves on the Board of Directors for I-CAR, and said the segment of the industry renewing its I-CAR Gold Class des ignation in 2019 averaged 9.5 tech nicians per shop. “In the most recent round of renewals, the average shop has 7.5
technicians,” O’Day said. “So about a 17 or 18% reduction in workforce. It’s just a highly disruptive environ ment. And there’s really no shortterm“Mysolution.view, and most of the re pairers I’ve spoken to share it, is the only way we’re going to build our workforce is by paying more money to that workforce, pulling them from other industries,” O’Day said. “The only way we can do that is through pricing. It’s going to cause increased premiums for vehicle owners. But otherwise we’re not going to solve our customers’ problem and get their cars repaired on a timely basis.” He said the industry lacks “a formal, universal way” to work with students coming out of collision re pair training programs to build their skills.“They come into our industry, and because we don’t train them properly to move them to the next level, we lose them to other indus tries,” he said. To that end, he said, Gerber created an 18-month technician ap prenticeship program for students coming out of school or for internal candidates working as a porter or car-washer.“Wespend tens of thousands of dollars per trainee, but they come out with pretty good skills after 18 months,” O’Day said. “We’ve made a commitment to more than double the size of that program this year. But I think in the long run, we can’t do it alone. We really need the ma jority of collision repair shops to make the same type of commitment, and do it in an organized way so these students grow and are success ful in our Anotherindustry.”“area of opportunity” Yoswick is a freelance writer based in Portland, Oregon who has been writing about the automotive industry since 1988. He is the editor of the weekly CRASH Network (for a free 4-week trial subscription, visit www.CrashNetwork.com). Contact him by email at jyoswick@SpiritOne.com.
Tim O’Day, president and CEO of Boyd Group Services, parent com pany of Gerber Collision & Glass, referred to his company as “one of the better users of alternative parts” in a presentation this spring at the Automotive Body Parts Association annual“Butconvention.rightnow, we’re more re liant on OEM parts than we’ve ever been, which is unfortunate,” O’Day told the non-OEM parts manufactur ers and distributors at the event. “It negatively impacts our profitability, and it drives repair costs up for our customers. So hopefully the after market will figure out how to bal ance out supply so that we can buy the parts from you that we want to O’Day acknowledged that cur rently even OEM parts are often un available, and he doesn’t foresee a quick end to supply chain issues.
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Build Your Collision Repair Business with a Buyer in Mind with Cole Strandberg Guest Columnist
Again, while there is no hard and fast rule on revenue require ments for consolidators, $2 million in annual revenue seems to be an entry point, with $5 million being a common sweet spot. Anything over that, and you should have some compelling regional and national interest when you eventually go to market.It’s important to note purchase price as a percentage of revenue typ ically goes up as revenue goes up, just as EBITDA multiples increase when EBITDA increases. Obvious ly, becoming a small multi-shop owner with two, three or more shops can help that revenue scale more quickly, and make you even more desirable to a potential acquirer. Val uation multiples vary significantly based on a multitude of factors, so if you’d like to discuss situation-spe cific valuations, feel free to reach out to me Communitydirectly.and relationships: While there is no quantifiable value placed on your shop being a pillar within its community, it certainly doesn’t hurt. Many consolidators are very charitable, so a culture of giv ing in your shop will make it more attractive. Not to mention, local re lationships with the customer base, direct repair programs (DRPs) and dealers will only serve to add value to your business. It never hurts to do good things within your community.
cians to train apprentices, and more. This industry puts a premium on talent. Therefore, if you have a lot of talent within your organiza tion, it will help your business get a premium valuation. Validate this by having I-CAR certifications, both at the shop and technician level, as well as original equipment manufac turer (OEM) certifications. So how do you build like a seller? In terms of working your way backward, determine what you want your eventual exit value to be. Once that’s determined, you’ll know what you must do in order to get there. The focus, ultimately, is on scal ability and avoiding roadblocks to achieving that scale, such as limited space and poor shop flow. While you might not be a seller today, tomorrow or even five years from now, everyone is in business to make money. Modeling your busi ness after some of the best opera tions in the industry is a good thing. Chances are, building your business by regularly taking a step back and looking at it through the lens of a po tential buyer will pay off in both the short and long term.
Cole Strandberg is a principal with FOCUS Investment Banking, specializing in automotive aftermarket mergers and acquisitions. Cole works closely with automotive equipment providers, paint jobbers and collision centers. For more information, contact him at cole.strandberg@focusbankers.com or (561) 400-1015
Talent: As you likely know firsthand, there’s a theme in the col lision industry as it relates to con stant challenges: talent—much less good talent—is hard to come by. This is evidenced by some of the largest consolidators in the country investing millions in training pro grams, incentivizing—aggressively, I might add—experienced techni
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Cole Strandberg is a principal with FOCUS Investment Banking, specializing in automotive after market mergers and acquisitions. Cole works closely with automotive equipment providers, paint jobbers and collision centers. For more in formation, contact him at cole. strandberg@focusbankers.com or (561) 400-1015.
Most entrepreneurs start a business based on one or two of many poten tial reasons—it could be to exploit a unique skillset or access to talent, pursue a passion or simply meet a need otherwise not being met in the marketplace.Mosttimes, though, new entre preneurs start businesses with the beginning in mind, but not the end, building a business that meets their immediate personal needs without giving much thought to the long term. As a result, many business owners fall into the trap of limiting their business’s growth, and subsequent options for the long term, based on short-term-minded decisions.
By contrast, many of the most successful people in the collision repair space have started their busi nesses with one goal in mind: to sell it. How can you build your business by thinking like a seller? First, let’s discuss what buyers are looking for, and work our way backward.What do buyers want? Footprint and layout: As you might expect, the more space you have, the better. While each poten tial consolidator’s footprint desires vary, a safe sweet spot is 10,000 square feet of shop space or larger, though not a hard and fast require ment. Additionally, parking and storage is equally important. If you fall short of that square footage, don’t fret. Maximize the space you have. Maximizing shop space via a well-thought-out equip ment layout and shop flow allows for more revenue per square foot. If you’re just building a new location, or considering upfitting an existing location, reach out to one of the quality paint booth manufacturers, most of whom will offer a no-charge designRevenue:consultation.You want to maxi mize your space because consol idators care about revenue, plain and simple. While most businesses I work with are valued based on a multiple of adjusted EBITDA, or earnings before interest, taxes, de preciation and amortization, the collision repair industry places sig nificant importance on revenue as well. This is because, for the most part, if a consolidator can generate a certain amount of revenue within a footprint, they believe they can make that revenue profitable.
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“We want to help the partici pants in our programs do better,” said Allen. “By offering support, we hope to build better success quicker for shops.”Wilcox said some of the guest presenters at the quarterly meetings may include information providers, industry associations, training or ganizations, service and equipment providers, MSOs, dealers and shop owners, and insurers.
The group’s mission is to continuous ly improve the quality of collision re pair available to vehicle owners.
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* Active participation by all par ties in the collision repair pro cess is necessary if the quality of collision repair available to ve hicle owners is to continuously im
Working to Improve Quality of Collision Repair
“We’re always open-minded to meeting and discussing what pro grams and offerings could be benefi cial to us as a network and an indus try,” he Thesaid.group adheres to three guiding principles:
*prove.Open discussion among those in volved in the collision repair process and reliable sources of collision re pair data are paramount if the qual ity of collision repair is to continu ously improve. SC
The following year, six explor atory meetings were held with nu merous OEMs to find out if it would be helpful to form a more formal group and convene regularly. In 1999, the OEM Roundtable was formed. Since then, the group has held quarterly meetings along side the Collision Industry Confer enceDuring(CIC). the April 2022 CIC meeting in Oklahoma City, OK, rep resentatives from the OEM Round table shared some of the history and guiding principles of the group.
by Stacey Phillips
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•
Twenty-five years ago, many auto manufacturers found they were ex periencing similar non-competitive issues in the industry. George Gil bert from Ford and Rick Sherwood from Campbell & Co. suggested meeting to discuss these issues.
They included Mark Allen, colli sion programs and workshop equip ment specialist at Audi of America; Dan Ducharme, wholesale parts se nior manager for Volkswagen of Amer ica; and Devin Wilcox, collision certi fication manager at Subaru of America. Currently, 13 major member companies are involved in the OEM Roundtable, including Ford, GM, Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Mazda, Mer cedes-Benz, Nissan, Stellantis, Sub aru, Toyota, Volkswagen and Volvo. Many of the representatives are ac tive participants in industry organi zations and committees as well as events and panel discussions.
•
•
Allen talked about some of the OEM Roundtable’s frequent topics of discussion, which have included improving access to and use of repair procedures independently devel
•da2021:
OEM Roundtable
oped by some auto manufacturers, bringing awareness to the techni cian shortage, addressing challenges faced by repairers and parts sellers, as well as researching new industry programs and technologies. In addition, the group discuss es industry programs and legislative and legal updates. Allen said the OEM Roundtable operates under strict anti-trust guidelines.
•tors2020–2021:
Ducharme is the 2022 president of the OEM Roundtable. Prior lead ers include: 2013–2014: Paul Massie, Ford 2015–2016: Gary Ledoux, Honda 2017–2019: John Eck, General Mo Rossana Alvarez, Hon Mark Zoba, Nissan
* The interests of all parties in volved in the collision repair process are best protected when vehicle own ers are allowed to make informed de cisions regarding collision repairs to their vehicles.
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“As OEMs, we are here to sup port the industry and make sure ve hicles are being taken care of and repaired properly,” said Wilcox. “We’re always looking to make it better,” said Allen. “Let’s become professional and agree that we are going to take a look at these repair procedures, have the conversations with customers and insurance part ners, and get the car repaired the right way.”
Continued from Page 34
by Maria Merano, Teslarati Rivian reported delivering more than 430,000 Amazon packages with its Electric Delivery Van (EDV) during the vehicles’ pilot deployments, which rolled out in July. In July, Am azon announced Rivian EDVs would be deployed in locations across the U.S., including Baltimore, Chicago, Dallas, Kansas City, Nashville, Phoe nix, San Diego, Seattle and St. Louis. Rivian and Amazon worked closely together to design the EDV vehicle.
Rivian Amazon Vans Delivered 430K-Plus Packages During Pilot Program
“We want to make sure ev eryone has the knowledge and the ability to keep up with all the latest advanced technologies that, as man ufacturers, we’re putting into these vehicles,” said Ducharme. “We’re trying to get feedback from all seg ments so we can make informed de cisions and provide a great experi ence to our mutual customers.”
The OEM Roundtable and its member companies are in volved in the industry in many ways. This includes financial sup port and engagement with nu merous organizations, such as the Automotive Service Association (ASA), Collision Industry Confer ence (CIC), Collision Industry Elec tronic Commerce Association (CIE CA), Collision Industry Conference (CIF), Collision Repair Education Foundation (CREF), Inter-Industry Conference on Auto Collision Re pair (I-CAR), National Auto Body Council (NABC), Society of Colli sion Repair Specialists (SCRS) and Women’s Industry Network (WIN).
Looking ahead, the OEM Roundtable hopes to help the indus try move forward by increasing col laboration and transparency among all industry segments, providing greater use of tools and continuing to learn from all stakeholders.
Rivian explained each EDV fea ture, providing a reason behind each design decision. For instance, the EV automaker equipped the electric delivery van with rear roll-up doors so it would be easier to load bulky warehouse items. Rivian’s Amazon Delivery Van also has a tall roof, so drivers can easily walk through it.
Plus, Amazon EDV vehicles work with Rivian’s fleet management sys tem, called FleetOS. The EV automaker also high lighted how closely Rivian engineers worked with Amazon employees to optimize EDV features. “To ensure optimal temperature, Rivian engineers spent time in the vans during delivery routes, which helped the development of an HVAC system optimized for driver comfort and efficiency,” noted Rivian. One Amazon delivery driver already provided his first impression of Rivian’s EDV via his YouTube channel, Friday Adventure Club. He was impressed with the EDV and list ed its advantages over ICE delivery vehicles.Amazon deployed Rivian EDV 700s in July. Rivian has two other variants for its electric delivery van: the EDV 500 and the EDV 900. The EV automaker announced it started production validation for the EDV 500 in Q2 2022.
To support these principles, Al len said OEMs constantly enhance the availability and functionality of repair information developed by each of “Thethem.information is there to document the file and repair the car the right way,” he said. “Some of us include what the equipment is that the repair procedures were devel oped with to get the achievable out come of repairing the car.”
“We want to be available for the industry at these conferences and be accessible,” said Wilcox. In 2008, the roundtable launched the www.OEM1Stop.com website to respond to the industry’s request for easier access to OEM repair procedures and information. Auto manufacturer position state ments were added in 2016. By 2021, there were more than 300,000 total visits to the website and more than 120,000 unique visitors that year alone.“The number of visits has jumped over 300% since 2016,” said Wilcox. “Many body shops are referencing the site now on a regular basis.”Another resource available is www.CrashRepairInfo.com, launched in 2014. This website provides direct outreach to customers and guides vehicle owners through the collision repair process with a focus on proper repairs.Ducharme explained individu al OEMs work internally with their engineers to determine what needs to be done pre- and post-collision to streamline repair procedures. At the same time, the group is increasing engagement with body shops and insurance partners.
“A close development partner ship with Amazon and its delivery drivers enabled us to optimize the EDV features and design for last mile delivery,” Rivian said in its Q2 Shareholders Letter. “This pro cess included delivering more than 430,000 packages through multiple pilot deployments that began in early 2021 these pilots enabled a rapid refinement of a range of features.”
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he said Gerber is “pursuing pretty aggressively” is improving the “di versity of our industry,” working to attract more women, Black or Asian Americans and other minority groups.“We’re doing a lot to create an inclusive environment that will al low us to successfully recruit people who don’t look like me, and build our workforce with greater diver sity,” O’Day said. “Because if we go after the same group that we’ve always been targeting, we’re nev er going to solve the problem, and we’re not going to be as good of a company. So we have a very strong commitment to improving diversi ty.”
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See Repairify’s New Partnership,
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In 2002, Chesney moved to Ra leigh, NC, to build out an automo tive training team. When he left that organization in 2021, it was hosting 150,000 active learners who were taking self-paced online courses or participating in the 3,000 to 4,000 in-person or live virtual classroom events held each year.
Repairify’s New Partnership with ATG Will Provide Industry with Advanced Diagnostic Training
Founded in 2004, ATG offers live and virtual technical training worldwide. Chesney has a long his tory of working with the ATG team over his career and has great respect for the company and team of in structors for presenting excellent in formation in an understandable and interesting format. As a result of their new part nership, Repairify will support ATG in such a way that they can produce and deliver meaningful content to a wider audience. This includes offer ing classes that focus on scanning and calibration, Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) and electric vehicles, as well as vehicle data
About three months after Chesney’s retirement, Cris Hollingsworth, president of Repairify, asked him to join the company in 2021 to head up its training arm. Most of Repairify’s training is currently targeted to internal trainers and technicians and is offered both virtually and in-person. The com pany also offers product-oriented training to customers in a virtual set ting. “Up until now, the primary fo cus has been to rightsize and enable the internal training team so that our own people can be best prepared to serve our customers in their remote services that that we have made tremendous headway with,” he ex plained.Future training will be present ed in what Chesney refers to as an adaptive learning model in which online course materials are custom ized to the learner for an experience not available in a traditional class room“Imaginesetting. the instructor of a vir tual classroom knowing the skills gap of every student on the call,” said Chesney. This will allow in structors to better focus content during the lessons and interact with students.Hesaid Repairify will be work ing with I-CAR to align ATG con tent with I-CAR standards to count towardTrainingaccreditation.willbedeveloped with a diagnostic approach, combining OEM support information with re al-world technician experience us ing actual case studies where possi ble.
“Partnetworks.of that network might have been damaged or had corrosion or resistance in connectors or what ever that are not a part of the of the collision but affect the overall re sults or capabilities of that one net work,” said Chesney. “It’s important for [technicans] to know how to tri age those and validate that they’re actually working as designed.”
Working in this field for the ma jority of his career, Chesney under stands the importance of connecting with technicians so they have a full picture of what needs to be done to be successful on the shop floor. He has worked as a shop owner, service advisor, trainer, training manager and training program owner. All these roles have focused on the me chanical side of the business.
by Stacey Phillips
With the growing need for collision repair technicians to understand the mechanical components of vehicles, Repairify is taking steps to equip them with the skills they need to re pair vehicles properly. In July, Repairify announced it acquired the Automotive Training Group (ATG) to create and offer advanced diagnostic training for the industry focused on both mechani cal and collision repair.
“Their content and workbooks are the best in the industry,” said Chris Chesney, Repairify’s vice president of training and organi zational development. “I’m really looking forward to bringing them on board and integrating them into what we do.”
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In the summer of 2019, Southeast ern Community College (SCC) in West Burlington, IA, hired Dr. Ash lee Spannagel as its new dean of ca reer and technical education (CTE) and workforce development.
Forward-Thinking Program Creating Great Auto Body Techs of the Future
A: We receive an annual al location of funding that is called ACE (Accelerated Career Education) funding. The whole pur pose of that money is to reinvest in infrastructure, so that we can pro vide more classes and accommodate more students. One of the things that we chose to do with the mon ey was to remodel our auto collision facilities, and it has worked out very well. We are confident that this will lead to more enrollment down the road, which is obviously the goal. It shows that we are open and commit ted to collision repair and ready to pivot if needed.
A: I personally think our colli sion instructors are excited that the students are highly interest ed about technology. Our students have grown up with technology. They are technology natives. So anytime we can include those hightech pieces—either tools, equipment or concepts that the students are likely to engage with—that is ideal. We want to enable the body techni cian of tomorrow to be adept at us ing technology and that’s one of our main goals here at SCC.
Q: How can you stay current in an industry that is changing at a rapid rate?
The college’s goal is to enable and empower the body techs and painters of the next 30plus years
by Ed Attanasio
Q: How do you find, hire and maybe most importantly re tain good instructors?
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Q: How has establishing mutu ally beneficial partnerships with local shops and vendors helped Dr. Ashlee Spannagel is the dean of career and technical education (CTE) and workforce development at Southeastern Community College in West Burlington, IA Southeastern Community College recently remodeled all of its classrooms and labs and invested in a wide range of new tools and equipment
Spannagel stays busy as she oversees the school’s entire CTE division and works closely with fac ulty and area employers to ensure SCC provides top-notch, indus try-level education to its students. Her role within SCC’s auto and col lision repair programs is only one small part of everything she does at this forward-thinking institution.
Spannagel entered the job excit ed and ready to take on the world— and then the pandemic hit. It’s been a “work around” project ever since, but she hasn’t been dissuaded one iota, taking the position and making it her own as the school’s collision repair department benefits in many ways.
Q: It’s a huge job and a big school, so how are you able to do it all?
Q: While other CTE programs in the country have stepped back during the pandemic, you have stepped up in many ways for your collision repair department. Can you tell us about that?
A: Yes, I am responsible for 47 certificate, diploma and degree programs, and collision is just one them. I’ve been involved in technical education and post-sec ondary education 13 years now. The technology in the collision repair industry changes so rapidly that we can’t possibly keep up with the changes that are occurring. We need to do our best to keep pace with what’s going on, and then bring in other learning opportunities to help students to be up to date. We have been working very hard to align with industry-recognized cre dentials and what our local shops need in our graduates, so we rewrote the curriculum and pursued ASE accred itation to match the newly remodeled shop. We’ve rewritten the curriculum to where we’re actually going to be aligned with I-CAR more, so that our students now will graduate from the program with far more credentials than they would have been qualified to earn previously.
Spannagel came to SCC after working in education for nine years. One of the first things she did was to build relationships with established area educators, industry leaders and workforce and economic develop ment partners to continue building opportunities for students. This in cluded local body shops, car deal erships, vendors and companies that manufacture collision repair-related products, tools and equipment.
A: My biggest concern now is that we have a lot of staff on my team who are eligible for retire ment in the next five years. There is a lot of talent, knowledge and expe rience that is highly skilled and in valuable to our programs. So, in the next five years, we’ll have to figure out how to replace it. I think the way that we’ve handled the pandemic and our instructional continuity has really helped us retain our staff. But now I’m growing concerned about the fact that they’ll be retiring here shortly.
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“Other body shops reached out to us and started their own pro grams, so the giving spread, and to day our program will live through other shops all over the country,” Ortland-Rose continued. “We know that Crash Champions will continue our legacy in some form because they share our passion for helping others. My father and my mother stressed that this is important, and that’s why we did it every year for 21 years.“When we gave away our 100th vehicle, we did not realize that it would be the last within our program, but now it is fitting and a number that all of us can easily re member!” Ortland-Rose concluded.
“Early on, Mike [Rose] said he wished he could give 100 cars to families; well, we achieved Mike’s dream in December of 2021,” Con treras said. “We presented the 100th car to a single mom who had been struggling to raise her family with out a car. The Benevolence Program came full circle, as our first recipient was a single mom raising her fami ly.”
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Mike’s Auto Body Gave Away 100 Cars in 21 Years, Changing Countless Lives
CFO Ragen Ortland-Rose was a major force behind MAB’s Benev olence“WeProgram.never imagined that the program would grow as it did,” she said. “Our people and the commu nity rallied around it, as the power of giving grew exponentially. We’ve always stressed quality in everything we do, and the program illustrates that. We enabled so many worthy people to improve their lives, and that’s why it gained so much mo mentum.
“We always say that at Mike’s, we are providing ‘a gift of chari ty wrapped in dignity,’” Contreras said. “These deserving people are working towards making a better life for their families; all they need is reliable transportation to make it happen.
Over the years, Mike’s Auto Body got more and more people involved in its Benevolence Program, including vendors, technicians and insurance partners. Sal Contreras, Benevo lence Ambassador, is pictured far right www.autobodynews.com E-Newsletter.
When Crash Champions announced it was acquiring Mike’s Auto Body (MAB) in June, many people throughout the Bay Area thought about MAB’s nationally acclaimed Benevolence Program. It became part of the brand at Mike’s Auto Body as the company and its owners, the Rose family, gave away exactly 100 vehicles to deserving families, individuals and nonprofit organizations over the past 21 years.The goal has always been to give people a hand up as opposed to a handout with the gift of transpor tation, and the MSO achieved that mission with every vehicle it pre sented to a deserving recipient. In 2001, Mike’s Auto Body be gan giving refurbished cars to peo ple in need. The very first recipient was a single mom with two children. Reporter Wayne Freedman from Channel 7 ABC News reported on the presentation and broadcast the story on the evening news. It quick ly became an annual tradition, as Freedman and his news team report ed on every presentation throughout the years during the holiday season, along with more and more media that flocked to the feel good story. Over the years, Mike’s Auto Body got more people involved in its Benevolence Program, includ ing vendors, technicians, car rental companies and insurance partners. The vendors donated products and their services, the technicians at Mike’s Auto Body donated their time and skills, and the insurance and car rental companies donated the vehicles.Thevehicles donated were con sidered totaled, but by refurbishing them and returning them to their pre-accident condition, they looked brand new.
Mike’s Auto Body made its first presentations from 2001 through 2006 at its Concord, CA, location, with a one-year exception in Brent wood, CA. Since then, it has held car presentations at some of its shops in the East Bay, as well as at other locations, including in conjunction with the U.S Coast Guard’s CPOA in Alameda, CA, on the pier in front of the USS Hornet Museum. The Benevolence Program di rector at Mike’s Auto Body is Sal Contreras, who has been involved with every car presentation since the program’s inception and is consid ered the Benevolence Ambassador.
“We feel very fortunate to be involved with such a wonderful pro gram and are very excited to be able to give back to the area communities that have supported us for the past 50 years,” owner Mike Rose said. “After receiving hundreds of appli cations over the years and reading the heartbreaking stories, we only wish that we could do more. But hopefully, with increased publicity of our Benevolence Program, other shops will adopt a similar program of their“Asown.”afamily-founded company, we have always prioritized philan
The Rose family made the Be nevolence Program part of their lives, and it was quickly ingrained into their DNA.
thropic initiatives, in particular those that most impact our neighbors and the community organizations they rely on,” said Brennan Rose, CEO of Mike’s Auto Body. “To this end, we could not be prouder to celebrate our 100th vehicle donation as part of our Benevolence Program. For more than two decades, this program has been a staple of our charitable giv ing, and as we transition under the Crash Champions name and banner, we look forward to finding new and creative ways to give back to the communities where we operate.”
“Thanks to everyone involved, in cluding employees, insurance part ners, vendors and the nonprofit orga nizations that helped us find worthy recipients over the years.”
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A: Within the past 18 months, we have been working on bolstering the relationships we have with our local body shops. We have a lot of body shops in our service area that are actually owned and op erated by former students of the pro gram. We also have a couple dealer ship repair centers in our area, and we have been able to partner with them as well. I realized we had an opportunity to strengthen our program when six local businesses approached me questioning the skills they were see ing in our students who had entered the workforce. So, I personally built relationships with these companies, and their managers have partnered with us in the work we have done to strengthen our program. We have worked to bolster our relationships with local body shops. The shops have been very receptive, very helpful and very engaged. We also work with vendors like PPG that come and do special paint class es for our students. This is just one great example of the learning oppor tunities we provide our students.
Technician/Painter Recovering from Severe Burns During 11th Annual CIF Gala
Recognized
by Stacey Phillips
For more information about CIF, vis it .org.www.collisionindustryfoundation
In addition, we did just receive ASE accreditation that we have been working on for the past 18 months.
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“Thefuture.event provided the oppor tunity to bring industry individuals together as well as the opportunity for additional fundraising through event ticket sales, raffles and silent auctions,” said CIF President Mi chael Quinn, president of AirPro Diagnostics. “At the gala, we were able to bring one of our most recent recipients of CIF support, Bryan Miller, to meet with and thank in person many individuals from orga nizations who provided direct sup port to Duringhim.”the event, CIF Trustee Jim Ocampo, strategic accounts sales manager at Axalta Coating Systems, presented Miller with a $15,000 check. Approximately 40% of the amount was donated by the in dustry to a campaign specifically to help Miller, and CIF contributed the remainder.Miller began working in the auto industry in 2016 and has spent time since then as a collision techni cian/painter. Last September, he was working on a motorcycle at the shop he was employed at, and a fire broke out. When Miller’s body caught on fire, he was trapped in his work area before escaping out of a window. He was transported to a hospital by he licopter.Although he survived, Mill er had third-degree burns covering most of his body and multiple sur geries and skin grafts. He said he lives in constant pain and expects it will take at least a year to regain full mobility.
Members of the collision industry gathered at the 11th Annual Col lision Industry Foundation (CIF) Gala in Pittsburgh, PA, on July 20 to show their support for Bryan Miller, an Ohio-based technician and painter recovering from severe burns he suffered from an in-shop fire in September 2021. The fundraising event, held at the Howl at the Moon restaurant, was the first time CIF has hosted its annual gala since the pandemic. The nonprofit organization is committed to assisting those working in the col lision repair industry through crises and tragedies.“I’mhappy to report we had re cord attendance,” said Petra Schro eder, “Collisionista” and secretary of CIF. “About 163 individuals from all segments of the industry were present, of which 41.7% were firsttime Earlierattendees.”inthe year, CIF put out a call to the industry at large for the first time looking for volunteers interested in joining the organiza tion’s committees. The following individuals became part of the gala volunteer committee: Tracy Dar rington, Enterprise; Matt Hamer ling, Enterprise; Paul Hill, I-CAR; Tom Julius, Car-Part.com; Stacey LaViola; Cherlyn Schultz, Enter prise; Scott Stiber, Enterprise; Ann Swayka, AirPro Diagnostics; and John Webb, TenPointComplete. “I want to give a big shout-out to those gala committee volunteers,” said Schroeder. “What they did to help us was incredibly valuable and their support was outstanding.” Schroeder said the assistance from the volunteers was instrumen tal in preparing the gala to help Mill er and raise money for others in the industry who might need assistance in the
Miller, his fiancé, Kassi Nellett, and his cousin, Steve Legg, attended the gala to show their appreciation for the assistance provided by CIF and the industry to help him recov er from his injuries and get back to work.“I want to go back to work right now! It’s my passion; I feel blessed to have found a career that’s given me a sense of pride to be able to tell people what I do for a living. I just love everything about my job,” said Miller in an article written by Joel Gausten.
CIF Trustee Jim Ocampo presented Bryan Miller with a $15,000 check. Pictured, left to right, are CIF President Michael Quinn, of AirPro Diagnostics; Jim Ocampo, Axalta; Bryan Miller and Kassi Nellett your collision repair department?
CIECA has announced the forma tion of a new Standards Develop ment Committee focused on Artifi cial Intelligence (AI). All industry stakeholders, including CIECA and non-CIECA members, are in vited to Thejoin.new committee will be chaired by Raj Pofale, a found er and CEO at Claim Genius, and Jimmy Spears, head of automotive at Tractable. Both are active CIE CA committee members who have presented at the CIECA CONNEX Conference. The committee chairs encourage all interested industry stakeholders to attend the meetings. To RSVP, visit Ci05Tsp3jJzc3wTMRSDqhCgma/6aIyVdjmpAtfHmP0kiDYform/AICommittee/formperforms.zohopublic.com/cieca1au/https:// CIECA has 27 product and project standards development committees that focus on creating standards to address industry needs. For more information about joining a com mittee, visit com/committeeshttps://www.cieca.orcontact Pau lette Reed at paulette@cieca.com.
Schulenburg said given the lack of “positive movement” SCRS has seen on the issue based on its long-standing discussion with the estimating system providers, the association is working with the five primary refinish companies on a study taking place at Global Finish
“Our members have long chal lenged that,” Schulenburg said. “We don’t believe 50% is reflective of what we’re actually doing, because there are a lot of tasks associated with [blending] outside of just the application of the base coat, which, for a large part, is the task that is be ing adjusted.”
“We will actually be using a systematic approach where we do complete refinish on doors, fenders and hoods, and then blend on doors, fenders and hoods, to evaluate the delta between the full refinish task and the blend tasks,” Schulenburg said. “We’re not doing a refinish time study. Our goal is not to estab lish a refinish time on those panels. We will just be evaluating what percentage of the full refinish value blendHerepresents.”saidthestudy will use pan els for a high-volume Ford truck, waterborne products used in all U.S. markets, and color codes that repre sent a solid, a metallic and a tri-coat.
The Society of Collision Repair Specialists (SCRS) has provided a few more details about its study be ginning in August into the accuracy of the blend time formula commonly used in the industry.
ing Solutions’ Center of Excellence facility in Wisconsin.
Source: CIECA
Collision Repair Association Conducting Study of Blend Time Formula
Speaking at the association’s open board meeting in late July in Pittsburgh, Executive Director Aar on Schulenburg noted the three estimating system providers each establish its own refinish labor al lowance for any given panel.
“The refinish time for a fender in Audatex will look different than the refinish time for that fender in CCC, which will look different from the refinish time in Mitch ell,” Schulenburg said. “Which is fine, they’ve each done their own research on it. All three companies identify 50% as a blend value; de spite the fact that they don’t have the same refinish values, all identify blend time as 50%.
“This has been an issue for a long time,” Schulenburg said. “We hope to put a punctuation mark on this one.”
Aaron Schulenburg of the Society of Colli sion Repair Specialists said shops have long challenged the accuracy of the estimating systems’ blending formula
by John Yoswick
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“Ford was America’s best-sell ing brand in July powered by strong demand across our lineup,” said Andrew Frick, vice presi dent, sales, distribution and trucks, Ford Blue. “Our overall sales rose 37% in July and electric vehicle sales grew at three times the rate of the EV segment. F-Series hit the 60,000-truck mark for the first time this year, with our all-new electric F-150 Lightning having its best sales month yet. Ford SUVs were up 70%, while E-Transit leads the electric van space with 95% of the electric van segment.”
Activation is simple. Repair facilities using CCC Diagnostics select their preferred diagnostic provider(s) from those available through CCC’s network and pro viders send scan data directly to the CCC ONE workfile.
Ford electric vehicle sales were up 168.7%. With Mustang Mach-E up 74.1%, F-150 Lightning deliv ering its best-month since launch and E-Transit’s dominant share po sition, Ford grew more than three times the rate of the overall electric vehicle segment in July. Sales of Ford Hybrid vehicles continue to climb, increasing 35.3% in July, placing the Ford brand sec ond in hybrid vehicle sales to only Toyota. F-150 Hybrid sales totaled 4,364 vehicles, while Maverick Hy brid sales totaled 2,153 trucks. To date, 66,500 customers have purchased Ford’s BlueCruise hands-free driver-assist technolo gy. Ford is expanding BlueCruise through Power-Up software up dates, adding nearly 15,000 2021 F-150 and Mustang Mach-E cus tomers in July, with another 35,000 in process. Ford BlueCruise cus tomers accumulated 11.4 million miles of hands-free highway driv ing since July 2021. For the fourth straight month, Ford reported a record pace of just over 50% of retail sales com ing from previously placed orders. Meanwhile, on Aug. 2, retail order banks re-opened for Bronco Sport, Edge, Explorer and Ranger. Retail orders for Ford’s hot-selling F-150 and Transit re-opened a few weeks earlier. Ford overall pickup sales, including F-Series, Ranger and Maverick, produced total sales of 74,034 up 27% over a year ago. Ford’s total pick up share for the month was 31.6% up more than 6 per centage points over last year and the highest share of any brand in the total pickup segment. Ford brand SUV sales gained 70% over last year, totaling 66,266 SUVs. Combined Bronco family sales, including Bronco Sport, were up 227% over last year.
CCC Intelligent Solutions on Aug. 2 announced AirPro Diagnostics will become the newest member of the CCC® Diagnostics network. Through an integration with AirPro, collision repair users of CCC Diagnostics will soon be able to capture and document AirPro scan and calibration information in their CCC ONE® workfiles. The streamlined service with AirPro is expected to be available via CCC ONE in September. The integra tion does not require a physical connection between the AirPro device and CCC ONE. Informa tion is uploaded automatically, and the scan report is automatically at tached to the vehicle’s CCC ONE workfile.
Source: CCC Intelligent Solu
On improved inventory flow, Ford for the second month in a row is the only major automaker to produce sales gains, as its July sales grew 36.6% vs. an industry down 10.5%.
Ford total market share hit 13.9% up 1.0 percentage point from June and 4.8 percentage points over a year ago. Gains come from higher EV sales and share, F-Series and high-end large SUVs.
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Source: Ford Ford’s July Sales Up 37% Compared to Same Month a Year Ago
autobodynews.com / SEPTEMBER 2022 AUTOBODY NEWS 51 Find your local Kia dealership today at www.kia.com We’ve Got Your Parts Covered 100% Genuine. No Exceptions. *Kia Genuine replacement parts sold but not installed by an Authorized Kia Dealer are covered for 12 months from purchase date, regardless of mileage, for the part only, and any labor charge is the consumer’s responsibility. Genuine Kia Parts* are specifically manufactured from original engineering specs to ensure the same exceptional quality, performance and safety as when you first drove your Kia off the lot. Plus, they’re covered by our 12-month Replacement Parts Limited Warranty. BrewbakerALABAMAKia Montgomery (334)334-420-8201386-3487Fax M-F rfancher@brewbaker.com7:30-5:30 FLORIDADelandKia Deland (386)386-734-7800822-9278Fax parts@delandkia.netwww.delandkia.netFREELocalDelivery Kia of Cape Coral Cape Coral (239)239-829-1956242-7002Fax M-F 7-6; Sat dgarabedian@kiaofcc.com8-3 Kia of Orange Park Jacksonville (904)904-771-6078674-0221Fax M-F 7-6; Sat dcarr@kiaoforangepark.com8-5 Kia of Vero Beach Vero Beach (772)772-770-9887562-0732Fax M-F mikep@toyotaofvero.com7:30-5 GEORGIASonsKia McDonough (678)678-783-2193783-2298Fax M-F 7:30-6; Sat 8-4 SO. CAROLINA Kia of Greenville Greenville (864)864-516-2700520-8981Fax aburgos@kiaofgreenville.net
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Lemonade to Use Mitchell’s Claim Solutions for Newest Product
Launched in November 2021, Lemonade Car uses telematics to measure how much and how safe people drive. It provides 24/7 on-location roadside assistance, re al-time crash detection and dispatch of emergency services, and offers perks for safe and environmentally conscious customers. These include discounts for low-mileage drivers and those who own electric and hy brid Aftervehicles.being introduced in Illi nois and then expanding to Tennes see and Ohio, plans are in place to continue rolling out Lemonade Car across the Mitchell,country.aleading technology and information provider for the property & casualty (P&C) claims and collision repair industries, will support Lemonade in delivering an efficient, digital claims experience for consumers purchasing auto pol icies.Lemonade is a full-stack insur ance carrier built to provide the best, most delightful and most transparent insurance experience in the world, according to a company spokesper son. A Certified B-Corp, Lemonade gives unused premiums to nonprof its selected by its community, during its annual Giveback campaign. Rozint explained Mitchell’s solutions provide Lemonade with the technology needed to streamline key steps in the claims process, in cluding loss reporting and damage appraisal.“Mitchell is committed to help ing our customers—both automotive insurers and collision repairers— simplify and accelerate claims man
by Stacey Phillips Mitchell, an Enlyte company, re cently announced Lemonade, the insurance company powered by artificial intelligence (AI) and so cial impact, has chosen Mitchell’s claims management platform for the insurer’s newest product, Lemonade Car. The company will use Mitch ell’s claims workflow, automation and total loss solutions to help streamline and optimize claims han dling.“At Lemonade, we’ve set out to make the most lovable car insurance available, and part of that is creat ing the best experience possible,” said a Lemonade spokesperson. “By collaborating with Mitchell and us claims management technology, we’re able to build efficiencies into our product to make it as seamless and easy for our customers to file a claim following an accident, as well as share necessary information with third-parties including auto body shops and medical facilities.”
“We’re extremely proud that Lemonade—a top-rated insurer with a focus on fast, efficient claims reso lution—has selected our technology to support their entry into the U.S. auto insurance market,” said Jack Rozint, senior vice president, repair sales, Mitchell Auto Physical Dam age division. “Their decision to do so validates Mitchell’s leadership position in claims processing tech nology.”“We’re honored to support Lemonade,” said Debbie Day, ex ecutive vice president and general manager of Mitchell’s Auto Physi cal Damage division. “At Mitchell, we continue to invest in the devel opment of innovative, cloud-based solutions that are designed to allow ciently while meeting consumer ex pectations for an automated, digital claims experience. Our auto physi cal damage and casualty solutions help carriers like Lemonade scale quickly as they bring best-in-class offerings to market.”
“Lemonade is advancing the auto insurance market with sophis ticated technology and Mitchell, being an auto casualty technology leader, is happy to support those goals with our specialized casualty technology and service solutions,” said Norman Tyrrell, vice president of product management, Mitchell Casualty Solutions Group. “Lem onade will be leveraging Mitchell’s DecisionPoint Medical Bill Process ing software as well as a number of our Technology Enabled Solutions.”
“With each new customer, we believe that the market is validating this direction,” said Rozint.
“Bringing ATG alongside what we’re doing on the collision side re ally allows us to leverage our exist ing content, so our internal team of technicians and remote techs can be better prepared to help our custom ers,” said Chesney. For additional information about ATG, visit www.atgtraining.com.
For more information about Lemon ade Car, visit www.lemonade.com/ Forcar. property casualty and collision repair updates and perspectives, fol low Mitchell on Twitter @Mitchell Claims and @MitchellRepair.
Continued from Page 42 Repairify’s New Partnership
Several years ago, Mitchell de cided to rebuild its core platform around key concepts that included an open, cloud-based architecture, and support for proper and safe repairs.
An important aspect of the training will include learning how to find OEM service information.
“We look forward to enabling technicians with skills and technolo gy so that what happens in the class room sticks more and it gives them the ability to apply it when they get back to the shop,” he said.
agement,” said Rozint. “Lemonade presented an excellent opportunity to apply our industry-leading solu tions with a partner that is poised for rapidThroughgrowth.”the collaboration, Ro zint said Mitchell can assist the in surer with settling claims seamlessly while delivering an exceptional cus tomer“Theexperience.integration of Mitchell’s solutions with Lemonade’s existing technology stack will support an automated, digital claims process— from first notice of loss (FNOL) to settlement,” he said. Lemonade is also leveraging Mitchell’s auto casualty injury claims processing solutions to automate both first-party auto and third-party liabili ty claims.“Automating these functions is intended to align with the insurer’s goal for Lemonade Car: to use tech nology to handle emergencies and settle claims seamlessly, providing the best possible experience for cus tomers,” according to a press release.
What sets ATG apart from oth er training, according to Chesney, is the company’s specialization in OEM repair information and its ap proach to “Whatlearning.ATGdoes is take that factory information and dissect it,” explained Chesney. “When it’s a competency around a standard that’s used by all brands, then they level the terms and the diagnostic ap proach so that it’s brand agnostic.”
The company also plans to offer career paths for potential collision and mechanical technicians that are appropriate for their roles.
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AUTOBODY autobodynews.com / SEPTEMBER 2022 AUTOBODY NEWS 53 StiversSubaruDecatur Fax(404)Decatur248-1888(404)425-5800 Mon.-Fri. 7:30-6; Sat. dway@stiversonline.com9-5www.stiverssubaru.com Troncalli Subaru Direct(770)Cumming889-8951(678)341-4220Fax(678)341-4221 www.troncallisubaru.com Flow Subaru (336)(800)Winston-Salem489-3534725-3554Fax Mon.-Fri. 8-5; Sat. subarupartsws@flowauto.com8-1www.flowsubaru.com Jim SubaruArmstrong (828)(888)Hickory905-6135322-9372opt 5 Mon.-Fri. parts@jimarmstrongsubaru.com8-5www.jimarmstrongsubaru.com Parkway Subaru (910)(800)Wilmington424-9434793-8710Fax Mon.-Fri. 7-6; Sat. 8-2 GEORGIA NO. CAROLINA NO. CAROLINA Think SubaruGenuineParts. ’re focused on getting you the Genuine Parts you need — fast and competitively priced. Put us to the test on your next Subaru repair or service job. The following dealerships are eager to serve your needs. Call your local Subaru collision parts specialist today!
“The big myth in the industry is the belief that OEM service infor mation is hard to get a hold of,” said Chesney.Hestressed the importance of checking the repair information on every“Invehicle.the case of things like ADAS, it changes daily and you need to go look at it for every re pair or calibration,” recommended Chesney. “Otherwise, it can catch you by surprise and get you in trou ble.”Repairify’s ultimate goal is to help prepare technicians to repair future vehicles and present informa tion in a way they will understand.
The scale of the problem was massive, as the Consumer Finan cial Protection Bureau found HCA furnished inaccurate information for more than 2.2 million custom ers on more than 8.7 million oc casions between 2016 and 2020. Even worse, “In many cases, Hyundai knew it was providing inaccurate information and failed to take reasonable measures” to address the issue. This hurt consumers as HCA would report customers delin quent on loans and leases, despite having been paid on time. In par ticular, the government found “in approximately 570,000 instances, Respondent (HCA) inaccurately inserted codes showing delinquent or no payments in the PHP (pay ment history profile) when the consumer had in fact made the re quired payments and the account was actually current.” Unsurprisingly, this lowered customers’ credit scores and im pacted their access to credit. It also subjected them to higher interest rates due to their lower credit Followingscore. an investigation, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau determined HCA violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act by failing to report complete and accu rate loan and lease account information, failing to provide date of first delinquency information when required, failing to modify or de lete information when required, failing to have reasonable iden tity theft procedures, and failing to have reasonable accuracy and integrity policies and procedures.
Phillips www.bodyshopsecrets.com The Secrets of America’s Greatest Body Shops The Book That Will Challenge Ever ything You Know About the Collision Repair Business. For more information, contact the authors at info@bodyshopsecrets.com Order your copy today and join the Body Shop Secrets community! SAVES YOU TIME AND MONEY > EASY TO USE < Go toandwww.forkliftwrecker.comwatchourvideo. 877.593.6959 When all you need to do is move a vehicle , use: Looking for Good Collision Personnel? •1,262 Collision Techs resumes online •1,295 Painters resumes online •1,177 Estimators & Mgs resumes online •11,256 Mechanical Tech resumes online www.actautostaffing.com or 727-733-5600 Ditch the mask. Try our new line perfection tape. www.crashwrap.com | 888.264.3770 Our new and unique line perfection tape is abrasiveresistant and allows you to achieve crisp, sharp body lines. Sand directly on the durable tape surface without shredding. As tape wears, orange appears to warn of wear-through. • Works for blocking, sanding body filler and primer • Chemical resistant • Conforms to contours • Helps eliminate the need for constant reapplication of tape • Saves time and material Give it a try! We’ll send you a free roll of Perfect Line with any online purchase. (Expires 12/31/20) FREE 4x Monthly E-Newsletter. Subscribe Today! AUTOBODY www.autobodynews.com Don’t Miss the Weekly Industry NEWS Your Shop Needs. Sign Up Free Today! www.autobodynews.com
by Michael Gauthier, CarScoops Hyundai Capital America the captive finance partner of Hyund ai, Kia and Genesis in the U.S. has been slammed by the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau for “widespread credit re porting failures” that harmed mil lions of Accordingcustomers.tothe government, HCA repeatedly provided inaccu rate information to credit reporting companies and didn’t take proper steps once problems were identi fied. Furthermore, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau al leges the company used “manual and outdated systems, processes and procedures to furnish credit reporting information which led to widespread inaccuracies and resulted in negative inaccurate information being placed on con sumers’ credit reports through no fault of their own.”
by: Dave Luehr Stacey
In a statement, Consumer Fi nancial Protection Bureau Direc tor Rohit Chopra said, “Hyundai illegally tarnished credit reports for millions of borrowers, includ ing by falsely reporting them to credit reporting companies as be ing delinquent on their loans and leases. Loan servicers must be complete and accurate when fur nishing information that affects a borrower’s credit report.” HCA will pay a $6 million civil penalty to the Consumer Fi nancial Protection Bureau, as well as $13.2 million in compensation to current and former customers who had inaccurate information furnished to credit reporting com panies saying they were “30 or more days past due on an automo bile retail installment contract or lease.”While $19.2 million sounds like chump change, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau not ed this was its largest Fair Credit Reporting Act case against an auto servicer. The bureau also revealed Americans owe $1.4 trillion in auto loans, making it the third largest consumer credit market.
and
Hyundai Gets $19.2 Million Penalty for Tarnishing Millions of Customer Credit Reports 54 SEPTEMBER 2022 AUTOBODY NEWS / autobodynews.com AUTOBODY MARKETPLACE Is availablenowforpurchase!
“CREF’sprofessionals.Career Fairs pro vide a unique opportunity for collision industry employers to connect with hundreds of students who have trained for entry-level positions and are ready to start their careers,” said CREF Pro gram Manager Tiffany Bulak “Engaging with future transporta tion industry professionals is vital for all segments of the industry collision centers, dealerships and even paint, tool and equipment companies as a means of gen erating brand awareness for the business but most importantly, in order to showcase the diverse career paths available to the stu dents in attendance.”
Fall 2022 High School & College Transportation Student Career Fair Schedule Oct. 4: 3M Headquarters, SaintPaul, MN Nov. 9: Kingwood Park High School, Houston, TX Nov. 10: Collin College, Dal las, TX Dec. 6: Suburban Showcase Conference Center, Detroit, MI To complement the physi cal career fair events and ensure CREF helps connect students with employers across the coun try, CREF also has an electron ic student resume database with contact information for over 600 collisionInterestedstudents.in participating in an event listed above, or in col laborating with CREF to schedule one in your market? Contact Bu lak at Tiffany.Bulak@ed-founda tion.org.
CREF Invites Collision Industry to Fall 2022 High School & College Transportation Student Career Fairs
Can’t attend a career fair but still anxious to get your company name in front of incoming techni cians? Support local high school and college collision students by sponsoring work uniforms to en sure the future workforce recog nizes the value of looking profes sional. For a donation of just $50 per student, companies can pro vide students with a brand new Cintas technician shirt, branded with your logo, work pants and a safety kit. Email Tiffany.Bulak@ ed-foundation.org to learn more. Industry members interested in getting involved and supporting CREF’s efforts to assist second ary and post-secondary collision repair training programs should contact Brandon Eckenrode, man aging director, at 312-231-0258 or madedation.org.Brandon.Eckenrode@ed-founMonetarydonationscanbeonline.
As 2021 drew to an end, 3M do nated $889,719.50 in products and supplies to 300 schools around the country, through the Colli sion Repair Education Foundation (CREF). Equipping collision edu cation programs with the most upto-date supplies, materials, tools and equipment allows collision instructors to train students with the same products they’ll be using in their future positions in the in dustry—without maxing out the department’s budget. Each care package included several DA sanders, along with sanding/graining/finishing discs, sandpaper, repair glue and “all kinds of good stuff,” according to Jerry Goodson, collision repair and refinishing instructor at Chip pewa Valley Technical College in Eau Claire, WI. Since 2008, 3M has actively aided CREF’s efforts to assist collision students, instruc tors and schools, generously pro viding frequent in-kind donations, funding grants and supporting CREF’s Hire Our Heroes campaign.
Source: CREF 3M, CREF Donate Products to 300 Schools www.autobodynews.com
autobodynews.com / SEPTEMBER 2022 AUTOBODY NEWS 55 CERTIFIED PARTS WHOLESALING DEALERS TRUST FORD PARTS Grieco Ford of Fort Lauderdale FORT LAUDERDALE 954-390-6449954-390-6400 Fax Hours: M-F 7-6; Sat bcofer@griecocars.com7-2:30 AutoNation Ford UNION CITY 770-306-6715770-964-8604866-520-7893Fax Hours: M-F 7-5; Sat 7-5 FLORIDA GEORGIA The RIGHT COLLISIONPARTSVisit these Genuine Hyundai Parts Dealers FOR YOUR COLLISION JOB. Florida KEY HYUNDAI Jacksonville 4660-100 Southside Blvd. 866-973-6996 904-565-2210904-565-2281Fax M-F 7:30am - 5:30pm Sat 8am - 4pm manderson@lynchauto.com Tennessee DOWNTOWNHYUNDAINASHVILLE Nashville 1512 Broadway 888-707-0658 615-341-3176 Fax M-F 7:30am - 5:30pm partsmanager@downtownnashvillemotors.com www.downtownhyundainashville.com
Aging workforce blues got you down? Worried about who will fill the workforce as older employees retire? Ready to do something aboutTheit? Collision Repair Educa tion Foundation (CREF) invites industry businesses to participate in its Fall 2022 High School & College Transportation Student Career Fairs, being scheduled across the country to provide em ployers with an opportunity to get to know thousands of incoming industry
Source: CREF
56 SEPTEMBER 2022 AUTOBODY NEWS / autobodynews.com FINANCE FOR ONLY $64,000
