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A Look at the Impact of Driven Brands Purchase of Fix Auto USA & Auto Center Auto Body by Stacey Phillips
With Driven Brands’ purchase of Fix Auto USA and Auto Center Auto Body on April 21, the collision repair industry is experiencing another shift in landscape during a time of accelerating consolidations. FOCUS Advisors, Inc., a full-service mergers and acquisitions (M&A) firm specializing in the automotive aftermarket, announced the completion of the transaction for both parties in a press release to the industry. Autobody News had the opportunity to talk to David Roberts, man-
aging director of FOCUS Advisors, Inc., about the transaction and its impact in the industry.
Q:
tion?
Can you share some of the background of this transac-
A:
Erick Bickett and I have been friends and professional colleagues for nearly 27 years. He and Shelly Bickett have had a huge impact on this industry for a long time and are some of the most sophisticated operators in the country. See Purchase of Fix Auto USA, Page 12
Car Rental Industry Braces for Impact from Coronavirus
38 YEARS
AUTOBODYNEWS.COM Vol. 38 / Issue 6 / June 2020
1,000 GM Workers in TX Tested Automaker’s New COVID-19 Safety Protocols by Jamie L. LaReau, Detroit Free Press
A cacophony of chaos surrounded UAW Local 276 Shop Chairman Ken Hines early April 30 as he rushed to a morning meeting with General Motors’ Arlington Assembly Plant leaders. It’s one of many meetings Hines has had this week as he and plant leaders wrestle with how and when to safely reopen the facility in Texas, where GM builds its highly profitable full-size SUVs. In fact, GM must address that issue at all its U.S. assembly plants,
which GM idled in March amid the growing coronavirus pandemic. “We’re in lockstep with other GM facilities in terms of trying to figure out a date and plan to restart,” Hines told the Free Press. “We’re concerned about [safety] like the rest of America. But we’re trying to figure out now how we can ensure the workforce’s safety.” Hines and other workers at Arlington worry some areas inside the facility are laid out in such a way as to make social distancing nearly impossible for the 5,000 workers at the See 1,000 GM Workers, Page 16
As we move from medical crisis to economic recovery, Autobody News chooses to focus on information detailing how the economy is recovering and how companies are managing that process. Please check Autobodynews.com for the most current information.
by Mark Zinn, News-Press NOW
With a recently estimated reduction of more than 90% of non-essential travel, car rental companies are feeling the ripple effect caused by the coronavirus outbreak. While most local car rental branches remain open, the excess amount of cars on their lots can only mean business is dwindling during a time the car-sharing industry has been hit hard by less demand. “Like others across the travel industry—and countless other companies large and small—we have wit-
NIADA Survey: Independent Dealers Getting Back to Business
Car rentals are down amid the COVID-19 outbreak. Credit: Mark Zinn, News-Press NOW
nessed an impact to our business,” said Lisa Martini, a spokesperson for Missouri-based Enterprise HoldSee Industry Braces for Impact, Page 20
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Employees are coming back to work and vehicles are beginning to sell as independent auto dealers ramp up to get back to business, according to a new survey by the National Independent Automobile Dealers Association. The survey of 846 used vehicle dealers conducted from May 9-14—a follow-up to a survey taken a month earlier—found almost twothirds (63%) of the dealerships that had furloughed or laid off employees a month earlier have begun the process of bringing them back. Overall, 34% of the independent dealers said they are rehiring staff, 20% said they are not and 47% said the question was not applicable, meaning they had remained at full staffing level throughout the COVID-19 pandemic—the same percentage as the previous survey. Thirty-nine percent of those who
are rehiring said they had experienced no problems in doing so, but 31% said their employees were hesitant to come back because they were making more through the government’s
enhanced unemployment benefits than they had made at their jobs, and 19% said fear of the coronavirus was an issue. The survey also showed dealerships opening up again, with 44% doing business as usual (compared to 27% in April), 34% open by appointment only and 10% selling online See NIADA Survey, Page 20
5/19/2020 6:22:04 PM