Optimism reigned at the January meeting of the Collision Industry Conference (CIC) in Palm Springs, driven largely by the announcement by the governmental committee of a new website that directly accesses manufacturer’s repair information.

Over 150 CIC participants gave this news a rousing ovation. Eric Bondus, parts sales manager, Hyundai Motor America introduced www.oem1stop.com stating, “The OEMs and the Independent Repair Facility (IRF) share responsibility for our mutual customers.”

Bondus reported there are 200 million cars in the United States and 20,000 new car dealers. Statistics show that there are 2.5 services per car, 25,000 service visits per dealer at 260 workdays showing almost 100 visitors per day per average dealer. Realistically, most service departments – dealer and independent – are not servicing 100 cars per day. Consumers are loyal to their brands, as in the neighborhood family garage, and statistics show about 50% migrate from OEM to independent. “The logic chain tells us we need to work closely on this very important and challenging task,” Bondus pointed out.

Recognizing that repair information can be difficult, at best, to access, the OE Roundtable has been looking at ways to improve that situation. “The OEM’s are listening,” Bondus continued. “We have spent a lot of money on websites and are continually building new functionalities.” In response to the collision industry demands, with the support of the OEM  braintrust, the new website came to be.

Oem1Stop is a single site for the independent repair facility to access information by  coordinating all OEM sites in one place and using electronic routers to the OEM repair access site. All manufacturers are on board, though some are still going through corporate legalities before they are “live.”

The website is user friendly, similar to a video game. On the home page, clicking on the  manufacturer’s icon will go directly to its repair information access site. Users must still abide by individual manufacturer’s rules, possibly having to register with the manufacturer and paying fees.

American Honda was the first manufacturer to participate in the program. Stickers with the website address will be made available to the industry soon. “This is a giant step,” closed Bondus. “Not a last step, but a giant step. If we don’t use this site – OE’s will not improve it.”

Government Committee Co-Chairman George Gilbert, customer service at Ford Motor Company added, “This is a great indication of where we have come. We have consciously and purposely asked OE Roundtable to be active participants in the Collision Industry Conference. From our vantage point, we are seeing a lot of OE participation, supporting with their voice, efforts and good works.”

Real cost of repair
The Fair Trade Committee chairperson Jeanne Silver, CARSTAR, Mundelein, Illinois delivered a landmark presentation. Silver introduced ’The Real Cost of Repair’ power point presentation with a short dissertation to CIC participants.

“This presentation is about rate suppression and the facts our industry is faced with – it is about addressing the real issues and not ignoring them – a ‘tough love’ approach.” The eight members of the Fair Trade Committee – Scott Biggs, Boyd Dingman, Gene Hamilton, Gary Wano, Rod Enlow, Teresa Bolton, Bob Smith and Erica Eversman –  worked diligently with Silver and co-chair Keith Manich to gather hard data for the presentation.