ABRA Auto Body & Glass, a Minnesota–based vehicle repair company, announced Dec. 14 the acquisition of all five Collision Solutions locations in Indianapolis, IN.

The deal significantly expands ABRA’s presence in the Indiana market and increases the total number of ABRA repair centers nationwide to 132 in 14 states.

The Alliance of Automotive Service Providers of Minnesota, an association of nearly 640 independently-owned mechanical and collision repair shops and industry suppliers, works to improve the state’s automotive service industry and the success of its members’ businesses.

In 2012, AASP-MN passed legislation to increase the damage disclosure threshold for salvage title from 70% to 80% to allow for more vehicles to be repaired and fewer to be totaled. Other issues addressed this past year include: sales tax on paint and materials, “Right to Repair,” insurer steering, DRP contract provisions for parts procurement, and air quality permits.

The Northern Michigan Body Shop Association kicked-off 2012 with Mike Anderson of Collision Advice presenting two topics to collision industry professionals. The first topic, “Educate, Not Alienate” encouraged estimators and technicians to “have the facts ready” when communicating with an adjustor, insurer, and/or customer. He explained that too often in this industry, emotions run high which tends to negatively affect the situation at hand; it’s best to be prepared with the facts, data, and “bottom-line” to be knowledgeable regarding the issue when trying to make a point—you’ll get much further when you have facts to back you up.

The Automotive Service Association in Michigan began 2012 with roundtables held throughout the state for licensed repair facilities representing both collision and mechanical industries. The meetings focused on the proposed revisions and enforcement of Public Act 300 of 1974, the Motor Vehicle Service and Repair Act.

“Relatively speaking, this law has not been updated since 1974 and is in desperate need of updating,” said Ray Fisher, President of ASA Michigan. “The law was created to protect consumers and repair facilities by providing ‘ground rules’ which helped to avoid frivolous lawsuits. And we are now seeing it abused during these challenging economic times with unlicensed shops advertising on Craigslist and circumventing the law.”

“It provides an unfair advantage for those who have not ‘played by the rules’ and it provides false security to consumers; exactly the reason the law was created in the first place,” Fisher said, adding that not only are they advocating for a crackdown on abusers, but also for updating the law to make it more “user friendly” for repair facilities to use.