IBIS: MSO auto body consolidators declared victorious by BB&T Capital exec
By onInternational | Repair Operations
We couldn’t go to Greece for the International Bodyshop Industry Symposium hosted by bodyshop magazine, but at least we were able to live vicariously through IBIS Worldwide’s excellent live Twitter feed of the event ending Friday.
That coverage revealed the IBIS Summit to have hosted some bold proclamations related to the collision repair industry in the U.S. and abroad.
Here are three we found particularly interesting:
Consolidators declared victorious
‘I the next 5-10 years ‘stubborn holdouts’ (non-affiliated) bodyshops will be doing something else with their business’ Rex Green #ibis2015
— IBISworldwide (@IBISworldwide) May 28, 2015
Rex Green, managing director of BB&T Capital Markets’s retail and consumer industry groups, predicted U.S. and possible world domination of MSOs, according to IBIS.
“Collision couldn’t be a hotter investment right now in the U.S.,” Green said, predicting that the “very exciting time in collision” for America would spread to other countries, IBIS tweeted.
Green said that right now, ABRA, Gerber, Service King and Caliber have 10 percent of the industry’s revenue but would do two-thirds of all collision repair business by 2025, the conference reported.
“In the next 5-10 years ‘stubborn holdouts’ (non-affiliated) bodyshops will be doing something else with their business,” he said, according to IBIS.
OEMs file claims?
‘Can you hear the footsteps of the seamless claims process which just happens’ Sean Carey #ibis2015 — IBISworldwide (@IBISworldwide) May 28, 2015
SGC Management Consultants President Sean Carey argued that connected cars in crashes would “no doubt” handle filing a claim themselves, IBIS reported.
“OEMs will be in the driving seat,” he said.
A glimmer of this concept can be seen with GM’s plan to offer more diagnostics through OnStar to certain 2016 Corvettes, Equinoxes, Silverados, Suburbans, and Tahoes, with more vehicles to come. More frequent reports on other items like tire pressure — which are already available monthly to OnStar subscribers — will be rolled out in 2016.
Tesla and repairs
‘Integrity of repair is critical’ Andy Macdonald #ibis2015
— IBISworldwide (@IBISworldwide) May 29, 2015
Andy MacDonald of the Tesla Motors Sunnyvale, Calif., Service Center indicated that more knowledge was necessary for the collision repair industry.
Eighty percent of auto body technicians who train with Tesla wouldn’t pass the OEM’s aluminum welding class on the first day, MacDonald said, according to IBIS.
Ouch. Unfortunately, similar points were made at the April Collision Industry Conference.
I-CAR CEO John Van Alstyne said that nearly 70 percent of technicians who weld now have no I-CAR training on basic welding certification, 94 percent lack an aluminum welding credential and 98 percent lack certification on advanced structural steel.
Another indication came from Kye Yeung and Toby Chess of the Society of Collision Repair Specialists Education Committee’s presentation of an aluminum repair test they’ve offered shops.
Chess noted that one shop failed so badly the entire estimating staff was sent to training.
MacDonald also described how the company micromanages repairs, which does raise the question of how Tesla plans to keep up with that level of quality control if Teslas go as mainstream as they hope.
More information:
Bodyshop, May 28, 2015
Featured image: Tweets from IBIS Worldwide feature quotes from Rex Green of BB&T on consolidation. (Screenshot of feed from www.twitter.com/ibisworldwide on Tweetdeck)