autobody news december 2010 southwest edition

Also in this issue...Collision Hub Implements its Social Media strategyby David M. Brown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .p. 25Social Media 101: Why Social Media Matters inCollision Repair . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .p. 26

CollisionHub.com founder

KRISTENFELDER

SEMA Week Collision Meetings Focused onIndustry Standards and Estimating Systemsby John Yoswick

Collision industry meetings held inLas Vegas in November centeredaround significant changes in the esti-mating systems, the development offormal industry standards, and relatedindustry issues.

The meetings were held in con-junction with the Specialty Equip-ment Market Association (SEMA)tradeshow in Las Vegas, a massiveautomotive aftermarket event thatin recent years has been working toattract more exhibitors and atten-dees from the collision repair in-

dustry. During the previous sixyears, the International AutobodyCongress and Exposition (NACE)was also held in Las Vegas the sameweek as SEMA, but NACE organiz-ers moved that event several weeksearlier this year because of compe-tition from SEMA.

The Society of Collision RepairSpecialists (SCRS) said its first-timepartnership with SEMA this year wassuccessful and that the associationwill will again participate in the eventnext November. Although only about125 people attended the first-ever

by John Yoswick

Non-OEM parts again dominatedmuch of the agenda at the CollisionIndustry Conference (CIC), held inLas Vegas in November in conjunc-tion with the SEMA show. The day-long meeting included presentationsby Ford Motor Company, the Certi-fied Automotive Parts Association(CAPA), and NSF International, theorganization that launched anothercertification program for non-OEMparts earlier this year.

Ford announced at the meetingthat it had followed up its simulatedcrash testing of some non-certified

non-OEM bumperparts last summerwith some actuallow-speed crashtesting of the parts(sold as replace-ments for the2005–09 Mus-tang) in October.

The effect of the use of non-OEMparts in a subsequent crash was clear,PaulMassie, powertrain and collisionproduct marketing manager for Ford,said.

“It will change the discussionfrom it ‘might’ change the airbag de-

Results of non-OEM Parts Crash TestingRevealed at November CIC in Las Vegas

See CIC: Bumper Testing, Page 27

See SEMAWeek Meetings, Page 26

Ford’s Paul Massie

“SOCIAL MEDIA”– Personal networking technology andits applications is more than just the chatter mechanism thatteens use to communicate with other teens. It has made itspresence unavoidable in the business world in recent years.

Is it profitable? Worthwhile? Here to stay? AutobodyNews sat down with Kristen Felder, founder and CEO of Col-lisionHub.com—a new social media website for the collisionrepair industry—to ask what all the buzz is about.

ABN:What sparked your idea to create Collision Hub?KF: Well, five years ago, when Hurricane Katrina hit, I was workingwith State Farm Insurance Company. Most everybody’s cell phoneswere down after the storm, but a lot of people still had access to theirsocial media accounts, which allowed the insurance companies away to get a hold of customers. So I started to see social media asa very helpful tool thanks to that. Then, at NACE two years ago, Iwas talking to some colleagues and I thought it would be great if wecould recreate that dialogue and debate within the industry morethan just at expos once or twice a year. I wanted to create a placewhere people in the industry could talk openly and have a place toreally get to know each other. I decided I wanted to build somethingto really connect the different segments of the industry.

ABN:What did it take to get Collision Hub off the ground?KF: I spent 3–4 months programming and building the site. I didn’thave any formal web or HTML training so I sort of learned on the fly.

continued on page 24INTERVIEW by Erica Schroeder

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WELCOME TO THEWELCOME TO THEDAVID MDAVID MccDAVID AUTO GROUPDAVID AUTO GROUP

WELCOME TO THEDAVID McDAVID AUTO GROUP

www.davidmcdavid.comwww.davidmcdavid.comwww.davidmcdavid.com

www.autobodynews.com | DECEMBER 2010 AUTOBODY NEWS 3

SouthwestPublisher & Editor: Jeremy Hayhurst

General Manager: Barbara DaviesEditorial Assistant: Erica SchroederContributing Writers: Tom Franklin, John Yoswick, Lee Amaradio, Dan EspersenJanet Chaney, Toby Chess, Mike Causey, Tom McGee, David Brown, Rich Evans,Ed AttanasioAdvertising Sales: Joe Momber, Christina Shubert (800) 699-8251Sales Assistant: Kristy MangumArt Director: Rodolfo Garcia

Serving Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, New Mexico and adjacent metro areas, Autobody Newsis a monthly publication for the autobody industry. Permission to reproduce in any form thematerial published in Autobody News must be obtained in writing from the publisher.©2010 Adamantine Media LLC.

Autobody NewsBox 1516, Carlsbad, CA 92018; (800) 699-8251 (760) 721-0253 Faxwww.autobodynews.com Email: [email protected]

Autoland Scientech. . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

BMW Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . 30

Chacon Suzuki . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Chevyland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Classifieds. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

David McDavid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Ford Wholesale Parts Dealers

TX, OK, LA, NM. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Fredy Kia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Gene Messer Hyundai . . . . . . . . . . 21

Garmat USA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

GM Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . . 28

Honda/Acura Wholesale Parts

Dealers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Huffines Hyundai Plano . . . . . . . . . . 8

Hyundai Wholesale Parts Dealers . 23

Kia Motors Wholesale Parts Dealers 15

LKQ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Malco. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Mazda Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . 21

Mercedes-Benz of Oklahoma. . . . . 31

Mike Calvert Toyota. . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Mitsubishi Wholesale Parts Dealers. 34

MOPAR Wholesale Parts Dealers . . 11

Nissan/Infiniti Wholesale Parts

Dealers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Parkway Family Mazda . . . . . . . . . . 28

Performance Radiator. . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Ray Huffines Chevrolet . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Replica Plastics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Scoggin-Dickey Buick . . . . . . . . . . 13

SCA Appraisal Company . . . . . . . . 10

Scorpion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Subaru Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . 7

Suzuki Wholesale Parts Dealers. . . 14

Toyota Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . 31

VIM Tools. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Volkswagen Wholesale Parts Dealers 16

Volvo Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . 16

Young Chevrolet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Inde

xofAdvertisers

REGIONAL

12 Accused in Louisiana Staged Vehicle Crashes . 6

Alabama-Made Auto Sales Up 23% from

Dismal 2009 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Auto Enthusiast Gaining Support for Dallas

Automotive History Museum . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

AutoBody America Acquires Little Rock, AK, Shop . 4

Caliber Collision Opens Third Shop in El Paso,

Texas. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

CCAR Recognizes Texas shop as ‘GreenLink Shop’. 4

Classic Collision Opens 8th Location in Metro

Atlanta. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Crown Automotive Buys Chattanooga, TN,

Dealership . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Deer-Auto Accidents on the Rise in Oklahoma . . . 4

El Paso, NM, Auto Thefts Down 14 Percent . . . . 10

First Porsche Approved Collision Center Comes

to Atlanta. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Hail Damage Keeps Repair Crews Busy in East TX . 4

Heartland Automotive Acquires Kerr Enterprises

in Louisiana. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

High-Risk Driver Rates Falling in Texas. . . . . . . . . 6

May Hail Storm Disaster Economic Boon for

OKC Economy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Next Autoworks to Expand in Ouachita Parish, LA . 10

Nissan JUKE Wins ‘CUV of Texas’ Award from

TX Auto Writers Association. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Toyota Dealership Buys Naming Rights to

Lewisville, TX, Public Park . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Woman Named in $80,000 Texas Glass

Distribution Suit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

COLUMNISTS

Amaradio - My Customer, the Crash Test Dummy . 23

Brown- Collision Hub Implements its Social

Media Strategy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Espersen, Webster - Got Information? . . . . . . . . 32

Franklin - Promotion Up Close and Personal . . . . 16

Schroeder - AC Collision Opens in Gonzales,

Texas, Thanks to Family Ties . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Schroeder - Social Media Interview with

Kristen Felder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Weaver - Dude, Meet My Daughter. . . . . . . . . . . 18

Yoswick - Results of non-OEM Parts Crash Testing

Revealed at November CIC in Las Vegas . . . . . 1

Yoswick - SEMA Week Collision Meetings Focused

on Industry Standards and Estimating Systems. 1

NATIONAL

AutoNation Sees Major Acquisitions in 2011 . . . . 9

AutoTrader.com to Purchase Kelley Blue Book. . 34

Bush Book: Automaker Bailout was “Responsible

Action” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Chief Announces Chief University, Design Based

Repair Training at SEMA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

China to become GM’s Largest Market in 2011 . . 9

China’s Largest Automaker Plans 1% Stake in

GM IPO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Fiat Has Big Plans for U.S. Auto Sales . . . . . . . . 31

Five More Las Vegas Families Receive Reliable

Transportation at SEMA from NABC. . . . . . . . 21

Ford Cuts Mazda Stake . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

General Motors IPO, One of Two Largest in History,

Generates $16–23 Billion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Los Angeles Dealership to be first to sell Fiat

brand in the U.S.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Matrix System Walks Away as a Winner with

Salt Eraser®. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Mercedes-Benz Financial is new Daimler

Financier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Mickey Harris’ American Pride Camaro

Commands Attention at SEMA . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

NCOIL Tables Model Steering Act, for Now. . . . . 24

SCRS Thanks Repairer Education Sponsors at

SEMA 2010. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

SCRS to Cover Membership Costs for Industry

Schools. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Social Media 101: Why Social Media Matters in

Collision Repair . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Tesla Offers Battery and EV Tech to Toyota,

Others . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Toyota Expects 13% Rise in U.S. Sales . . . . . . . . 9

Wicklund’s CARSTAR Honors Kansas City Area

Veterans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Contents


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The Oklahoma Wildlife departmentsays the best advice when drivingthrough deer-populated areas is toslow down and pay attention — es-pecially in lower populated areas —and to never swerve, according to re-ports made by KTUL News Channel8 Tulsa.

Daniel Griffith, with the Okla-homa Wildlife Department says,“Push on your breaks, try not to veerbecause the worst thing that can hap-pen is you steer into on coming traf-fic, steer off the side and hit someother type of object, tree guardrail.”

October and November are thetwo leading months for people to getin an accident with a deer. In 2009more than 650 deer were hit on Okla-homa roads, and more than 250 ofthose deer were hit in October andNovember. That’s because thesemonths are white tail mating season.

The primary times you will see adeer on the road is early in the morn-ing and in the evening. So if you arein a low populated area you may wantto look for the signs.

If you have hit a deer and arewondering what to do with the car-cass. Just call the Department ofTransportation and they will removeit for you.

Deer-Auto Accidents on theRise in Oklahoma

Hail Damage Keeps RepairCrews Busy in East TXFollowing the violent storms thatmoved through East Texas on Octo-ber 24, both auto body shops androofers have been flooded with callsabout hail damage.

“The wind was ferocious and thehail was coming down,” said MikeFlynn, a Flint homeowner.

Hail poured from the East Texassky, pummeling thousands ofrooftops, leaving cars to fend forthemselves and residents takingcover.

The damage is keeping techni-cians at Keith Hodges Collision inTyler, TX, busy. He’s been repairinghail dings on cars all day.

“It would probably take aboutthree hours or so to take all the dentsout. So, it’s a pretty tough job,” saidHodges.

Heartland Automotive AcquiresKerr Enterprises in LouisianaHeartland Automotive Services,Inc., America’s largest Jiffy LubeFranchisee, acquired Kerr Enter-prises, Inc, dbaTexaco Xpress Lube,the operator of Texaco Xpress retailservice centers throughout Louisianain early November. The integration ofthe Texaco Xpress stores will broadenthe footprint Heartland Automotiveestablished earlier this year with theacquisition of Cajun Lube and CCRLube stores.

Heartland Automotive now oper-ates 16 stores throughout the Louisianamarket. The addition of these storesbolsters their presence in LA and con-tinues to strengthen the company’sbase in the Southern United States inpreparation for future expansion.

“The Texaco Xpress Lube storeswere a synergistic addition to our ex-isting store base and represents ourcontinued commitment to serving theLouisiana market with what we be-lieve to be the best quick oil change inthe industry,” said Brett Ponton,Chief Executive Officer at Jiffy LubeHeartland. All 44 of the incumbentTexaco Xpress Lube teammates willbe invited to remain in their currentpositions following the Jiffy LubeHeartland acquisition.

CCAR Recognizes Texas shopas ‘GreenLink Shop’The Coordinating Committee ForAu-tomotive Repair (CCAR®) recognizedService King-Kingwood in King-wood, Texas, as a “GreenLink Shops”in November.

The GreenLink Shop status, anextension of CCAR’s CCAR-Green-Link® Environmental ComplianceAssistance Center and S/P2® Safetyand Pollution Prevention E-learningProgram, is designed to promote con-sumer confidence in local automotiverepair facilities’ environmental/safetyawareness and stewardship.

“The addition of [this shop]brings our total to 86 GreenLinkShops recognized since the program’sintroduction in January 2010,” saidDaren Fristoe, CCAR President. Re-pair facilities seeking the GreenLinkShop recognition must maintain highstandards of excellence in environ-mental, health and safety (EHS) prac-tices in four categories: businessoperations, employee training, safetycompliance and environmental man-agement.

The CCAR initiative recognizesboth auto mechanical service facili-ties and collision repair shops, withseparate criteria established for eachtype of business.

TX Hail Storm Damage

Caliber Collision Opens ThirdShop in El Paso, TexasCaliber Collision Centers, with 79 lo-cations in California and Texas, hasannounced the opening of a third Cal-iber Collision Center in El Paso,Texas. Caliber’s new El Paso-Mesa fa-cility is located on North Mesa Streetin El Paso, Texas with the other twofacilities on Gateway Blvd East (IH-10) and Montana Avenue.

After remodeling and expansionof the existing building, Caliber’snewest facility is now equipped withstate-of-the-art repair equipment andCaliber associates ready to providecustomers with a high quality cus-tomer satisfaction.

Steve Grimshaw, Caliber Colli-sion Centers’Chief Executive Officer,stated, “The opening of our newest ElPaso location further supports ourlong-term growth strategy. This centerwas specifically designed to more ef-fectively restore hard-working Texansto the rhythms of their lives withworld-class Caliber customer service.We are excited about expanding ourpenetration into the El Paso area tomeet the demanding needs of vehicleowners across the growing El Pasomarket. This center is strategically lo-cated to significantly increase our in-surance carrier coverage.”

AutoBody America AcquiresLittle Rock, AK, ShopAutoBody America, a multi-shopoperator with locations throughoutTennessee and Mississippi, acquiredGreg Helmbeck’s Collision Repairin Little Rock, Ark. This is the 13thlocation in the AutoBody Americafamily and the first in Arkansas. The9,000-square-foot facility is locatedin Sherwood.

AutoBodyAmerica said it is thelargest independently owned and op-erated collision repair organization inTennessee. It operates facilities in theTennessee cities of Memphis,Nashville, Clarksville, Murfreesboro,Chattanooga, Jackson, and Columbia.It also has locations in Southaven,Miss. and Jackson, Miss.

Patrick James, CEO of Auto-BodyAmerica stated, “After buildingout our footprint in Tennessee andNorthern Mississippi, we felt it wasimportant to enter the centralArkansasmarket to serve both our retail and in-surance customers. We have spent thepast year searching for the right facil-ity and ... found that with Greg Helm-beck’s.”

AutoBodyAmerica continues toseek companies in TN, MS and AK.

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Insurance rates for high-risk driversinsured through the Texas Automo-bile Insurance Plan Association(TAIPA) will decrease overall by 7.6percent from 2010 rates effective Jan.1, 2011.

According to TAIPA, Texas In-surance Commissioner MikeGeeslin’s order decreases overallrates for TIAPA personal auto insur-ance policies according to InsuranceJournal.

Also effective Jan. 1, the min-imum amounts of motor vehicle li-ability insurance coverage requiredto establish financial responsibilityin Texas will be: 30/60/25, or$30,000 for bodily injury to ordeath of one person in an accident;$60,000 for bodily injury to ordeath to two or more persons in oneaccident; and $25,000 for damageto or destruction of property in anaccident.

Texas currently requires mo-torists to carry a minimum of $20,000protection for bodily injury liabilityper person, $40,000 per accident and$25,000 for property damage liabil-ity—or 20/50/25.

In 2010, TAIPA rates saw a 2.2-percent increase from 2009 rates, ac-cording to OnlineAutoInsurance.com.

High-Risk Driver RatesFalling in Texas

Woman Named in $80,000Texas Glass Distribution SuitA Humble, Texas, woman is amongthe defendants being sued by a Texasglass distribution company, allegingthat it is owed nearly $80,000 for au-tomobile glass goods it delivered tothe defendants according to UltimateLake Houston News.

AllAmerican Glass Distributorsfiled a lawsuit on Oct. 15 in the Har-ris County District Court againstTexasAuto Glass & Upholstery LLC,formerly known as Apache AutoGlass Co., Laura Carden and Hum-blesMeghan Jaks, individually andas custodian for Trevor Jaks, allegingfraud, breach of contract and decep-tive business practices.

The plaintiff says that it was notpaid for the goods it delivered and at-tempts to collect went ignored. Fur-thermore, the plaintiff alleges that inan effort to get out of its debt, the de-fendants transferred the businessname to a minor.

The plaintiff is seeking damagesincluding actual damages, exemplarydamages, court costs and any otherdamages it is entitled to by the court.

The plaintiff is being repre-sented in the case by Houston attor-ney Stacey L. Barnes.

Harris County District CourtCase No. 2010-68386.

12 Accused in Louisiana Staged Vehicle CrashesAClaiborne Parish family and a hand-ful of other individuals have been in-dicted by a federal grand jury inconnection with a series of staged ve-hicle crashes in several northLouisiana parishes over a five-yearperiod, according to the ShreveportTimes.

The 12 defendants were arrestedin November on charges of conspir-acy, mail fraud, wire fraud and healthcare fraud.

They include Bobby Lee Kim-ble, 39; Johnny Kimble, 45; LarryKimble, 30, of Athens; Roy Kim-ble, 31, of Arcadia; Tony Kimble,24, of Homer. Also, Monica Jenk-ins, 22, of Athens; Latiffy Robin-son, 27, of Homer; Mary Lee Tate,24, of Arcadia; Shuntorian Turner,30, of Minden; Joe Abbott, 51, ofArcadia;Marcus Kimble, 27, of Ar-cadia; and Damario Henderson,21, of Homer.

The state police, Minden PoliceDepartment, Claiborne Parish Sher-iff’s Office and the U.S. Marshal’sTask Force jointly apprehended nineof the suspects initially.

The next day, two surrendered tostate police investigators at the U.S.Courthouse in Shreveport. One of thedefendants, Henderson, is incarcer-

ated at the Claiborne Parish DetentionCenter on an unrelated theft chargeand will be taken into federal custodyat a later date.

State troopers assigned to the Re-gion II Criminal Investigation Divi-sion’s Insurance Fraud Unit/AutoTheft Unit at the Monroe field officeconducted the investigation that beganin May 2008.

Their investigation indicated theKimble family of Athens and the oth-ers were staging vehicle crashes,prompting fraudulent insuranceclaims to be filed with various insur-ance companies that netted over$40,000.

They were indicted Sept. 24.This is not the first time indict-

ments have been for staged carcrashes. In 2006, 15 people, most ofwhom were from Ringgold, were in-dicted for conspiracy to commit mailfraud and mail fraud. Some had addi-tional charges of health care fraud.

Another ring was busted in2004 in Red River Parish. Eighteenpeople, including 16 from Coushatta,were indicted on charges of conspir-acy and mail, wire and health carefraud. Twenty traffic accidents werestaged between June 1999 and July2001.

May Hail Storm Disaster Economic Boon for OKC EconomyA disaster has turned into huge dol-lars for Oklahoma City. City leaderssay the massive hail storm that hitthe metro back in May has broughtbig bucks to the city’s economy.Since the hail storm five monthsago, the city has seen two or threetimes the spending increase com-pared to many other city’s aroundthe state. Roofing companies, forone, have seen record business.

“It’s the hardest I’ve everworked in the 10 years since I ownedmy business,” saidMike Curtis.

Curtis owns Crossroads Roof-ing, a local wholesale supplier ofroofing parts.

He says May’s hail stormbrought in more money than anystorm he’s ever seen.

“I would say we’ve absolutelysold 2 or 3 times more than we didthe year prior,” said Curtis.

“Normal growth in sales tax is4 percent. We’re looking at 14 per-cent for October, so it’s been a sig-nificant increase,” said OklahomaCity budget director Craig Free-man.

Specifically, comparing thisyear to last, Oklahoma City’s sales

tax collections are up 13.81percent.Norman is up only 4.93 per-cent. Edmond is up 3.47 per-cent. Yukon is up only 1.49percent.It’s clear the impact the

May storm has had on thestate.“We believe right now,

two-thirds of the growthwe’re seeing in sales tax is re-lated to the storms,” said

Freeman.It’s not just roofs, auto parts

businesses have also been booming.Even hotels and restaurants saw

increases because of all the out oftown workers.

Unfortunately, city leaders saythe economic boost is just starting towind down.


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Nissan JUKE Wins ‘CUV of Texas’ Award from TX Auto Writers AssociationThe all-new 2011 Nissan JUKEbrought home top honors from thisyear’s Texas Auto Writers Associa-tion (TAWA) Truck Rodeo winningthe “CUV of Texas” trophy.

Automotive media from acrossthe state of Texas converged on theKnibbe Ranch in San Antonio thisweekend to participate in the rodeo vot-ing on their favorite trucks, SUVs andCUVs in approximately 20 categories.

“Obviously, we think the NissanJUKE is something special and isgoing to shake things up in the CUVcategory with its styling and perform-ance capability,” said Pat Steiner, re-gional vice president, Nissan NorthAmerica.

“But to receive this kind of vali-dation from the respected journalistsof TAWA affirms we’re going in theright direction.”

The Texas Truck Rodeo is amedia ride-and-drive program heldannually by the Texas Auto WritersAssociation.

The rodeo allows journalists todrive trucks, SUVs and CUVs from theautomanufacturers on- andoff-road overa two-day period voting on the vehicles’performance in various categories.

“The Nissan JUKE was a breathof fresh air at this year’s rodeo with

its unique and aggressive styling,”said Michael Herzing, president ofTAWA.

“On top of that it’s fun and excit-ing to drive. I think it’s going to sur-prise a lot of people and bring home alot more awards.”

The all-new 2011 Nissan JUKEsport cross draws on a number of ac-tive lifestyle influences, includingmotorcycles and rally cars, to create abreakthrough design among tradi-tional B-segment hatchbacks.

Along with its bold design andhighly distinctive, sport styling insideand out, JUKE brings unexpected lev-els of performance from a standard188-horsepower 1.6-liter Direct Injec-tion Gasoline (DIG™) turbo 4-cylin-der engine and an advanced torquevectoring all-wheel drive (AWD) sys-tem – performance technology usuallyreserved for premium vehicles.

The Nissan JUKE hits show-rooms this month with a starting priceof $18,960.

TAWA will present Nissan withthe “CUV of Texas” trophy during anawards ceremony, Nov. 12 at SpaceCenter Houston in Texas.

More information can be foundonline at www.NissanUSA.com andwww.InfinitiUSA.com.

Bush Book: Automaker Bailout was “Responsible Action”George W. Bush says he decided to‘rescue’ General Motors and Chryslerin November 2008 because of thehuge consequences for the economy ifhe did not act—and he acted despitehis belief that the carmakers had dugtheir own holes.

“My economic advisers hadwarned that the immediate bankruptcyof the Big Three could cost more thana million jobs, decrease tax revenuesby $150 billion and set back Ameri-can’s GDP by hundreds of billions ofdollars,” he writes of his bailout of theU.S. auto industry in his memoir, De-cision Points.

Bush blames the auto industry’swoes on “decades of poor manage-ment” that “saddled automakers withenormous health-care and pensioncosts. They had been slow to recog-nize changes in the market.As a result,they had been outcompeted by foreignmanufacturers in the product andprice.”

Bush also discloses that he re-jected a request for a bailout before the2008 presidential election from GMCEO Rick Wagoner.

Bush says he reversed his stancethat government should stay out of theauto business when he saw how abankruptcy would hammer the econ-

omy. Bush also considered his succes-sor in the decision.

“I told Barack Obama that Iwouldn’t let the automakers fail,”Bush writes. “I won’t dump this messon him.”

President Bush announced onDec. 18, 2008, that the U.S. govern-ment would provide GM and Chrysler$13.4 billion in emergency funding.An additional $4 billion was madeavailable for the car companies in Feb-ruary. This funding allowed the com-panies to survive until bankruptcyreorganization saved them.

At the time President Bush said:“These are not ordinary circum-stances, in the midst of a financial cri-sis and a recession allowing the U.S.auto industry to collapse is not a re-sponsible action.”

In his reflections on the subjectrecently Bush made no mention of hisefforts being a stop-gap measure orObama’s follow up to the crisis. TheObama administration financed thebankruptcy reorganization of GM andChrysler, effectively rescuing the U.S.auto industry, including Ford, whichhas acknowledged it would have beendecimated by Tier 1 (supplier) failuresin the domestic supply chain. See re-lated details on the GM IPO this issue.


China’s Largest AutomakerPlans 1% Stake in GM IPOSAIC Motor, China’s largest au-tomaker, is in talks to acquire abouta 1% stake in General Motors, ac-cording to the Wall Street Journal’sweb site. The stake would be worthabout $500 million. The automaker isprepared to sell more than $1 billionworth of shares to sovereign wealthfunds in the Middle East and Asia,giving foreign investors about 16%of the IPO’s shares. The IPO willmark GM’s return to being a publiclytraded company after it filed forbankruptcy protection in June 2009.

Tesla Offers Battery andEV Tech to Toyota, OthersTeslaMotors has offered to license its bat-tery and other EV technologies to Toyotaand others, according to its CEO ElonMusk. Tesla has already contacted tie-uppartners Toyota and Daimler and askedthem if they are interested in licensing itstechnologies, Musk said. Tesla is also in-terested in partnering with Toyota in thearea of customer service, Musk said,adding that Tesla’s cars can be serviced atToyota facilities. Musk expects Japan tobecome the company’s largestmarket out-side of the US. Two of Tesla’s majorshareholders are Toyota and Panasonic.

China to become GM’sLargest Market in 2011This year, for the first time, GM couldsell more vehicles in China than in theUnitedStates. So far in 2010,GMsays itsChinese joint ventures sold 1,977,000units, up nearly 36percent.Over the sameperiod,GMsold 1,819,000vehicles in theUnited States, up 6 percent. Since indus-try sales in China are expected to exceed17million units this year—well above theU.S. market’s likely 11.5 millionunits—China is virtually certain to be-come GM’s biggest market this year.GM’s saleswere up 20% fromOct. 2009.

Toyota Expects 13% RiseToyota Motor Corp sees U.S. new lightvehicle sales rising asmuch as 13 percentnext year, buoyed by several factors in-cluding a slight rise in sales of pickuptrucks. Bob Carter, sales chief for theToyota brand in the United States, saidthe company expects 2011 industry salesat between 12.5million and 12.9million,up from this year’s expected rate of 11.4million to 11.5 million.

U.S. sales are slowly recoveringfrom the low of 10.4 million new carsand trucks sold in 2009, after a 10-yearstretch when annual sales averaged16.4 million vehicles.

Daimler Financial Services haschanged its name to Mercedes-BenzFinancial Services USA. The change isthe last step in a “clean sheet of paper”approach to the U.S. market, accordingto a company statement. The companyseparated from DaimlerChrysler Fi-nancial Services Americas in 2007after Daimler sold Chrysler to CerberusCapital Management. Nothing else willchange for the financier, which remainsthe financial unit for Mercedes-BenzUSA, its dealers and customers, as wellas Smart USA dealers and customers.

A factory-owned Chrysler dealership indowntown LosAngeles will be the firststore to sell Fiat-brand vehicles in theU.S. when it opens the first week in Jan-uary. Motor Village of LosAngeles willhave three showroom floors and sell Fiatvehicles, along with Chrysler, Dodge,Jeep and Ram vehicles, said RamonCabral, sales manager at the dealership.The dealership has been known as LaBrea Chrysler Jeep, is currently locatedabout five miles west of downtown LosAngeles. Chrysler has owned La BreaChrysler Jeep for about five years.

Ford will be transferring the majorityof its shares in Mazda to various busi-ness partners of the Japanese au-tomaker, thus lowering its ownershipstake. However, the two OEMs will re-main strategic partners, according toMazda. Ford has 11% ownership stakein Mazda. Ford will hold on to a 3.5%stake in the automaker and is transfer-ring the rest of its shares to Mazda’sbusiness partners. “Ford will remainone of Mazda's largest shareholders,and both companies are committed tocontinuing our strategic partnership,”said a Mazda spokesperson.

AutoNation CEOMike Jackson is aboutto take advantage of industry stability andthe falling price of dealerships. With 13million in annual U.S. light-vehicle salesexpected shortly,AutoNation plans to ren-ovate or expand 24 stores (nine renova-tionswill costmore than $5million each)and open 11 completely new stores, in-cluding sevenFiat stores.The company istaking advantage of dramatically lowerdealership and real estate costs. Jacksonwants to have at least one of every brandin eachofAutoNation’s 25majormarkets.

Mercedes-Benz Financialis new Daimler Financier

LA Dealership to be first tosell Fiat brand in the U.S.

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V-Vehicle, the San Diego-based au-tomotive startup, has a new name anda new CEO. The company, which hasbeen rechristened Next Autoworks,named former Tower AutomotiveCEO Kathleen Ligocki as chief ex-ecutive earlier this week.

Next Autoworks also has opera-tions in Detroit and northeasternLouisiana, where the company hopesto hire 1,400 workers to manufactureits gasoline-powered, four-door com-pact at a former Guide Corp. plant inOuachita Parish.

At Tower, Ligocki led a re-structuring of the global automo-tive supplier that culminated in itssale for $1 billion to Cerberus Cap-ital Management. Ligocki, whoalso served as CEO of GS Motors,replaces Ray Lane, the KleinerPerkins partner who stepped in asinterim CEO at the end of March,after the U.S. Department of En-ergy rejected V-Vehicles applica-tion for $320 million in loansunder the agency’s AdvancedTechnology Vehicle Manufacturingprogram.

Founding CEO Frank Varasanoand Horst Metz, the vice president ofassembly operations, departed thecompany at the time.

Next Autoworks to Expand inOuachita Parish, LA

El Paso, NM, Auto TheftsDown 14 PercentEl Paso police said so far in 2010,there have been 1,283 auto thefts, a14 percent decrease from the sametime last year according to KFOXNews Albuquerque.

El Paso police also released autotheft statistics for the last few years.YEAR NO. OF AUTO THEFTS1996 4,3601997 3,5711998 2,6571999 2,3072000 2,4422001 1,8362002 1,9982003 1,8602004 1,8402005 2,5802006 3,5522007 3,0492008 2,7532009 1,8902010 1,283 (YTD)

Police said there has been a 66.5percent decrease in stolen vehiclesfrom 1990 to 2009.

A spokesman for the Police De-partment said since the first full yearof the El Paso Police Departmentauto theft task force in 1994, therewas a 29.6 percent decrease from theyear before (1993), and a 51.58 per-cent decrease compared to 2009.

Amateur sports leagues aren’t used tobidding wars to name the usually pub-lic facilities in which they play butthat may be changing. A Dallas sub-urb now has a public park for amateursports leagues called Toyota ofLewisville Railroad Park—namedafter a local auto dealership, said thedealer, Rene Isip. Isip’s dealership hasagreed to pay $1.5 million over 10years for the name and the right topost logos, signs and banners through-out the 268-acre park. The first signswent up last month.

“I want to create a buzz about thedealership that gives us more namerecognition,” Isip said. “The park is astable ground that anchors us to the citymore so than any other dealership.”

The dealer is paying more thanoriginally intended. His initial offerto the city was $100,000 a year ratherthan $150,000, but Isip said he is ex-cited by the arrangement. He hasn’testimated the potential return on hisinvestment.

“I’m looking to be tied into thecity of Lewisville,” Isip said.

The fee comes out of the dealer-

ship’s advertising budget, leaving $1.2million for newspaper, radio, TV, In-ternet and direct-mail purchases.

Isip’s store is in a competitive en-vironment during a slump in new-carsales. Four other Toyota dealershipsare within 15 miles of Toyota ofLewisville.

In addition, the store’s new-vehi-cle sales fell 17 percent in 2009 to2,036. On top of that, Toyota’s hugesafety recalls for unintended accelera-tion cut deeperinto the dealer-ship’s salesearly this year,Isip said.

The CityCouncil ofLewisville, a middle-class city of100,000 about a 20-minute drive northof downtown Dallas, came up with theidea of naming rights to help pay forthe city’s new $22 million complex.

The contract also allows the storeto have vehicle display areas at thepark that can be used for customer testdrives. Isip said he also may stationemployees in the park to suggest car

service at the dealership, a mile and ahalf away.

The complex consists of 16lighted soccer, baseball and footballfields; a skateboard park; three man-made lakes to be stocked for catfishfishing; a 6-1/2-acre dog park; and a1-1/2-mile walking trail.

Signs with the park and dealer-ship name will appear at the two en-trances to the complex, at the baseballand skateboard parks, at the conces-

sion stands andin the parkinglots.

“ T h e s eare dignifiedand attractivesigns that give

the dealer subtle exposure while notbeing in your face,” said JamesKunke, the town’s community rela-tions director. “He’s been a good part-ner every step of the way.”

Isip, 51, was born in the Philippinesand moved to the Dallas area when hewas 9. He built the Toyota store in 2004after working as general manager of anearby Honda dealership for 10 years.

He also owns a Honda store in Katy,Texas, about 250 miles away.

Last year, the city of Lewisvilledecided to find a business willing to payfor naming rights at the new park toease the burden on residents, who werepaying a local sales tax to fund the park.

To find a local business, the citypaid $230,000 to CSL MarketingGroup, which had been hired by theNew York Yankees to sell suites atYankee Stadium.

A growing number of cities arestarting to sell naming rights to publicparks as the economic slump contin-ues to deplete municipal income, aCSLMarketing group spokesman said.

For example, the Dallas suburb ofPlano, where CSL is based, has hiredthe firm to devise a plan to sell namingrights for the town’s 80 public parks,the spokesman said.

The emerging trend offers newmarketing opportunities for dealer-ships, which have long been interestedin buying naming rights for every-thing from high school football stadi-ums to radio stations to NASCARracetracks.

Toyota Dealership Buys Naming Rights to Lewisville, TX, Public Park

Stephen Page is on the ride of hislife, if mostly uphill, as he tries tofind support and funding to create anauto museum at Fair Park in Dallasaccording to reports made by theDallas Morning News. The projectmay cost $30 million, but Page fig-ures getting things rolling is the hard-est part, and things will pick up speedafter that.

For the last year, Page has de-voted virtually all of his time toseeking support for a museum of au-tomotive history in Fair Park — aconcept that could cost $30 millionor more. But he figures that if he canjust get the Texas Museum of Auto-motive History rolling, it couldquickly gather momentum in car-crazy Dallas.

Wilbert Grinsven builds a stageinside Grand Place at the temporaryquarters for the Texas Museum ofAu-tomotive History at Fair Park in Dal-las. Grinsven built most of the propsin the museum.

“There are 88 car museums inAmerica, but only a couple of themare world-class,” said Page, 55, alifelong car enthusiast and founderand former CEO of Page-Wheat-croft & Co., a senior-level execu-tive search firm. “My intent is tobuild a world-class auto museum atFair Park.”

The proposed museum has movedinto temporary quarters in the GrandPlace Building at Fair Park and held agrand opening fundraiser there in lateNovember.

The Grand Place Building — anopen, 70,000-square-foot facility withconcrete floors and thick steelcolumns — is a temporary stop, Pagesays. If he succeeds, the auto museumwill move into a refurbished ScienceMuseum at Fair Park in a couple ofyears, filling most of the 140,000square feet of space there with 200 ormore special cars.

“I’ve become a professional beg-gar,” said Page, who has lived in Dal-las since 1980. “We have raised$100,000 to open the temporary mu-seum, but ultimately, we’re going tohave to raise $30 million to restore theScience Place building to its originalglory.”

Making an automotive museumof the colorful 277-acre facility inDallas’ inner city makes perfect senseto Page, a big fan of the park’s ‘30s-era art deco buildings.

The museum would show Dallas’connection to racing, Page said,while celebrating fine cars in general— often with video and movie pre-sentations at the stands where vehi-cles are displayed. But it would havea critical community function aswell. The museum intends to open anon-site “restoration factory” thatwould train at-risk teenagers in bodywork and other skills. Supportershope that some of the teenagers in theprogram would eventually open re-pair facilities of their own in the FairPark area.

Page wants to make the museumavailable for private parties andevents, perhaps even using the park-

ing lot for occasional car shows.Over the last year, he has been

meeting with city officials, businessrepresentatives, City Council mem-bers and anyone else who will listento his museum pitch.

Page got involved in it a littlemore than a year ago when he waslooking for a place to store his racecar. He quickly realized that this areadoesn’t have even an “adequate” pub-lic car museum, “much less a world-class facility.”

For the last several months,Grinsven and assistant James John-son have been constructing props forthe auto displays in the museum —stylish art-deco replicas of settings

like a 1940s-era Texaco station with arounded front.

While those efforts are steps for-ward, Page acknowledges that whathe really needs now are some heavy-weight, high-profile supporters. En-thusiasts, car dealers, Fair Parkbackers and others have all said theylike his concept.

Page believes the museum isgaining momentum.

“This has consumed me for a yearwith no pay,” he said. “We’re threeconversations away from having thefunds we need. It could be Exxon orShell or Ford, and they say, OK, theywant to be the naming sponsor. Butwe’re going to get this museum built.”


Auto Enthusiast Gaining Support for Dallas Automotive History Museum


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SCRS Thanks Repairer Education Sponsors at SEMA 2010The Society of Collision Repair Spe-cialists (SCRS) is thanking the groupof sponsors that provided significantfinancial support to get the inauguralRepairer Driven Education (RDE)program off and running.

The sponsors were: BASF, GM,PPG, LKQ, and 3M.

RDE’s introduction cycled over125 individuals through two days ofeducational offerings.

“As a collision repairer, I have at-tended this show numerous times, butthis one was the best. The one thingmissing from the past SEMA Shows Ifelt was a stronger presence of the col-lision industry segment and there wastruly a big difference this year,” saidJoel Lofton, RDE attendee and ownerof Barnett’s Body Shop in Ridgeland,Mississippi. “The Repairer Driven Ed-ucation courses were fantastic! All ofthe speakers were great and left atremendous impression on all who at-tended.”

“Now, more than ever, the indus-try needs relevant education,” saidBASF OEM and Industry RelationsManager, Joseph Skurka. “The com-plexity of modern vehicles and theproducts and techniques needed to re-pair them is growing all the time.BASF’s philosophy is to make our

customer, the shop, more successful,and they can’t be successful withoutthe up-to-date information and train-ing that a program like RDE provides.SCRS provided a great opportunity forthe industry that we were more thanhappy to support.”

“I was so impressed with howgreat the SCRS RDE training classeswere at the SEMAShow,” added For-est Holt, Owner of Southwest BodyShop in Amarillo, Texas. “The seriesadded so much relevance to my expe-rience at the show, and I received veryusefull information that will help mein my business tomorrow. As an in-dustry we need this information des-perately, and I can’t thank SCRS or thesponsors of the series enough for pro-viding this opportunity to the indus-try!”

“The magnanimous contributionof our RDE sponsors demonstratestheir understanding of the need forquality instruction,” SCRS ExecutiveDirector Aaron Schulenburg said ofthe sponsoring companies, “Their vi-sion and foresight in being involvedduring the first of many years for thisevent, helped SCRS to address a criti-cal industry need, and create a solidfoundation that RDE can build upongoing forward.”

Crown Automotive Buys Chattanooga, TN, DealershipCrown Automotive Group, a leadingnational auto dealer group, announcedthe purchase of the Chrysler, Jeep,Dodge, Ram dealership in Chat-tanooga November 16 according toWTVC News Chattanooga.

The purchase process began inFebruary 2010 and was finalized onOctober 26 of this year. The new deal-ership is expected to bring 100 jobs tothe area.

“Over the past year, dealershipsof all brands across the nation havebeen up for sale. We researched manyof these options and identified Chat-tanooga and Chrysler as the best op-portunities,” commented DwayneHawkins, founder and president ofCrown Automotive and Birmingham,Alabama native.

“Chattanooga is a beautiful citywith great people and a thriving econ-omy. Themore we looked, the more weliked it. Any time an automotive com-pany decides to go into a market it’s be-cause they see tremendous potential,and we are investing $11 million.”

CrownAutomotive chose theChat-tanooga area and the Chrysler brand fornumerous reasons. Chattanooga’s vi-brant economy, highly educated workforce and family-oriented communitywere key factors in Crown’s decision.

Further, the group has workedwith Chrysler for decades and oper-ated multiple Chrysler stores. Chryslerhas recently undertaken extensive de-sign modifications and upgrades tooffer consumers world-class vehicleswith new products, new technologyand greater fuel efficiency.

An extensive, multi-million dollarrenovation and redesign of theChapmanRoad facility is currently underway.

When the new store opens thisJanuary, it will be state of the art in-cluding all of Chrysler’s latest dealer-ship design and image styling, for boththe interior and exterior. It will alsohold the distinction of being a“Chrysler Image Facility.”

The dealership will open withabout 300 new and used vehicles andoffer parts, service and financing cen-ters. In addition to consumer vehicles,Crown Automotive will offer trucksand vans for commercial use.

The new dealership will also beheavily involved in charitable andcivic organizations in Chattanooga.

Being a part of and giving back tothe community are core values ofCrownAutomotive and the group’s ex-isting dealerships support children, edu-cation and health oriented organizationsin their respective communities.

Airbrush artist, Mickey Harrisshowed off his most recent art flour-

ishes on a 2011 Camaro at the Spe-cialty Equipment Marketing Associa-

tion (SEMA)show this year.The AmericanPride Camarocar was commis-sioned by GM inthe summer of2010 and was atop secret projectfor the artist.

The carwas painted atMountain Mus-cle Cars inCosby, TN, andtook about three

months from start to fin-ish. This car was thebrainchild of Scott Set-tlemire from GM’s Showcar division.

Mickey Harris hasbeen painting for 30 yearsand has produced thou-sands of murals on metal.

Mickey began hisprofessional career with

the airbrush at the age of 19, in Ft.Walton Beach, Florida. He mas-tered the airbrush, becoming one ofthe leading airbrush artists in theworld.Mickey also founded Airbrush

Magazine in 1994 and has been the

President of the International Air-brushAssociation twice, once in 1992and again in 1999. Mickey has beenteaching the art of airbrushing forover twenty years. Mickey is nowworking with Badger Airbrush Co.of Chicago.


Mickey Harris’ American Pride Camaro Commands Attention at SEMA

Detailing right down to the rocker panels on the American Pride Camaro

American Pride Camaro on the prowl Painter Mickey Harris (R) with Marine guard and the American Pride Camaro on the SEMA floor

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Recently a shop owner in my area con-verted a 12-by-14 foot space in his shopinto a conference room to host meetingsfor insurance managers and agents,dealership principals, and other groupsources of business. He also put in acomputerized projection system andscreen. The cost of creating this spacewasn’t cheap. Was it really worth it?

Like most of you, he found thattrying to call on these people gener-ally resulted in very little if any facetime. He finally decided if going tothem didn’t work, he would try bring-ing them to him. The last time I spoketo him it was beginning to work verywell. He had hosted an insurancemanager and agent meeting and hadan excellent turnout. Plus he saw someimmediate increase in business fromthat insurance company. He was al-ready planning another insurancegroup meeting and possibly a dealer-ship group as well.

This shop owner already had sev-eral major insurance DRPs. Was it re-ally necessary to go to this expense? I’venoticed many shop owners who, oncethey finally get a DRP they’ve beenseeking, sit back andwait for the jobs tocome flowing in. It makesme think of afriend who told me about his first mar-riagewhen hewas a young guy. He saidafter the honeymoon he and his newbride settled into their new apartment.Both sat down and breathed a sigh of re-lief, as much as to say, “Now I’ve gother (or him). I can relax now, and stopputting on the big act.” You can imag-ine how long that marriage lasted.

If “interest” could be described as acommodity, it would be one of themostsought after commodities in the world.A young woman seeking a husbandwonders, “Is he interested in me?” Hewonders, “Is she interested inme?”Theshopkeeper hopes the young womanwill be interested in the clothing he sells.

The film producer hopes the public willbe interested in his film.And a collisionshop owner hopes he or she will be ableto interest vehicle owners who have ac-cidents in coming to his or her shop.

The amount of attention given tosomething is generally proportionateto the degree of interest in it. It’s easyto study “interest” in a baby. The babysees something bright and shiny andis CURIOUS. The object has capturedthe baby’s INTEREST. But now wecan see the complete “interest spec-trum.” Next the baby DESIRES totouch, play with, or eat the object. Ifno one responds to the baby’s interestby giving her the object to touch, playwith, or eat, she may DEMAND it bycrying, screaming, or otherwise tryingto get her desire fulfilled. Assumingthe child is given the (inedible) objectto play with, eventually the child willLOSE INTEREST and REJECT(throw on the floor) the object.

We now have a complete “interestto no-interest” attention spectrum, be-ginningwith CURIOSITY, INTEREST,DESIRE, DEMAND, LOST INTER-EST, and ending with REJECTION.The duration of the spectrum may beonly a few minutes with the baby, ormany years from the time a girl is inter-ested in a guy,marries him, has children,cohabits for years, loses interest and fi-nally rejects (divorces) him. The samesequence may occur when a shop hasentered into aDRParrangement with aninsurance company or a contractualagreement with a dealership. The se-quence will usually move from curios-ity, interest, and desire to the satisfactionof demand. Of course not every set ofcircumstances that beginswith curiosityand interest eventually declines to “nointerest” and “rejection.” But in a soci-ety obsessedwith entertainment, excite-ment and celebrity, the full spectrum is

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Autobody News December 2010


by Jim Lang, Lang Marketing

Foreign vehicles (imports and trans-plants) more than doubled their shareof new car and light truck sales in theU.S. between 1997 and 2010.

Over this 13-year span, foreignvehicles made more progress in ex-panding their new vehicle marketshare in the U.S. than they achievedin the previous 50 years.

Foreign models captured 26.1%of 1997 new vehicle volume in theU.S., topping 28% of the 2000 mar-ket. Over the next five years, foreigncars and light trucks recorded steadygrowth in new vehicle share, climb-ing to 35% of the 2004 market.

Then, foreign new vehicle shareexploded. By 2007, foreign cars andlight trucks accounted for 49% of newvehicle sales in the U.S. with theirshare soaring to 53% in 2008 andreaching an estimated 55% of the2010 market.

Japanese Cars and Light TrucksJapanese models captured 37% of2007 new car and light truck sales,and will account for an estimated39% of the 2010 market. Growth ofJapanese models would have beenstronger had it not been for Toyota’srecent safety issues, which reducedToyota’s 2010 sales share below its2007 performance. Over the nextseveral years, Japanese models willregain sales momentum and con-tinue expanding their new vehicleshare.

European VehiclesEuropean vehicles, lead by Germannameplates, captured 7% of 2007light vehicle volume. European carsand light trucks are expected to cap-ture 8% of the 2010 market. Notachieving the strong share growthprojected for Japanese models overthe coming years, European vehicles

will, nevertheless, steadily expandtheir U.S. new vehicle sales posi-tion.

Korean Surge Hyundai, along with Kia, added dra-matic punch to foreign vehicle sharegrowth over the past 24 months. Rap-idly adding dealerships, Koreannameplates will record nearly 20%sales growth during 2010, pushing-up their market share more than two-thirds from 2007.

Covering a wide range of marketniches, Korean vehicles will continueexpanding their sales and marketshare, growing at a much faster pacethan European or Japanese models.

Chinese EntryChinese nameplates will begin mak-ing a strong impact on the U.S. newvehicle market in five to seven years.Their growth will be rapid in the U.S.,particularly if acquiring another car-maker is part of a Chinese marketentry strategy, or Chinese vehicles aresold through an existing dealer net-work.

2021 New Vehicle SalesLang Marketing expects foreign ve-hicles (imports and transplants) toaccount for at least two-thirds ofnew car and light truck 2021 sales inthe U.S. This projection allocatesonly 4% of 2021 sales to Chinesevehicles. If Chinese models exceedthis estimate, foreign vehicle sharecould rise higher than two-thirds by2021.

Aftermarket ImpactThe aftermarket impact of this newvehicle sales trend will be dra-matic and irreversible. By 2021,foreign models will top 60% of ve-hicles in the so-called age sweetspot for vehicle repair (five to tenyears).

Surging foreign vehicle after-market product share will have a rev-olutionary impact on product brandssold in the aftermarket, how productsare distributed, as well as where partsand service are purchased.

Retailer Commercial Market GainsA recent in-house study by Lang Mar-keting found Retailers are makinggains in the commercial (wholesale)market against several leading Pro-grammed Jobber groups. Retailers aregetting high marks from Installers ona number of key competitive issues inseveral markets studied.

Each of the battleground citiesstudied by Lang Marketing containsAutoZone, Advance, and O’Reillystores as well as NAPA and CAR-QUEST Jobbers.

While it is not possible to gener-alize with great confidence from thisin-house study to the commercialmarket nationwide, some major find-ings are significant: Retailers are im-proving commercial services, ServiceStations and Garages are willing toexplore alternative buying sources,and a large portion of Installer volumeis “in play”.

ConvenienceThe growing convenience of buyingfrom Retailers cannot be underesti-mated as a major reason they aregaining commercial business.

This convenience reflects severalfactors: Retailers (at least in the citiesstudied) have inventories to supportInstaller business, Retailers have de-livery capabilities which meet In-staller expectations, and, because oftheir growing numbers, Retailersoften are closer to Installers than areProgrammed Jobbers.

More “Commercialized” Retailers While the Jobber population is de-clining nationwide (at a slowing

pace), the Retailer count continues torise. Although some leading Retailershave not rolled out commercial pro-grams to all stores, where they areemphasizing commercial business,“commercialized” Retailers often out-number Jobber locations.

Pricing IssueThe in-house Lang Marketing studydid not focus on pricing in-depth, butthere is evidence sharp pricing by Re-tailers is a critical issue in some mar-kets covered. In other researchconducted by Lang Marketing overthe past several years, sharp pricingwas found to be a tactic of some“commercialized” Retailers in com-petitive markets.

While availability and servicestill rank highest as product buyingcriteria among Installers, the issue ofpricing can be ignored only “at peril.”

Commercial Market is FluidIn battleground cities covered byLang Marketing’s in-house study,Service Stations and Garages, for themost part, were open to explore alter-native products sources, with In-stallers generally free of strongnegative feelings toward purchasingfrom Retailers.

Jobbers Still Control CommercialMarketProgrammed Jobbers still control thelargest share of auto parts sales to In-stallers in the battleground cities cov-ered by Lang Marketing’s in-housestudy.

That said, the major underlyingfinding of this study is that the com-mercial market is more fluid than everbefore, with a large share of Installerbusiness “in play.”

From Aftermarket Insight™ by JimLang, President of Lang Marketing Re-sources, Inc., www.langmarketing.com.

Detroit Sales Erosion 1997–2010 and Retailer Market Gains


When it comes to dealing with cus-tomers, there are always a few thingsthat are sure to be an issue, i.e., Cost?,how long will it take? and When is itgoing to be done?

Then there are those times whenthe unexpected happens. When thatfront door opens and a new customercomes in and your expectations arehigh. Will this customer become a reg-ular? Then there is the type that makeyou say to yourself: What’s it going tobe this time?

The other day I was in the officewhen in walked a young man with that“clean-cut, kid-next-door” look. Helooked to me like a nice kid who hadhis head on his shoulders.

At the time I was busy finishingup with an aggravated customer whowas having a fit over paying for hercar’s outcome. The lady’s car had bro-ken a cam which took out the engine.It was going to need a new one. She

couldn’t afford the engine replace-ment, and her frustration was audible.She was completely out of it becausea cheaper solution wasn’t possible. Soshe let the shouting commence at thefront desk. Who would ya think had afront row seat to this show of shows?You guessed it… me!

As the lady continued with her rant,the young customer sat in the back-ground waiting for his turn at the counter.She soon left with her cell phone stuck

to her ear calling for a tow truck.The lad walked up to the counter

with a concerned look on his face. “Do yaneed a minute? How about you take adeep breath, just inhale slowly and exhale.Wow, dude… she gave you an earful.How do ya deal with that kind of thing?”

“Oh, I guess you could say youget used to it. It’s nothing; she’s justupset that she’ll have to buy anothercar. Thanks for asking, it’s no bigdeal… what can I do for you?” I saidas I took that deep breath.

“My headlights go off if I tilt mywheel all the way up.”

“No problem to look at it. Do youneed to wait on it?”

“If it won’t take long, that wouldbe nice.”

I filled out the paperwork and putthe truck in the shop. Sure enough, if youput the wheel all the way up, the lightswould go off. Down they worked fine.

Removing the steering column

trim revealed the problem. The mainwire that leads to the dimmer switchhad come free from the multifunctionswitch connector. Every time the col-umn was up the wire would separate. Itwas quick fix… nothing special. Justpush it back into place, make sure it“clicked” into place and strap it downto the other so it couldn’t pull freeagain. I even adjusted the entire harnessso there was a tad bit more room for theswinging motion of the column.

Before I put all the trim back on Itried it several times. It worked fine. Ipulled the car around front, and he paidfor my time and was back on the road.He was the kind of person who makesyour day special. Especially after deal-ing with a lady and her dead engine…(‘Maintenance’ people… it makes a dif-ference… but that’s another speech.)

A day or so later the same younglad was back with a different atti-tude… but now it wasn’t because the

Dude, Meet My Daughter

with Rick WhiteShop Management

with Stefan GesterkampPaint Management

with Gonzo WeaverGonzo’s Toolbox

with Richard ArnoldJobber Journal

with Dale DelmegeAsk Dale

Mainstream Media

Automakers’ Actions and Analysisby Autobody News Staff

Shop Showcaseby Autobody News Staff

with Ed AttanasioShop and Product Showcase

with Erica SchroederShop Showcase

with Erica SchroederShop Snapshot

This is a new story by Scott “Gonzo” Weaver as posted on his website,www.gonzostoolbox.com. See his book “Hey Look! I Found The LooseNut”, which provides a Good Laugh for Mechanics of Any Age. The bookis available at amazon.com. Contact Gonzo at [email protected]

Gonzo takes a moment between repairs toman the service desk himself


headlights wouldn’t come on whiletilting the wheel. It was because theheadlights blinked off and on. Heseemed very stern with his explana-tion. He made his point, and thenstood there waiting for my answer.

Normally, I would be thinking it’stime to get defensive. I just fixed his “noheadlight” problem the other day and

now this. The wheels are turning in myhead. I could feel the steam reaching theflash point. This kid was looking at mewith that same look the lady with thedead engine was looking at me with…(You know the look).

I didn’t want to blow my top overthis but I kept thinking ‘this guy isgoing to tell me it’s doing the samething. I just know it.’

He stood there staring me down. Iwas waiting for “It’s doing the samething” response.

With his arms folded across his chest,sure enough: “It’s doing the same thing.”

I’m about to go ballistic. Mydaughter, Mandy, was running theservice desk that afternoon. I could seeshe was looking for that “safe zone” toget out of the reach of dad’s soon-to-explode tantrum. But this kid was soconcerned with my well being theother day I figured I’d give him onemore chance.

I looked outside at the truck,turned to look at him and growled outsomething like, “Doors unlocked?”

He answered, “Sure are.”Without another word I walked out

and turned the headlights on while hefollowed me out to the truck. He startedto tell me how the headlights would fail,and how often it would happen. As heexplained the situation he seemed moreconcerned that I was going to blow mytop. He was sorry to bother me, but hewanted to be sure to tell me it onlyblinks after he’s been driving for morethan an hour or so, and not when it’stilted as it did in the past. He noticedwhen the headlights do start to blink he

could wiggle the headlight switch knoband they would come back on.

“Well, that’s NOT what was wrongwith it the other day. What made yousay it was the same thing?” I asked.

“Just wanted to razz ya man. Ithought it would be funny. You seem

like an uptight guy who doesn’t get alot of laughs. Thought you might geta kick out somebody playing ya,” heanswered, chuckling and patting meon the back. I don’t know how this kidpegged me for an uptight guy, but I’mstarting to like him.

OK, ya got me. Good one kid. I’llgive you that. I had to laugh. There’snothing like somebody from outside theindustry seeing the difficulty and stressthat this job can put you under.

We struck up a friendly conversa-tion about college, family, and work,while we were waiting to see if theheadlights would blink. After about ahalf hour or so the headlights did ex-actly what he predicted. It was a faultyheadlight switch. After wasting the bet-ter part of an hour just chatting andsmall talk, the two of us went back intothe office and asked Mandy to order anew headlight switch. Mandy was ex-pecting me to come in, slam somethingon the counter, say a few choice words,and rant my way back to the shop kick-ing doors open all the way. But insteadI had a big smile on my face, and mynew found bud alongside.

“Dude, meet my daughter, Mandy.”You can guess her reaction. (Mandy was-n’t all that impressed with the guy.)

When the switch made it to theshop I went right to work installing it,and sent my friend down the road. I’msure he’ll be back. He made my daywith his quick observations of the go-ings on at the repair shop. I just wishmore people acted that way. It wouldmake my life a lot easier.

As for Mandy… she hasn’t decidedyet. I guess my buddy wasn’t her type.

Hey, but a Dad can dream, can’t he?

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Second daughter Amanda (Mandy) checkingto see what her dad wrote about her this time

First daughter Katrina (Katie) taking a breakwith Autobody News


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Imagine the negative impact a lack ofreliable transportation has on alifestyle. Getting to work, going to thedoctor, or even grabbing a quart ofmilk at the store becomes a challenge.Most of us probably can’t imagine ex-isting without a car at our immediatedisposal, yet the United States Bureauof Transportation estimates that over15 million Americans have difficultygetting the transportation they need.

For this reason, the National AutoBody Council (NABC) is pleased tosay that the lives of five deserving LasVegas families was dramatically im-pacted on Thursday, November 4, atthe SEMA Show located outside of the

Las Vegas Convention Center. Each ofthe families received the gift of a re-furbished vehicle from NABC mem-bers through its Recycled Rides™program. Las Vegas Mayor OscarGoodman was in attendance, as he waslast year.

This was the second time withinweeks that such a donation has oc-curred. Five other families also re-ceived vehicles from Recycled Ridesat the NACE Show that took placeTuesday, October 12 at the MandalayBay Convention Center.

Insurance companies Esurance,Allstate and State Farm donated thevehicles to be repaired. NABC mem-bers Sterling Collision, 911 Collisionand Gerber Collision & Glass were re-sponsible for refurbishing the vehicles.

The recipient families were allgraduates of the Family Promise ofLas Vegas program, a non-profit in-terfaith network that provides supportto families in crisis.

The first family included a motherof three that could no longer afford herapartment after being recently laid off.After only 44 days in the program she is

back on her feet and the Chrysler Paci-fica she received will be used to get herto her new job and her children to school.

The second recipient is a father oftwo boys, one of whom is a specialneeds child. The Mazda they receivewill be used to get the father to workand his boys to school.

The third recipient is a singlemother of three daughters. All arehonor students. One is graduating highschool this year in anticipation of at-tending a prestigious college. Theirvehicle will help keep their scholasticwinning streak alive.

The fourth family consists of acouple with two children who were in

the Family Promise program twoyears ago and who married while inthe program. Their donated Chryslervan will get mom to school and getdad to his job helping him to maintainhis perfect attendance record at work.

The fifth recipient is a singlemother of two toddler daughters forcedto take the bus to get to work, and toget her daughters to preschool. By re-ceiving her recycled Acura MDX,mom will be able to breathe easierknowing that the only schedule she willnow have to follow is her own.

“We’re really happy to be back inLas Vegas to give five more familiesthe vehicles that will help providethem a fresh start,” said RecycledRides Chairman and President of Ster-ling Autobody Centers, Nick Notte.

“These are just ten examples ofthe 150 families who this year will re-ceive the gift of reliable transportationto make better lives for themselvesdue to Recycled Rides and its partici-pants. I am grateful to be part of aproject that clearly illustrates the giv-ing nature of NABC members and thecollision repair industry in general.”


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Auto Zone Representatives with some of theSEMA Recycled Rides recipients

Nadeeryah reacts after Nick Notte presentsher with her new recycled ride

AC Collision Center in Gonzales, TX,opened just two months ago thanks toowner Angel Casares’ father-in-law’sgenerosity. Arturo Cruz has owned A& S Recycling in Gonzales since itopened in 1989 and after Casares

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The shop itself is 5,000 square feetwith an additional 1,400 square feet foroffice space. They have 4 full time em-ployees and one part time employee whois still a student at Casares’ alma mater.

“This is our first business, we’rereally just trying to bring something

new to a small, historic town,” saidCasares.

After a year of preparation andabout a $200,000 investment fromCruz for building preparations andequipment, the shop was able to open.

“This is something I’ve been con-sidering doing for about two years,”said Casares.

Lots of the preparation done inthe year before the shop opened hadto do with getting the building readyto house an auto shop and choosingvendors and suppliers.

Casares chose Garmat for theshop’s heated spray booths, Car-O-Liner for frame racks and DuPont’sSpies-Hecker brand for all the shop’spainting needs.

According to Casares, he choseGarmat for their space-saving designsince in a small shop all space wouldneed to be used wisely. He chose Car-O-Liner because he had used them atschool and liked them a lot and feltthey were easy to use; and he chose

DuPont’s Spies-Hecker because of thequality of their paints.

“I’m just trying to bring some-thing different to Gonzales,” saidCasares, “I’m trying to bring goodequipment to a small town.”

AC Collision Center is a family-run business, not only does Casareshope to share some business and cus-

tomers with his father-in-law’s scrapmetal recycling company, his wifeAbigail and sister Sonya also help inthe shop’s office area.

AC Collision Center2505 Church StreetGonzales, TX 78629(830) 672-7303

AC Collision Opens in Gonzales, Texas, Thanks to Family Ties

Abigail Casares and sister Sonya in the front office area

with Ed Attanasio

Shop and Product Showcase

with Ed Attanasio

Shop Showcase

with Erica SchroederShop Showcase

The Right Causewith Mike Causey

Industry Insightwith John Yoswick

Erica Schroeder is a writer and editorial assistantfor Autobody News in Oceanside, CA. She can bereached at [email protected].

Repair crew Chris Pena, Larry Peterman, and Angel Casares outside of the shop

The Church St. view of AC Collision Center


As 2011 approaches and we move for-ward into another year in the collisionindustry, we can be sure of one thing:vehicles are changing. The way we ascollision repairers do business is alsochanging. We are running our compa-nies leaner. We are measuring our effi-ciencies and comparing our numberswith other shops around us. We have allbecome better at running businesses.We have changed drastically in how wemanage our customer. We have im-proved our customer service. Many ofus have started our own customer mar-keting campaigns. We have CSI pro-grams that measure our customers’satisfaction down to the last detail. Itwould be safe to say that we have be-come customer-oriented companies.We communicate with our customersbetter. We return their vehicles faster.We give them completed paperwork atthe same time we give them their vehi-cles. We take the time to explain even

the smallest details to them and evenoffer them a cup of coffee while theywait. We are concerned about them andwe want them to be treated in a profes-sional and honest manner.

The entire collision industry hasreally “stepped up” and made the cus-tomers experience with collision repaira much better experience than ever be-fore. Our customers trust us and we arebeginning to replace the ‘alley bodyshop’ image of the past with a newservice-oriented ‘dealership’ image.

BUT...While we were staffing upour offices and updating our claimsprocessing and watching our numbers,there were few resources left over topurchase training and equipment thatactually fixes the cars. Most shopshave found themselves so caught upin the claims process that the repairhas become secondary to the handlingof the claim. Getting the vehicle outwithin the cycle time allowance and

making the metrics look right is moreimportant than doing the research toknow if you are even equipped andtrained to repair the vehicles.

In this economy very few shopswill turn work away and this becomesvery dangerous for the shop and thecustomer. So, while you may have theblessing of the insurance companyand your numbers may look good andeven your customer leaves happy, youunknowingly have sent them out in anunsafe vehicle because you really did-n’t understand the proper repair pro-cedure or use the proper OEM partsfor that particular vehicle.

Many argue that “Safety” is NOTa problem because there is no docu-mented proof of a vehicle passengergetting hurt because of aftermarketbumper reinforcements or aftermarketstructure parts such as core supports,etc. This is a foolish argument. Are youreally saying there cannot be a safety

issue because there is no proof yet?This argument is analagous to

saying: ‘This intersection doesn’t needa RED LIGHT until we have somedead bodies.’ The tobacco companiesknew that smoking was unsafe yearsbefore the bodies started piling up.They took the same stand: “There IsNo Proof Smoking is Dangerous,” andcontinued doing business as usual.Big Tobacco cited the longevity ofsome smokers to ‘prove’ smoking wasnot hazardous to your health.

We as a repair industry havestepped up our claims processes butwe have neglected the collision repairitself. We reap the benefits of the onewhile the insurance company reaps thebenefits of the other. We need to be ef-ficient in both, but NEVER should theinsurer control the repair process. It isnot their business to repair collisions.It’s their business to handle claims and


DO THE RIGHT THING ENOUGH TIMES, AND PEOPLE BEGIN TO NOTICE.

��e HHyyyuunnnnnndddaiiii GGennneeeeeeeeeeesssssssssssssssssiiiiiiiiiiiissssssssssss——————————————2220000000000000099999999999 NNNNNNNNNNNooooorttthhhhhhh AAAAmmmmmmmmmmmeeeeeeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrrrriiiiiiiiiiiiccccccccaaaaaaaaaaannnn CCCCCCCCCar oofffffffffff tttttttttthhhhhhheeeeeee YYYYYYeeeeaaaarr.

�e Hyundai Genesis—2009 North American Car of the Year.

Hyundai Sales Up More than 14% (year on year). In 2008 Hyundai became the world's ��h-largest automaker, with 7% market share in the United States.

See these Hyundai dealers below for allyour collision parts needs!

�ink About It

OKLAHOMATEXAS

Gene Messer HyundaiLUBBOCK

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Mon-Fri 7:30am - 5:[email protected]

Allen Samuels HyundaiNORTH RICHLAND HILLS

800-888-2079817-589-7882 Fax


[email protected]

Hub HyundaiHOUSTON

800-856-2212281-955-2311 FaxMon-Fri 7:30am - 6pm

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Automax HyundaiNORMAN

866-619-6406405-364-3307405-364-6504 Fax


My Customer, the Crash Test Dummy

Custom Cornerwith Rich Evans

Custom Cornerwith Rich Evans

Opinions Countwith Dick Strom



Action Countswith Lee Amaradio Jr.

Action Countswith Lee Amaradio Jr.

with Sheila LoftusYour Turn

with Sheila LoftusYour Turn

Opinions Countwith Dick Strom

Shop Showcasewith Janet Chaney

Shop Showcasewith Janet Chaney

Industry Overviewwith Janet Chaney

Industry Overviewwith Janet Chaney

Industry Interviewwith Janet Chaney

Industry Interviewwith Janet Chaney



Lee Amaradio, Jr. is the president and owner of “Faith” Quality Auto Body Inc. in Murrieta,California. Lee is president of the CRA as well as an advocate for many other industrygroups. He can be contacted at [email protected]

See The Crash Test Dummy, Page 29


The site itself looks com-pletely different now then it did whenI first started it. I was fortunateenough to have phenomenal mentorsto call and ask for advice when I wascreating the site and even to eventu-ally call and ask to join and create apage once it was done. It would nothave launched so successfully withoutmy mentors in the collision and insur-ance sides of the industry joining thesite. It definitely grew by word ofmouth after that. When it first gotstarted, I remember thinking, ‘if peo-ple from both sides [of the industry]were willing to join, I had done some-thing right in my career.’

ABN: You have a family backgroundin collision repair, don’t you ?KF: I was born into this industry. MyDad owned a collision repair shopwhen I was growing up and I reallyspent my life in it. I worshipped myDad, so I was in the shop every daywatching him work. I did a little bitof everything to help once I gotolder; frame, body and paint, to namea few. Looking back I wasn’t thatgreat of a technician, so I went to col-lege and got a job working with StateFarm Insurance in their marketingdepartment. While working there myperspective on the insurance industrychanged a lot, but I missed the peo-ple in the body shops. Car people willdo anything for anybody—they’re re-ally good people. That’s one thing Ireally enjoy about Collision Hub, itlets people see both sides of the in-dustry.

ABN: Where do you see the relation-ship between social media and thecollision repair industry in 5 to 10years? Do you think it’s a long-last-ing, valuable tool?KF: I think in 5 years we will seeeverything involved in the social mediaenvironment. Facebook, youtube, andtwitter will become complete newssources and information sharing medi-ums. These sites promote friendshipand respect and open up some channelsfor users. I think we will also see a lot

more people plugged in this industryspecifically.

ABN: What are CollisionHub.com’snumbers when it comes to number ofpages and traffic?KF: CollisionHub.com currently hasabout 3,000 personal pages in 22countries. The pages break down to54% body shops, 14% insurance andthe rest are vendors and educators. Asfar as views, Collision Hub gets about50,000 page views a month fromabout 13,000 individual IP addresses.Most of our traffic is organic; not a lotof people are coming to the site froma link on another site.

ABN: The last two years have beenespecially tough in the industry. Whathave your first two years been like forCollisionHub? Have there been anymajor problems or challenges?KF: It’s been hard. There have beensome hard months. There are highsand lows with every business, but forCollision Hub the lows haven’t beenso low recently.

ABN: What are Collision Hub’s goalsbusiness-wise 5 to 10 years down theroad?KF: Overall we want to develop acommunity that is accepting and re-spectful of everyone in the industry,no matter if they’ve been a top-levelCEO of a major body shop for 30years or are just starting out as a tech-nician. We want everyone to have anequal voice and equal footing and re-ally create a community for this in-dustry online. We want newcomers tothe industry to have a place to shareideas and have them be heard, as wellas a place for them to learn and gainindustry mentors.

ABN: Tell us about your plans forCollision Hub TV.KF: I think that the size and scope ofthis industry isn’t really appreciated;what all we are involved with isn’t ap-preciated. Collision Hub TV just pro-vides another way for people to seewhat goes on, to be there without hav-

ing to buy a plane ticket. CH TV willgive more stories a face. For example,one thing I’m hoping CH TV will beable to do is to help SkillsUSA winnerKayla Toncik be able to get enoughexposure to get some more financialsponsorships for her WorldSkillsevent in 2011. Participants from theUSA have to earn their own way toWorldSkills, unlike some participantfrom other countries whose ways arepaid. Through CH TV people can seeher, see her train and connect to herstory. CH TV provides people with away to see it, feel it and hear it; to bemore involved and plugged in. Colli-sion Hub TV is the site’s number onedriver right now.

ABN: What are some new features inthe works at CollisionHub.com?KF: Well, there are quite a few thingsin the works, some more completethan others. First, there’s CollisionHub University, which will probablybe launched in Q1 of 2011. Everyoneright now is training driven and the in-dustry wants more training, but it isexpensive and time consuming forbusinesses to send their staff to train-ing events and classes. So CH univer-sity would allow technicians to watch5 to 10 minute videos to gain moretechnical knowledge. We’re workingwith some of the training organiza-tions to set that up. We’re also work-ing on a classifieds/auctioning sectionof Collision Hub, which will hope-fully go live also in Q1 of 2011. Thiswould be a marketplace where peoplecould post job openings, for-sale itemsand jobs wanted posts. Also the GirlScouts project Collision Hub did atNACE this year was very successful,so we will be expanding on that in thecoming months. We’re thinking ofdoing a Gear Heads Kids Car oppor-tunity where the Girl Scouts can at-tend some classes and work regularlyon projects to gain better knowledgeabout this industry. After the last GirlScouts project we also have tossedaround the idea of creating an 18 andunder section of Collision Hub wherepeople under 18-years-old can have a

Collision Hub page and use it as avenue to learn more about this indus-try, but only be able to view certain,age appropriate content. We have alsobeen experimenting with the idea ofcreating virtual trade shows. CollisionHub would provide a program wherepeople can create avatars and visit vir-tual booths at any participating tradeshow. Then users can click on a boothand it will video call the physicalbooth where someone there will beable to answer questions and talk tothem as if they were physically at theshow. We’re thinking of trying this outat next year’s ASA Vision show.

ABN: I know a lot of social media siteshave had issues generating much in-come from usage, how has CollisionHub done and how do you pay the bills?KF: Collision Hub runs on a spon-sorship model. I went to companies Ihad existing relationships with frommy insurance background when Ifirst had this idea and asked them ifthey would like to participate.

Those companies make yearlydonations to Collision Hub and inturn Collision Hub does advertisingand product videos on our site forthem. I picked products I believe infor these positions. It meant a lot thatthese companies had faith in my ideaso early on, it was a big vote of con-fidence. Our founding sponsors were3M, PPG and Enterprise and we re-cently landed Chief as a sponsor justbefore the SEMA show.

ABN: What is your sense of the valueof social media for collision repairers?KF: People don’t want to choose aproduct anymore that they don’t havea connection to. Social media allowscustomers to have more of this con-nection easily. Social media allows abusiness to be there before, during,and after the customer’s need is met. Ireally think social media is the bestbusiness and marketing tool we’veever had. If you’re not on social medianow, get there and get there now.

Thanks, Kristen. Sign up forfree at www.collisonhub.com.

Kristen Felder INTERVIEW by Erica Schroeder Cover Story

At their annual meeting the weekend ofNov. 20 in Austin, Texas, the NationalConference of Insurance Legislators(NCOIL) Property and Casualty Insur-

ance Committee “indefinitely tabled”the Model Act Regarding steering.

After a meeting to hear commen-tary on the proposed model, the com-

mittee made the decision to effectivelykill the measure that had only existedas a stand-alone bill since March ofthis year.

What began as a three-sentencesub section of the Crash Parts ModelAct (still under consideration by the

NCOIL Tables Model Steering Act, for Now

See NCOIL Model Act, Page 33


by David Brown

Kristen Felder believes that membersof the collision repair industry shouldmeet and meet often — and not by ac-cident.

Her Web site, www.collision-hub.com, is a network for those in thecollision repair and related industriesto share information, talk shop, dis-cuss issues and get to know eachother. Benton, Arkansa-based Colli-sionHub.com encourages technicians,shop owners, suppliers, insurancecompanies, auto glass installers, tow-ing companies and rental car agenciesto log on and join in.

“After looking at groups in Face-book and LinkedIn, I determined weneeded our own safe space with somecontent controls,” says Felder, whonotes being “born” into the collisionrepair through her dad, Ted, whobegan working in the business in 1965after leaving the Air Force. He openedhis first shop in 1970 with a businesspartner and retired in 1997.

She began Collision Hub quietlyin May 2009 and then officially atNACE 2010 as a social networkingsite for professionals within the in-dustry, she explains. “It was a way tobring a successful open model offriendship and communication to lifeand make it accessible to our industryas a whole,” she says.

Two years earlier, at NACE 2008,she and a group of collision industryprofessionals had discussed commu-nication among themselves—espe-cially as they represented differentsegments of the industry.

“We came to the conclusion thatour friendships were at the core of thisability to communicate openly andhonestly and wondered how we coulduse this social model to bring that

level of open communication to ourindustry as a whole,” recalls Felder,who earned a public relations degreefrom Arkansas State University, in-terning for State Farm Insurance.After graduation, she worked for StateFarm as a claims representative, thenmoved to Nationwide. In November2009, she began running CollisionHub full time.

“I like to tell people that I spent 20years in collision repair and 14 years ininsurance,” she adds. “It is that experi-ence on both sides of the fence that re-ally drives Collision Hub. I see and feelboth sides of our industry’s issues.”

Felder realized that four or fiveannual industry events wouldn’t ac-complish connectedness. After NACE2008, she returned home, thought andresearched. She saw a study on Gen Xand Next Gen which discussed the im-portance of social connections on sitessuch as Facebook and MySpace andhow those relationships will revolu-tionize business.

“The participants interviewed forthe study stated theyhad stronger connec-tions with their ‘vir-tual’ friends throughsocial networkingthen their ‘real’friends,” she says.“Could we forge

strong bonds and notbe at a social cocktailreception duringsome industry event?Could we forgestronger bonds ‘virtu-ally’ so that our facetime was more pro-

ductive and respectful?” Because Col-lision Hub is a social media businesssite—and not news based— Feldersays that this establishes neutralground for insurers, vendors and re-pairers to participate freely. “We focuson the positive and what should be cel-ebrated in our industry,” she says. “Wemonitor and control the site to ensureinteractions are professional and re-spectful.”

As a result, the site focuses onother aspects of the industry to discussand develop content such as TheWomen’s Project, Girl Scout NACEDay and Future Leaders. “We wantCollision Hub to be a fun place to con-nect, learn and grow,” Felder says.That makes us different and refresh-ing in the industry.”

The site also facilitates connec-tions according to specific interests,she says. The Collision Hub platformis based on topical communities suchas pets, diet and health, women, shopowners and marketing, allowing usersto find niche groups and build rela-tionships within them. In addition, theCollision Hub has broadcast NABC,

I-CAR, CIECA events and will fea-ture live upcoming shows fromNACE and SEMA. Kristen: “We un-derstand the power and importance ofvideo and using the Internet to bringthe industry to everyone that cannottravel to industry events.”

She notes, too, that the site’s spon-sor support allows content to be mem-ber driven, providing photos, blogsand discussions. Sponsorship packagesare annual or for specific events suchas NACE/SEMA, she explains. Lim-ited spots can be purchased such as fora featured product, job postings andhot links. “Collision Hub is whateverthe industry wants it to be or needs it tobe at any given moment,” she says.

Still, some analysts cautionagainst an overemphasis on social net-working, urging caution about socialnetworking hazards such as phishing,identity theft, reputation damage, de-creased employee effectiveness andother cyberdangers.

“Social networking and collabo-rative Web sites can offer their users agreat wealth of resources at their fin-gertips. However, they do have theirplace and should not come withoutlimits,” says Mike Carson, a formerbodyman, insurance appraiser, andowner of Joliet, Ill.-based IntegratedTechnology and Design, an Internettechnology company.

“Collision shop owners need to beaware that these Web sites can offervaluable industry-related information

but can also waste employee re-sources,” he explains. So, too: “Anemployee may say something damag-ing on these Web sites and discussionboards without even realizing that heor she has done harm to your com-pany.”

Many collision repair industrymembers, however, are using Colli-

sion Hub regularly—and lauding it.“Collision Hub isgreat way for the in-dustry to come to-gether via theInternet,” says GigiWalker, president ofthe California Auto-body Association.“It’s an open formatfor everyone relatedto the industry to talkshop: estimator to ap-praiser, shop owner toshop owner.”

Dave Henderson, CEO ofBrighton Mich.-based AutoWatch, hasbeen involved with Collison Hub al-most since start-up — posting items, re-ceiving feedback and connecting withcustomers and potential customers.

“I have found it a great media toget the AutoWatch name in front ofmany in the industry,” he says. “I alsolike that I can look up others in the in-dustry and keep up on what is goingon. This is for sure going to be an iconin the industry and a good forum tothe global market.”

Alex Hahn, lead estimator/bodyshop manager for Fairfield, Calif.-based Fairfield Auto Body, agrees:“Collision Hub is a first of a kindplace for the whole auto body indus-try, from preppers all the way up tocorporate CEOs. It’s a communitysoap box where anyone can reach outto another or ask for specific help inany aspect of the business.”

He recently used it to learn moreabout establishing a DRP, ensuring theaccuracy of estimates, and finding an-swers to technical questions that oth-ers at the shop couldn’t answer.“Searching for autobody resourceswas almost impossible. In the infor-mation age, I was astonished that therewas not a central site,” he recalls.

“It took many weeks of searchesbut finally I stumbled across CH in itsinfancy and was instantly addicted. Iposted questions and got answers—most times within minutes.”

Collision Hub Implements its Social Media Strategy

Kristen interviews Dan Bailey from CARSTAR at NACE 2010

Kristen Felder interviews (l to r) I-CAR’s Jeff Peevy with SCRS’Barry Dorn and Aaron Schulenburg at SEMA 2010


Kristen Felder, founder and CEO ofCollision Hub, and Jordan Hendler,with Admin Concepts, taught the So-

cial Media 101session on Thurs-day, November 4at the SEMA showas part of SCRS’Repairer DrivenEducation. Bothsocial media gurusexpressed that so-

cial media has become a necessity forbody shops.

Felder began the session by talk-ing about the pervasiveness of socialmedia in business these days.

“Your customers and competitionare both using social media,” saidFelder. Facebook, youtube and Twit-ter are the three sites that she sees asbeing really necessary for body shopsat this point.

“We want you to be there whenthey come looking for you,” saidHendler, suggesting that body shops’online presence and the social pres-ence in their physical waiting roomsshould be connected. Their onlinepresence should reflect their store

presence and vice versa.Both speakers told attendees dur-

ing the session that they should focuson customer loyalty, repeat businessand referrals when it comes to offersand posts they put on their socialmedia pages.

“People do not care about colli-sion until they have one,” said Hendler.

One tip Hendler offered was forbody shops to have a presence andshare news that’s relevant.

“Make it interesting, just startwith having a presence,” said Hendler,

“If they get it [information] fromyou, they will feel like you care.”

Felder explained that socialmedia is really a portal; a two-way in-teraction between body shop and thecustomer, unlike a regular websitewhere the information is dispersed oneway, from body shop to the customer.This gives customers a way to interactwith a business outside of the physicallocation.

“If you’re going to do your own[social media pages], it’s about a 20minute per day commitment from youor someone in your office,” saidFelder.

When it comes to content, Felderand Hendler both told shops to focuson local issues, causes and events.

“Don’t let irrelevant stuff get onyour page,” said Hendler.

Felder told shops to try to focus oncreating a local network by posting onother local pages and posting about thingsyour specific community cares about.

“Social Media isn’t just aboutyour presence, it’s about your com-munity involvement,” said Felder.

At the end of the session the pairlaid out some do’s and don’t’s forbody shops using social media.

DON’T: Use closed statements,put up strictly ads or engage in politi-cal or religious debates.

DO: Listen to posts on your page(accept the negative comments anddon’t just delete them), engage in con-versations, not just campaigns andmeasure your success through follow-ers and comments.

“Everyone is a potential cus-tomer ... but on social media you don’tneed to treat them like one,” saidFelder.

For more information visit colli-sionhub.com or admin-concepts.net.

Social Media 101: Why Social Media Matters in Collision Repair

Jordan Hendler

SCRS-sponsored classes at the event,SEMA attracted about 115,000 peo-ple overall, up about 20 percent fromlast year. The “Paint, Body andEquipment” section of the show in-cluded more than 120 exhibiting com-panies, with many other companiesthat sell to the collision repair indus-try—including most of the majorpaint companies and many automak-ers—exhibiting elsewhere among the9,000 booths and 2 million squarefeet of SEMA exhibit space.

SCRS also held a board meetingduring the event, reporting on the as-sociation’s recent and upcoming ac-tivities. At the meeting, for example,SCRS Executive Director AaronSchulenburg said the association isbuilding a matrix showing which in-surer direct repair programs (DRPs)require use of a specific vendor forsuch services as rental vehicles, esti-mating systems or customer serviceindexing. The goal, Schulenburg said,is to show that some programs aremore restrictive than others in terms

of vendor choice, and to show the bur-den and added expense such require-ments can have on shops participatingin multiple DRPs.

Also at the meeting, SCRS boardmember and industry trainer TobyChess made a presentation on theneed to recalibrate the steering angle

sensor that is partof the electronicstability controlsystem on an in-creasing numberof new vehicles.Such systems arestandard equip-ment on 85 percent

of 2010 new vehicles, and will be re-quired on all new vehicles as of modelyear 2012. The recalibration is an ad-ditional procedure that must be doneafter the vehicle alignment.

“It’s an added step, and there’salso no more 2-wheel alignments withthese systems,” Chess said. “Thatwon’t work.”

Chess said he has not yet seen thisnecessary step added to the estimatingsystems. He’s also concerned becauseeven though no “trouble light” will belit on the dash and the vehicle may

handle properly under normal drivingconditions even if the system is notcalibrated, the electronic stability con-trol function may not work properly ina subsequent “emergency maneuver.”

Estimating system changes discussed At the meeting, Schulenburg also pre-sented the association’s discussionswith Audatex regarding the automated“prep raw bumper cover” feature thatAudatex added and then retractedfrom its estimating system this fall.The change provided an automated 20percent of the bumper refinish time(plus refinish materials) for the rawbumper prep operation. But Audatexremoved the feature from the system amonth after launching it, citing con-cerns raised by the industry.

Indeed, in October, the Automo-tive Service Association (ASA) an-nounced that a majority of themembers of its “Collision OperationsCommittee” said they felt the 20 per-cent formula was adequate enough toremove the issue as an ongoing pointof negotiation or friction.

But Schulenburg said he voicedto Audatex SCRS members’ view thatthe system should only prompt the es-

timator when a raw bumper has beenadded to the estimate, allowing the es-timator to determine the necessarylabor time to be entered.

Audatex has said it plans to re-store some type of raw bumper prepprompt to the system based on inputfrom the industry and review by itstechnical advisory council.

In other discussion at the meeting,Bud Center of the Database En-hancement Gateway (DEG) shared

several examplesof changes to theestimating systemsthat have resultedbased on DEG in-quiries. The DEG,developed andsupported prima-rily by three na-

tional repairer associations, allowsusers to submit concerns via website(www.DEGweb.org) about the accu-racy of any of the Big Three estimat-ing databases and systems.

Center said one such inquiry, No.2839, submitted in late October, raiseda concern about data in the Motor In-formation Systems’ database (used by

Bud Center

Toby Chess

Continued from Page 1

SEMA Week Meetings

See SEMA Week Meetings, Next Page

experienced by many people in a widevariety of situations from school to jobsto relationships, whether personal orbusiness. When interest and attentionare gone, a decline begins.

Once a shop has entered into a DRParrangement with an insurance companyor a contractual agreement with a dealer-ship, after the sequence has moved fromcuriosity, interest, and desire to satisfac-tion of demand, to keep the relationshipcontinuing without declining to no inter-est and rejection periodically at least oneof the parties must take the initiative tore-fire the curiosity and interest. And sowe come to the question of whether theshop owner who invested in conferencespace and presentation equipment made agood investment. Certainly there can beother ways to stimulate interesting inter-actions with DRP coordinators, dealer-ship principals and other referral sources,but this seems to be a particularly attrac-tive resource from the viewpoint of thoseinvited to use the space (and be fed -- heprovided the food for the meeting hehosted). I’m inclined to think it was agood investment.


Promotion


ployment to it ‘will’ change the airbagdeployment,” Massie said.

Massie showed video of the test-ing, which found that a Mustang withthe non-OEM reinforcement beam,energy absorber and isolator sustained$2,982 in damage in a 5-mph crash asopposed to $1,224 in damage to thesame vehicle when equipped withFord service parts. Massie said therewas only about $400 difference in theestimated repair costs in an 8-mphcrash, unless the reduced energy ab-sorption of the non-OEM parts re-sulted in airbag deployment. Fordengineer Dave Bauch said such a de-ployment is more likely with thechanged “crash pulse” that the testingshowed is a result from the use of thenon-OEM parts.

Also at CIC, CAPA announcedits new standard and certification fornon-OEM bumper-related parts,saying that as it developed the newstandard, it found “very few bumperparts that actually matched the carcompany brand parts in terms of per-formance, materials and durability.”

Jack Gillis of CAPA said that inorder to confirm that its new standardaccurately identifies parts that matchOEM, CAPA worked with the InsuranceInstitute for Highway Safety (IIHS) tocrash test some non-OEM bumper parts.IIHS tested some bumper reinforcementbeams that met CAPA’s certificationstandards and some that did not.

A non-OEM beam for the 2009Toyota Camry that wouldn’t have metCAPA’s new standard didn’t bucklesimilarly to the OEM version in a low-

speed crash. One for the 2005 Ford F-150 actually resulted in lower esti-mated repair costs than the OEMversion, but only because the fog lamprecesses were different than the OEM;the difference actually protected thefog lamps better, but still would pre-vent the part from being certified asmatching the OEM.

But a non-OEM bumper rein-forcement beam designed for the

2008 Dodge Rampick-up and thatdoes meet CAPA’snew standard wasalso crash tested;the resulting esti-mated damagecosts to the vehi-cle were virtually

identical to the damage costs sus-tained when the OEM version wascrash-tested at low and high speeds.

Ford’s Massie was asked to com-ment on the CAPA crash testing.

“I’ve got to say, I think whatJack showed today was promising,”Massie said. “The IIHS piece of itadds a lot of credibility. I thinkthere’s a lot more we’ve got to knowbefore we could put our stamp of ap-proval on it, if we ever put our stampof approval on it, but I think it was acompelling effort.”Also at CIC, Bob Frayer of NSF

International spoke about his com-pany’s non-OEM parts certificationprogram launched in February ofthis year. He said about 100 partshave been certified through the pro-gram to date, with 100 more ex-pected to be certified by the end ofthis year. He said he expects thatnumber to be close to 2,000 by theend of 2011.

Like CAPA, NSF certification re-quires the manufacturer to meet qual-ity control requirements, and that partsundergo testing to determine theymatch OEM in terms of content, fitand function. But unlike CAPA, NSFdoes not require that its labs conductthe actual testing of the parts; NSFmerely audits that the parts manufac-turer has had testing done by a quali-fied facility.

“The manufacturers control test-ing,” Frayer said. “We can do the test-ing, but we only require the testing bedone at an ISO 17025 accredited fa-cility. I worked very closely with theOEMs in a previous life, and this isthe same criteria they held us to in ourtesting.”

NSF-certified parts bear the NSFmark, Frayer said, and certification re-quires the manufacturer to have a sys-tem in place to conduct a part recall if

there is a safetyconcern. AlthoughCAPA accepts andinvestigates com-plaints about partsit certifies, underthe NSF programthe parts manufac-turer must have a

system in place to accept and respondto complaints. How does a shop knowhow to file such a complaint? Frayersaid a phone number or email addressfor the manufacturer must be includedon either the part or packaging.

Gillis and Frayer were asked howthe industry should view the fact thatthere are now multiple standards andcertification programs for non-OEMparts. Gillis said he doesn’t see it as agood thing, and could create confu-sion, just as it would if competing

drug stores had different standards foraspirin that consumers had to try tosort through.

“Multiple standards often signifya diminution of the concept of stan-dards,” Gillis said.

He welcomed critics of CAPA tocontact him to get a better under-standing of what it takes to meetCAPA standards, saying that thosewho have often are surprised and im-pressed by what they learn. He ac-knowledged that all of the significantchanges to the CAPA program overthe decades have been the result ofchallenges by collision repairers.

“We want that. We welcomethat,” Gillis said.

Frayer pointed out that when NSFlaunched its program, it began with astandard for non-OEM bumper parts,a category of parts CAPA wasn’t cer-tifying until this fall. He also said hedoesn’t see multiple standards as a badthing.“If we were interested in only onestandard, we would probably be buy-ing only OEM parts and say that’s thestandard and why don’t we stopthere,” Frayer said. “I’d argue thatboth CAPA and NSF are not the firststandard but the second and third inthe industry (after OEM). I don’t per-sonally think that’s a bad thing.”

Frayer was asked at CIC why hethinks the NSF program will succeedwhen CAPA still struggles to gain ac-ceptance by shops, insurers, partsmanufacturers and distributors.

“I think the people in this roomwill make that decision over time,”Frayer said. “I’m not going to com-ment directly on that. I think a yearfrom now we’ll be talking again andsee how we’re doing.”


CIC: Bumper Testing

CAPA’s Jack Gillis

NSF’s Bob Frayer

the CCC Information Services esti-mating system) related to the replace-ment of rear floor pan on the 2006Toyota Rav4. The inquiry indicatedthat this procedure requires the pur-chase and welding of five brackets andcross-members. The need for theseparts isn’t indicated in the system, theinquiry points out, and no labor time islisted in the system for the parts.

Within three days, Center said,Motor had responded by adding labortimes of 1.5 hours for the seat cross-member and 1.3 hours for the rear re-

inforcement, and doubling the labortime for the third-row seat cross-mem-ber to 2 hours.

“That’s almost four additionallabor hours,” Center said. “And thiswas on a 2006 vehicle. I’m curioushow many of those we’ve repaired inthe last four years. It’s a big change.” Next step on standards

In another meeting held duringSEMA week, the effort to develop for-malized industry standards for collisionshops and repairs took another step for-ward with the formation of a committeeto hire and fund a short-term consultantto oversee the next stage of the process.

About 30 people attended a half-day meeting organized by the Colli-

sion Industry Conference (CIC) “Re-pair Standards Committee.” Attendeesdiscussed the committee’s efforts onthe project to date, and discussed thepros and cons of developing formal-ized industry standards.

At the conclusion of the meeting,the group formed a planning groupthat will work to hire a temporaryproject manager to develop a plan,timeline and budget for completion offormalized standards and for the cre-ation or designation of an entity tooversee and implement adoption ofthe standards within the industry.

“We’re building that broad indus-try consensus to take this massiveamount of work the CIC committee

has done, and the massive amount ofwork that still needs to be done, andgive it the right structure and put itinto perspective for everybody to beable to use,” said Scott Biggs, whohelped chair the meeting.


SEMA Week Meetings

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General Motors enjoyed the most sub-stantial initial public offering the coun-try has seen this year, generating at least$16 billion in its much anticipated IPOthat launched the morning of Nov. 18.

GM chief executive officer DanAkerson rang the opening bell of theNYSE, which, in this case, was ac-companied by the sound of a 2011Chevrolet Camaro SS engine revvingand tires squealing.

GM stock began selling, andeventually the IPO would reach one ofone the highest levels in history.

“General Motors returns to theNYSE as a company with a greatglobal brand and heritage, and a re-

newed focus on innovation, qualityand the customer,” stated DuncanNiederauer, CEO of NYSE Euronext.

“We welcome GM to the NYSE,and we are committed to providing thehighest levels of market quality andservice to the company’s leadershipteam, employees and shareholders.”

The IPO began selling on theToronto Stock Exchange on Nov. 18,as well.

GM had priced the 478 millionshares of common stock it issued at $33per share. There were also 87 millionshares of mandatory convertible juniorpreferred stock that totaled $4.35 billion.

GM had estimated the offering tobe $20.1 billion, and if underwriterspick up their option, a total of $23.1billion.

Shortly after the market openedThursday, Akerson and GM vicechairman and chief financial officerChris Liddell had a teleconference todiscuss the IPO.

Liddell said the company hadbeen speaking with several investorsin the last few weeks and had reallyhoned in on three key points.

For starters, the CFO stressed toinvestors that GM’s profile was verylow risk , regarding both cost and bal-ance sheet.

Second, he said: “We believewe’ve got tremendous growth prospectsboth in mature markets, such as here inNorth America, but also in emergingmarkets, like Brazil and China.

“And third, and probably mostimportantly, we believe in the conceptthat we have talked about a lot, whichis designing, building and selling theworld’s best vehicles,” Liddell added.

Retail, Mutual Fund DemandWhile he was not able to name anyspecific mutual funds that bought in,Liddell said during the call that “therewas a huge amount of interest both onthe retail side and the mutual funds.

“And we saw, essentially, all ofthe largest mutual funds over the lastcouple of weeks and I know—at leastI think I know—that virtually all ofthem put orders in and I hope they cer-tainly got an allocation,” he added.

As far as the retail side, GM saw“a very strong retail demand and we

were, through the underwriters, verykeen to see as much retail participa-tion as we could,” he added.

Government InvolvementU.S. government’s share will decrease“not quite by half,” Akerson said.Looking at it on a basic basis, the gov-ernment’s ownership would drop fromjust over 60% to 33%, Liddell ex-plained.

Looking at it on a fully dilutedbasis and accounting for things likeoptions, the government’s share fallsto the 26% to 27% range, Liddellpointed out.

When asked the potential impactthe reduction in the government’sownership with have on the au-tomaker’s image, Akerson said thatconsidering the “excitement through-out the United States and Canada,”GM having repaid its federal govern-ment debt with interest and all the pre-ferred shares to the U.S. governmentand the fact that the government’sownership has been reduced, the pub-lic reaction would likely be positive.

“I would say that the average tax-


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keep the costs down. No matter howmany classes their adjusters attend,you would never assume they couldrepair a vehicle.

We are still the ones liable forwhat we do, or don’t do, to each andevery vehicle that rolls through ourdoors. We are the ones responsible forthe parts we use and for every cir-cumstance in which we use them, so itis important to know the facts. It isimportant to invest in the training andto purchase the equipment necessaryto call yourself a collision expert.

We have a lot of so-called Colli-sion Experts within our industry butas a shop owner you must be the realcollision expert with the credentials toback up what you say and do. If youwere a surgeon you would have yearsof training and certificates to justifywho you claim to be. A surgeon can’tjust talk some one into a surgery byinviting them into their garage that isset up as an operating room.

Shame on those insurers thatknow about the crappy repairs that arebeing performed with crappy parts

and crappy repair procedures. Shameon the crappy parts people for tryingto deceive the insurers into thinkingthat a component test is a thoroughand complete crash test when theyknow it is not. Shame on those colli-sion shops that repair vehicles without the proper knowledge and equip-ment. And shame on all of us for al-lowing this to happen when we allknow the truth and the consequences.

Would you send your kid to be op-erated on by an unlicensed doctor in aback yard clinic because there was asign on the door? No. You would de-mand credentials that proved everyoneknew what they were doing. You wouldwant to see a sterile operating room,properly equipped to perform the nec-essary procedure. You would want toknow the doctor was an expert and hadonly your kids’ best health in mind.

I am a collision expert and Iknow there are some serious issuesrelated to safety. I know that thingsmust change because, as we speak,our customers are being used as crashdummies by those that continue tomake false claims without the cre-dentials to even have an opinion. The

payer in the United States would lookat this particular transaction as very,very positive and we’re seeing that,”Akerson shared in the conference callNov. 18.

“There’s no question Ford took adifferent path. We arrived at about thesame location. We’re both viable,strong competitors with a level play-ing field,” he continued. “And at thisstage of the game, the best car wins.

“We’re going to have to continueto prove ourselves. At the end of theday, the quality of the product, the de-sign of the product will rule in themarketplace. And that’s where we in-tend to participate,” Akerson added.

Possible Debt Offering AheadWhen asked if GM would considerdebt offering, Liddell said: “Over theshort term, we may look to do a smalldebt offering simply to establish acredit benchmark. But that will bemodest, at most … it will be in the con-text of just providing some more liq-uidity and moving toward, eventually,the concept of repaying all our debt.

“So, we may take some actionsover the next year, but there’s nothingof any significance from a debt point

of view that you’re going to see,” headded.

ReactionSharing her perspective, Speaker ofthe House Nancy Pelosi released astatement Nov. 18 that lauded theIPO, calling it a “sign of progress.”

“General Motors’ initial publicoffering is a sign of progress forAmerica’s auto industry, for our na-tion’s workers, for our manufacturersand our long-term prosperity. In themidst of a severe recession, Congres-sional Democrats and PresidentObama took difficult emergency ac-tion to rescue American auto compa-nies and strengthen critical pillars ofour manufacturing sector, while pro-tecting taxpayers,” the statement said.

“Today we have more evidencethat those actions are paying off, and theAmerican people are one step closer tobeing made whole,” Pelosi continued.

“Preserving, bolstering and ex-panding our manufacturing base iscentral to our economic growth, ournational security and our competitive-ness on the global stage, and key toestablishing America’s manufacturersas centers of innovation.”


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The Crash Test Dummy

See The Crash Test Dummy, Page 31

Chief University, the trusted trainingarm of Chief Automotive Technolo-gies, introduced a new Design BasedRepair course for collision repair tech-nicians and estimators at the SpecialtyEquipment Market Association(SEMA) show this year.

“Design based repair” means fol-lowing OEM repair procedures to ef-ficiently, economically and properlyreturn a collision-damaged vehicle toits original design specifications.

As vehicle manufacturers con-tinue to develop new designs incorpo-rating a wide range of advancedmaterials, it is essential that techni-cians repairing those vehicles after acollision thoroughly understand thediverse metals, fibers and plasticsused, as well as the processes for re-forming, reshaping and replacingthem.

“Change is occurring at a stag-gering rate within the automotive in-dustry as manufacturers engineersolutions to meet federal mandates forimproved crash survivability and in-creased fuel economy,” says RichardPerry, Chief training manager. “What

was once a common misalignmentmay no longer be an obvious repair. Inmodern vehicles, collision damagemay be transmitted to areas that pre-viously would have been unaffected ina similar accident. Technicians whohaven’t been trained to look for thisdamage can easily miss it, resulting insupplements and longer repair cycletimes. As a leader in collision repairtraining, Chief is dedicated to provid-ing education and training on how tobest return damaged vehicles to pre-accident condition through designbased repair techniques.”

The Chief University DesignBased Repair course teaches a sys-tematic approach to damage analysisthat accurately reveals the structural,steering and suspension damage pres-ent in a vehicle, as well as proceduresfor correcting that damage. Becauseaccurate vehicle height, length andwidth measurements are critical to aquality repair that meets OE designspecifications, computerized measur-ing is also covered.

Technicians attending the two-day Design Based Repair course will:

•Become familiar with advancedsteels and other sophisticated materi-als currently used in vehicle design.•Understand how these materials areused and the repair methods they re-quire.•Understand the strategic placementof these materials in a vehicle’s struc-tural design.•Understand the principles of collisiontheory and how they apply to newervehicles.•Learn a systematic approach to struc-tural damage analysis.•Learn to measure collision damageand verify visual inspection findings.•Participate in hands-on repair meth-ods.

Chief University’s Design BasedRepair course combines classroomtraining with hands-on demonstrationsand practice. It is led by professionalcertified instructors in training facili-ties across North America. A $655registration fee includes comprehen-sive training materials and a certificateof completion.

Chief University offers coursesfor collision repair technicians, esti-

mators and insurance appraisers. Mostare approved for I-CAR pointsthrough the I-CAR Industry TrainingAlliance program.

Chief training also has been cer-tified by the National Institute for Au-tomotive Service Excellence (ASE)for compliance with the ContinuingAutomotive Service Education(CASE) Standards.

Additional Chief training topicsinclude: Computerized MeasuringTraining, Full Frame Analysis & Re-pair Planning, Unitized Body Analy-sis & Repair Planning, AdvancedSteering & Suspension, AdvancedFrame Analysis, and Structural Dam-age Analysis.

Design Based Repair will be of-fered twice in December and numer-ous times throughout 2011. Toregister, visitwww.chiefautomotive.com or callcustomer service at (800) 445-9262.


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Matrix System Walks Away as a Winner with Salt Eraser®

Matrix System Automotive Finishes,a leader in aftermarket paint products,won the New Product Showcase inthe Individuality category at the Au-tomotive Aftermarket Products Expo(AAPEX) for its Salt Eraser.

Matrix System arrived at theAAPEX Show for the first time everand won an award in the Individual-ity category. This included productsthat enhance the appearance of a ve-hicle or the appearance of specificcomponents on a vehicle, such aschemicals, paints, decals, waxes andlights. Salt Eraser was featured as aninnovative new product and wasprominently showcased for all buyersto see.

Salt Eraser is a revolutionarynew product that removes stubbornsalt stains from any fabric quickly andeffortlessly — without scrubbing. Itpenetrates the fiber deeply and breaksup and evaporates the salt within min-utes of application. Salt Eraser safelyeliminates salt from floor mats, car-pets, rugs, and runners. It cleans,freshens, and revitalizes complete carinteriors without any odor.

Salt Eraser is an ideal solution inthe salt states located in New England,Middle Atlantic, and Mid-West areasof the United States. Additionally, this

product is great for many home andbusiness applications such as: clothseats, rugs, carpet, shoes, and pants.Just spray…salt stains disappear.

“The advantage of Salt Eraser isits unique formulation has been de-signed to specifically to remove saltstains from carpet and fabric and out-performs general interior and fabriccleaners,” says Jim Caporuscio, di-rector of business development.

“It also provides consumers inthe Snow Belt states with a fast, sim-ple, colorless and odorless cleaningsolution to remove crusty winter saltto restore their vehicles interior, andretailers with stores in Snow Belt mar-kets an excellent seasonal sales op-portunity to increase their car care andgeneral cleaning sales.”

About Matrix SystemMatrix System Automotive Finishes,subsidiary of Quest Specialty Coat-ings, is one of the industry’s most suc-cessful manufacturers of high qualitycolor, clearcoats, primers, hardeners,and reducers.

Matrix System has been able tohave brand loyal body shops convertand experience huge cost savings.

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The Crash Test Dummy

FIAT Plans Big for US Auto Sales in 2011Chrysler plans to have the new Fiat500, a mini-car with European stylingand reduced fuel emissions, in show-rooms by February or March.

Fiat took over management of afailing Chrysler Group last year andis close to making a profit there as itrevamps Chrysler’s cars and trucks.Now, Fiat sees an opportunity toreintroduce its brand and get aheadin the fledgling U.S. small-car mar-ket.

Fiat introduced two Fiat 500s atthe Los Angeles Auto Show thismonth, a three-door hatchback and aconvertible version. The hatchback isset to go on sale in the United Statesnext month, with the convertible tofollow in 2011. Electric and high-per-formance versions are planned in2012, and a four-door version afterthat.

Fiat 500’s starting price will be$15,500 next year, according toChrysler—”significantly less” than

BMW AG’s Mini Cooper, a similarcar, which starts at $20,000.

The car will be assembled inToluca, Mexico. Its 1.4-liter, four-cylinder engine will be produced atChrysler’s Dundee, Mich., plant.

This is the first time Fiat hasshown a car bound for North Americasince it pulled out of the market in1983. Back then, cars like the FiatStrada were widely derided as rust-prone and unreliable.

But that’s ancient history to U.S.car buyers. Laura Soave, 38, who wasappointed head of the Fiat brand inNorth America earlier this year, saidthere is very little knowledge of Fiat’searlier poor quality among currentbuyers, who are drawn to the 500’shuggable look. The car has a roundedshape, high roof and circular head-lights, and is 7 inches shorter than theMini Cooper. The design evokes theoriginal Fiat 500, which sold from1957 to 1975 worldwide.

When making repairs, collision pro-fessionals traditionally call on experi-ence, training and generally acceptedpractices to deliver a vehicle that sat-isfies the customer, the insurer andthemselves. That formula worked wellfor many years. Cars were pretty sim-ple and repairs were relativelystraightforward back in the “olddays.” So what has changed? Justabout everything: the vehicles, cus-tomer expectations, economic pres-sures and, last but not least, insurerrequirements.

What has not changed is the needto repair vehicles to their safe, pre-col-lision condition. As Dennis DeanGamba of Cranston Collision Centerin Cranston, Rhode Island, puts it,“For me, it’s all about knowing that weare doing the job right and that the ve-hicle is safe when it leaves here. I havea child and I want to know that anychild is safe in a vehicle we repair.”

So, how do you continue to ad-here to high standards of safety andquality while operating a profitable

shop given today’s market realities?Efficiency is an absolute must. And,the key to efficiency is accurate infor-mation. Not just any informa-tion—OE information. After all, thefactory built the cars, trucks, vans andSUVs, and the factory knows howthey need to be repaired.

From sophisticated collisionavoidance systems, to new generationconstruction materials to hybrid tech-nology, it seems as if vehicles are be-coming more complex by the minute.Mild steel, high-strength steel, ultrahigh-strength steel, aluminum, carbonfiber, advanced plastics—who knowswhat the next model year will bring.How do you keep up? With OE repairinformation!

OE repair information benefitsthe estimator, production manager,parts manager, body technician, me-chanical technician and the person re-sponsible for all of it, the generalmanager. OE information allows lev-els of efficiency and accuracy thatcannot be duplicated by any othersource.

A system such as ALLDATA®

CollisionSM S3500 provides a preciseblueprint for sectioning, welding,panel replacement, mechanical re-pairs, electronic system reset proce-dures, hybrid precautions, detailedupper body dimensions and more.And, don’t forget manufacturers’ tech-nical service bulletins (TSBs), whichalert you to known problems that mayhave existed prior to a collision. ALL-DATA Collision S3500 is a singlesource for information on the vehiclesyou see coming through your shopevery day.

Here are a few examples of thekind of OE information available inALLDATA Collision S3500:

Always refer to ALLDATA Colli-sion for safety procedures, identifica-tion of material types, recommendedrefinish materials, and removal andinstallation procedures. Always referto the vehicle manufacturer for ques-tions relating to applicable or non-ap-plicable warranty repair information.

This bulletin describes precau-tions necessary during Borrego (HM)and Sorento (XM) Airbag Control Unit(ACU) related diagnosis/repair/re-placement to prevent accidental airbagdeployment during servicing. As anadded safety feature, a Rollover Sen-sor has been incorporated into the Bor-rego (HM) and Sorento (XM) ACUs.This sensor determines if a rollover in-cident is imminent, and if improperly

and inadvertently trig-gered during vehiclerepairs may deployvarious safety fea-tures (side and curtainairbags as well as seatbelt pretensioners). Asa result, the precau-tions listed belowmust be followed byall service personnelwhen diagnosing/ser-

vicing the Airbag Control Unit (ACU)32 DECEMBER 2010 AUTOBODY NEWS | www.autobodynews.com

Got Information?

with Kathy Steck-FlynnAutobody CSI

with Kathy Steck-FlynnAutobody CSI

with Dan EspersenALL OEM Information

with Dan EspersenALL OEM Information

with Tom McGeeALL OEM Information

with Tom McGeeALL OEM Information

Automaker Actions and Announcementswith Jeremy Hayhurst

Automaker Actions and Announcementswith Janet Chaney

Automaker Actions and Announcementswith Jeremy Hayhurst

I-CAR Tech

I-CAR Tech

Amaradio Explains CRAwith Lee Amaradio Jr.

Amaradio Explains CRAwith Lee Amaradio Jr.

Consumer Callout

Consumer Callout



with Ed AttanasioShop Showcase

with Ed AttanasioShop Showcase

Say What?!

Say What?!

Dan Espersen is ALLDATA® CollisionSM Program Manager. Dan is a Gold PinMember of the Collision Industry Conference (CIC) and holds an AA Degree inAutomotive Technology. He has 17 years of experience in the collision industryand 17 years of experience in the automotive industry.and Jeffrey Webster

2011 Kia® Sorento® and 2009 Kia Borrego®. Caution during Airbag Control Unit Servicing

Item P/N Description1 02038 Cowl side panel – high-strength low alloy (HSLA) 350 steel2 16C274 Inner fender reinforcement – HSLA 350 steel3 02015 Cowl panel upper – HSLA 350 steel4 02030 Cowl top inner panel – mild steel5 01610 Dash panel – laminated steel6 02039 Cowl side panel – HSLA 350 steel7 16C275 Inner fender reinforcement – HSLA 350 steel8 16138A Radiator support – magnesium alloy9 16138B Lower radiator support – HSLA 350 steel

2009 Ford® F-150® Front Structure Material Identification


and related components.

WARRANTYALWAYS disconnect both battery ca-bles from the battery and bleed-offresidual voltage by holding the positiveand negative battery cables together for10 seconds before servicing or remov-ing the Airbag Control Unit (ACU).

ACU must be securely installedin its proper location/position duringdiagnosis/repair of the vehicle.

All ACU bolts must be tightenedto proper torque specifications and allgrounds must be attached during ve-hicle servicing.

NEVER turn the ignition ON un-less the ACU is securely bolted downin its designated location/position.

The application or use of paneladhesive is limited to the approvedprocedures published in Toyota,Lexus, and Scion model-specific Col-lision Damage Repair Manuals.

The following illustration is an ex-ample of specifications that include theuse of adhesive. Please review collisionrepair manuals (www.techinfo.toy-ota.com) for complete instructions andsymbol translations.

INSTALLATION POINT• Apply adhesive (3MTM Au-tomixTM Panel Bonding adhesive #8115) to the area indicated by *1. • Perform spot-welding on the flangeindicated by *2.

Note: Panel-bond-ing and weld-bondingare not approved pro-cedures.

Definitions:• Panel-bonding is asubstitution of anyspecified welds withadhesive material. • Weld-bonding issqueeze-type resistantspot-welding throughadhesive.For more informationon OE repair infor-mation, please visit

http://www.alldata.com/promo/abn8tt/NOTE: This Repair/Service Pro-

cedure is excerpted from a TechnicalService Bulletin published by the vehi-cle manufacturer, and is intended for useby trained, professional technicians with

the knowledge, tools and equipment todo the job properly and safely. It is rec-

ommended that this procedure not beperformed by “do-it-yourselfers.”

Toyota®, Lexus®, Scion® Vehicles Exterior Panel Adhesive

2010 Toyota® Corolla® Selected Manufacturer Positions

2010 Hyundai® Genesis® Sedan Selected Upper BodyDimensions

committee) evolved into a one pagestand-alone document and soon be-came a multiple page, contentiousproposal that drew plenty of com-ments and criticism from insurers, re-pairers and the auto glass industry.

As originally introduced, thesteering proposal banned requiring

use of a facility or recommending it,except by consumer request.

After inviting interested parties tosubmit proposals for amending themodel this summer, the committee re-ceived numerous suggestions.

The insurance groups AmericanInsurance Association (AIA), the Na-tional Association of Mutual Insur-ance Companies (NAMIC) and theProperty Casualty Insurers of Amer-

ica (PCI) submitted a proposal to adda whole new section of the bill con-taining a list of repair facility prohibi-tions.

Another suggestion came fromthe California Autobody Associa-tion (CAA) which proposed that in-surers be required to disclose tovehicle owners that the insurer re-ceives discounts and other financialconcessions from its preferred repair

facilities as a condition of becominga preferred facility, unless no suchagreement exists.

SCRS has vocally objected to theCrash Parts model, both during in ear-lier debates held during the previousdecade, and since it was reintroducedto the committee in 2008.

The full text of the act can beviewed on NCOIL’s website atwww.ncoil.org.


NCOIL Model Act


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prprprprprprprprprprprprprprprprprprprprprprprprprprprprprprprprprprprprprprprprprprprprprprprprprprprprprprprprprprprprprprprprprprprprprprprprprprprprprprprprprprprprprprprprprprprprprprprprprprprprprprprprococococococococococococococococococococococococococococococococococococococococococococococococococococococococococococococococeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeed d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d smsmsmsmsmsmsmsmsmsmsmsmsmsmsmsmsmsmsmsmsmsmsmsmsmsmsmsmsmsmsmsmsmsmsmsmsmsmsmsmsmsmsmsmsmsmsmsmsmsmsmsmsmsmsmsmsmsmsmsmsmsmsmsmsmsmsmsmsmsmsmsmsmsmsmsmsmooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooththththththththththththththththththththththththththththththththththththththththththlylylylylylylylylylylylylylylylylylylylylylylylylylylylylylylylylylylylylylylylylylylylylylylylylylylylylylylylylylylylylylylylylylylylylylylylylylyly...............

Genuine Mitsubishi replacement Crash Parts are close at hand through the following quality dealerships. They o!er exceptional customer service, wide selection of in-stock parts and the experience necessary to ensure your repairs proceed smoothly.

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AutoTrader.com to Purchase Kelley Blue BookAutoTrader.com, the Internet’s ulti-mate automotive marketplace andconsumer information web site, an-nounces that it has signed a definitiveagreement to acquire Kelley BlueBook (www.kbb.com), one of themost recognized and influentialbrands in the automotive industry.

As part of the deal, Auto-Trader.com will also acquire KelleyBlue Book’s sister companies CDM-data and CDM Dealer Services.

Details of the transaction are notbeing disclosed. Kelley Blue Bookwill operate as a subsidiary of Auto-Trader.com and continue to be head-quartered in Irvine, CA.

The deal is expected to close bythe end of the year. J.P. Morgan actedas Kelley Blue Book’s exclusive fi-nancial advisor through this process.Goldman, Sachs & Co. acted as fi-nancial advisor to AutoTrader.com.

“AutoTrader.com is excitedabout becoming the new owner ofKelley Blue Book because we believethe company has a great future,” saidAutoTrader.com President and CEO,Chip Perry. “Kelley Blue Book has awonderful history as an iconic brandand trusted provider of vehicle infor-mation to generations of car buyersand sellers, and as we look into the fu-

ture we believe together we can bringa host of new technologies and toolsto market that will significantly im-prove the car shopping process forconsumers, and help auto dealers andmanufacturers better capitalize on thefundamental efficiency advantages ofthe Internet.”

“The future that lies before us isfull of potential,” said Kelley BlueBook President and CEO Paul John-son. “Becoming part of the Auto-Trader.com family of companies willhelp us accelerate our growth in thevehicle valuation and consumer carshopping spaces.”

AutoTrader.com strongly be-lieves in maintaining Kelley BlueBook’s independent and unbiased po-sition in the marketplace. Further-more, AutoTrader.com is committedto maintaining and strengthening Kel-ley Blue Book’s role as The TrustedResource® for vehicle valuation andother important industry informationamong consumers, dealers, manufac-turers, financial and governmental in-stitutions.

Paul Johnson and the rest of Kel-ley Blue Book’s leadership team willremain in place and continue to en-hance the company’s brand in collab-oration with AutoTrader.com.

First Porsche Approved Collision Center Comes to AtlantaThe Porsche Approved Collision Cen-ter Program was established to ensurethat when a Porsche vehicle is in-volved in a collision that the exactingrepair and reconstructive techniquesand materials are used and that thePorsche owner’s “Porsche perfect”driving experience is not diminished.

Via a rigorous process of on-siteaudits, and over 1,000 hours of train-ing at the Porsche Academy, Porschehas ensured that their high standardsof performance and construction arefully restored by skilled and trainedprofessionals. Porsche Approved Col-lision Centers commit to these proce-dures, and to the use of genuinePorsche parts, materials, tools andequipment. Porsche Approved Colli-sion Centers are also continuouslysupported and monitored by factorytechnical personnel.

The Jim Ellis Collision Centerwas sponsored to participate in thePorsche Approved Collision CenterProgram by the team at Jim EllisPorsche. “I am very proud of our Col-lision Center team, led by Marc Size-more in achieving the coveted PorscheCertification,” says Doug McIntyre,General Manager of Jim Ellis Porsche.

Five of the technicians and threeestimators on staff at the Jim Ellis

Collision Center have attended thePorsche Academy training sessionsover the past 14 months, often after afull shift or on Saturdays.

There are only twelve collisioncenters to have successfully com-pleted this program. Jim Ellis Colli-sion Center is the first to be PorscheApproved in the state of Georgia,and one of three in the Eastern US.Remarkably, it is only the seconddealership shop to complete the pro-gram.

Notably, Jim Ellis Collision Cen-ter is the only dealer shop in theUnited States to become Audi Certi-fied, Volkswagen Certified, andPorsche Certified.

“Our personnel recognize thechallenges in repairing today’s auto-mobiles, particularity Porsches,” saysMarc Sizemore. “New safety standardratings and fuel efficiency require-ments are driving new materials andtechnology into today’s vehicles.Only a collision center dedicated tonew training and equipment can repairthese vehicles correctly. Jim Ellis Col-lision Center is proud that Porsche hasrecognized our efforts.”

To learn more please visit theJim Ellis Collision Center website(http://www.jimelliscollision.com).


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Classic Collision is proud to an-nounce the opening of a state-of-the-art collision repair center in SandySprings, GA.

The 70,000 square foot facilitywill occupy the former Tom Jumperparts and service buildings. The fa-cility has been transformed from atypical service center into a very ele-gant and warm environment. When atcapacity, the Sandy Springs locationwill repair as many as 8,000 vehiclesannually and is scheduled to employ40 to 50 people in the coming year.

With the addition of the SandySprings location, Classic Collision,which was started in 1983, now op-erates 8 locally owned collision re-pair centers with 230 employees.

All Classic Collision locationshave state-of-the-art repair equipmentthat exceeds industry standards. Theyhave worked to achieve the presti-gious collision repair certifications ofMercedes Benz, Jaguar, and Sprinterand use the approved paint line—DuPont™ Spies Hecker® brand ofpaint products, which offers a life-time warranty.

Their facilities also provide col-lision repair work exclusively for 24automotive dealerships, and areBMW and Lexus approved.

Classic Collision Opens 8thLocation in Metro Atlanta

Alabama-Made Auto SalesUp 23% from Dismal 2009U.S. sales of Alabama-built vehiclesthis year continue to climb over thedismal results of 2009, although theindustry has a long way to go beforeit reaches full turnaround, accordingto reports made by the BirminghamNews.

So far this year, combined salesof state-made models stand at452,052 — a 23 percent increase overthose sold through October of ‘09.

Such numbers have the Alabamafactories operated by Mercedes-Benz, Honda and Hyundai humming,a drastic change from the idled as-sembly lines in 2009.

Combined sales of the Sonataand the Santa Fe SUV, whichHyundai moved out of Montgomeryin September, total 223,738, a 35 per-cent improvement over last year.

The Santa Fe is now being builtat a Kia plant in Georgia, and pro-duction of the Hyundai Elantra com-pact sedan will start this month inMontgomery.

Despite the rising numbers, totalU.S. industry sales remain far belowthose seen earlier this decade, whenannual totals ranged from 16 millionto 17 million. For most of this year,the annual selling rate has hoveredaround 11 million.

As part of its ongoing effort to supportindustry education, the Society ofCollision Repair Specialists (SCRS)announced at its board meeting heldduring the 2010 SEMA Show that itwill begin picking up the membershipcost for educational facilities that pro-vide a collision repair vocational ortechnical program. This offer is effec-tive immediately to all schools thatcomplete the Collision Repair Educa-tion Foundation’s online School Solu-tions Survey.

SCRS understands that collisionrepair and refinish technician train-ing programs play a central role inensuring a high professional stan-dard for the collision repair industry,now and in the future.

“The lifeblood of our industry-qualified, skilled personnel-aresourced from institutions providingaccredited technical instruction,”states SCRS Education CommitteeChair Paul Val. “SCRS wants to doeverything it can to encourage andfoster these programs. Paying for the

memberships of these schools showsour commitment in a tangible, mean-ingful way.”

SCRS currently counts a hand-ful of vo-tech schools among itsmembership, but hopes this offerwill increase the number that be-comes active SCRS members. Thiswill give the Society the chance toexpand communications within thetechnical education sector, providinga more direct opportunity to acquaintstudents with the viability of today’scollision repair industry as a place tobuild a satisfying, long-lasting pro-fessional career.

“The Collision Repair Educa-tion Foundation is appreciative tohave such great support for the insti-tutions we serve from an industrymainstay like SCRS,” says Educa-tion Foundation Executive DirectorScott Kruger.

More information can be foundat www.scrs.com or by [email protected] and by visitingwww.ed-foundation.org.

SCRS to Cover Membership Costs for Industry Schools Wicklund’s CARSTAR Honors Kansas City Area VeteransOn November 9, Wicklund’sCARSTAR Collision Center hon-ored America’s active duty and mil-itary veterans with a specialcelebration as part of National Mil-itary Month.

The event featured a free cele-bration for all veterans and activeduty military members and theirfamilies, an appearance by theKansas City Royals and presentationof a vehicle to a Kansas City areaveteran by Cars 4 Heroes.

Wicklund’s CARSTAR, a mem-ber of the nation’s largest family ofauto body experts, owned and oper-ated locally for 40 years held theevent at their Liberty, MO shop.

Thanks to the support and gen-erosity of sponsors, the event wasfree to veterans, active military per-sonnel and their spouses. In additionto prizes, food, soft drinks and beer,the Kansas City Royals distributed t-shirts to the first 600 attendees.

At the event, Cars 4 Heroes pre-sented a vehicle to Greg and Deb-bie Kerr from Buckner, MO. Theywere submitted by neighbors and re-ceived a 1992 Toyota Camry.

The organization takes in do-nated cars, makes sure they are me-chanically sound and pass a

Missouri safety inspection for Veter-ans and their families.

As part of the celebration, Wick-lund’s CARSTAR partnered with theVFW Foundation on its “Return theFavor” national campaign designedto boost morale and fill-in govern-mental assistance gaps for troops (allService Branches) and military fam-ilies anywhere in the U.S.

Liberty-area customers can sim-ply make a donation of $5 and havetheir name featured on the “Returnthe Favor” donation cards featuredin the store.

All monetary donations raisedwill be split between the VFW Foun-dation and the local VFW post.

Wicklund’s CARSTAR is alsoholding an “Adopt a Troop” dona-tion program in conjunction withtheir local VFW to collect suppliesfor the troops.

Wicklund’s CARSTAR is lo-cated at 941 Sutton Place Liberty,Mo. 64038.


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autobody news december 2010 southwest edition

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