Almost two in five auto body shops---38%---say they routinely work on commercial vans such as the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter, Ford Transit and Ram ProMaster, according to a recent industry survey.
The Collision Industry Conference (CIC) Industry Relations Committee held a panel discussion this summer centered around a fundamental question: Why is there so often a disconnect between auto body shops and insurance companies during the repair planning stage, particularly when it comes to procedures related to advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS)?
In 2020, SEMA had to reinvent itself, and the result was SEMA360, a completely virtual show that performed surprisingly well despite all the obstacles.
A few years back, a British company produced a comedy series about life in an auto body shop that dealt with all of the crazy and wacky things that can happen in this industry.
I-CAR earlier this year put out a request for collision repair shops to submit information on what they are "seeing and struggling with” in terms of OEM safety inspections related to secondary restraint systems (SRS), but the organization reported this summer the industry response was less than overwhelming.
An Autobody News reader recently emailed me a question he had about daily release meetings at his shop.
“Do we need to look differently at how we approach training and education?” asked Jeff Peevy, I-CAR’s vice president of technical products, programs and services, during the July 22 CIECAST webinar.
In 1956, Bruno Sanchez opened a 2,500-square foot auto body shop in San Francisco, CA. He named it Bruno and Son Auto Body Shop and the goal was to offer honesty, passion and craftsmanship.
When Richard Campfield was looking into starting a retail windshield repair business 35 years ago, he conducted some direct marketing to determine if it was worth pursuing.
The global semiconductor microchip shortage has been impacting vehicle manufacturing for the past year, but as the shortage persists, some experts anticipate its effects could be felt by the collision and automotive repair industries in the second half of 2021, potentially causing delays in cycle time as replacement parts become less available.
General Motors recently rolled out a significant overhaul of the vehicle inspections it calls on auto body shops to perform post-collision, saying the changes in no way compromise safety.
Where will the collision repair industry be in 2035?
An Australian-based advanced software company that develops immersive technology solutions for training and information delivery in the automotive and trade sectors has been getting rave reviews from students and teachers worldwide.
I think everyone can agree a well-designed car is a piece of art, like a Donatello or a Rodin.