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The Automotive Service Association (ASA) has added a free "Employment Classified" section to its Web site on the Internet for both employers and those seeking positions in the automotive service industry. Just visit ASA’s main home page (http://www.asashop.org) to check out the new service."This new service opens another channel of communication for employers who have open positions and for those seeking employment," said G.W. "Bud" Merwin III, president and chief staff executive of ASA. "By having the service on-line, users are provided with a very timely, efficient way to reach a diverse audience."
The slow pace of retrofitting R-12 mobile air conditioning (A/C) systems is increasing the demand for R-12, according to the Mobile Air Conditioning Society Worldwide (MACS). MACS says an estimated 40 million R-12 vehicles would have to be retrofitted between 1994 and the year 2003 to keep demand for R-12 at a minimum. To achieve this goal, 3 million vehicles should have been retrofitted annually in 1994 and 1995, and 5 million in 1996. Not many retrofits have occurred, therefore increasing the R-12 demand, says MACS. An ideal time to retrofit an R-12 system is when it has experienced compressor failure, notes MACS.
Electronic repair assignments from insurance companies to collision repair facilities using CCC’s EZNet communications systems reached a milestone in May with the transmission of the system’s three millionth repair assignment. Cumulatively, those assignments represent $6 billion in revenue going back to the system’s start-up in 1992.
The Automotive Service Association (ASA) Collision Division plans to include more mini-surveys in its newsletter, the Collision Repair Report. Also keep an eye out for ASA’s 1996 "How’s Your Business" survey in August. Your participation is greatly appreciated.
Automotive aftermarket growth was minimal in 1995, according to James A. Lang of Lang Marketing Resources. Product sales totaled $94.8 billion and purchased service was at $33.1 billion, for a total of $127.9 billion in current dollars at user-level price. Lang said the 1995 aftermarket current dollar increase of 0.47 percent is a mere shadow of the 5.5 percent aftermarket surge in 1994. According to Lang, purchased service grew only 0.61 percent (in current dollars) during 1995.
NADA Studies Service Challenges And Decline In Dealer Body Shops
Better vehicle quality is cutting into mechanical service sales at new car dealerships and the number of dealers with body shops has declined due to sophisticated pressures on the collision repair business, concludes a recent report by the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA)."Vehicle quality improvements continue to reduce warranty repairs and maintenance opportunities on new and nearly new vehicles," states the fifth release in a series of reports from NADA’s Project 2000 Committee.
The committee predicts competition from independents will increase, but has "not materialized" as of yet. "But at the same time," notes the report, "dealers have made no inroads into servicing more of the older vehicles on the road."
The report also discusses the exiting of dealers from the collision repair business. The percentage of dealers with body shops has gone from 63 percent in 1983 to 48 percent in 1995, notes the study. Factors such as expensive equipment, insurance industry pressures and electronic claims handling have made collision shop profitability hard to come by, especially for smaller operations, the report says. "Large and sophisticated is the name of the game in the body shop business," the report states.
Your Turn
"Other than pay increases, how do you reward valuable employees?""I reward valuable employees with extra benefits. The more valuable they are, the more benefits they receive. Christmas bonuses also reflect their relative worth to the company."
Thomas J. Reilly, AAM
owner, Same Day Auto Service
Clackamas, Ore.Future question: "Does your business participate in community events? Why or why not?"
To respond to a Your Turn question, call (800) 272-7467, ext. 219, or send e-mail to: angiep@asa.dataorg.com
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TechTips || Stat Corner || News Briefs || Directions
News Briefs Extra || Taking The Hill || More Info About AutoInc.
Chairman's Message || Tech To Tech
Guest Editorial || Diversifying Your Collision Shop || National VOC Rule Sparks Congressional Interest
AutoInc. Magazine ®, Vol. XLIV No. 8, August 1996