Recently I was asked to fly out to Phoenix to present at the Assured Performance Annual meeting. Each year Assured Performance hosts meeting for its members to discuss industry trends and OEM certification. It was a great meeting that brought together OEMs, property and casualty insurers, dealership groups, and certified collision repairers.
Note: Will you be attending SEMA in Las Vegas? If so, hit REPLY and let me know (or become a subscriber). I will be in town Wednesday through Friday. This year will be a quick trip for me, as I will be spending Halloween at home with my wife and two young kids. But if you’re in town, it would be great to meet up.
I was excited to attend the event because it gave me the opportunity to get in front of companies that are actively investing in growth and OEM certification. I was honored to be able to present, as well as to sit on a panel to discuss future trends in the collision repair segment of the auto aftermarket.
For literally every segment of the collision vertical, (dealers, repairers, insurers, dealerships, parts providers, software companies) re-investment is a necessity. But for decades the collision segment of the automotive aftermarket faced very little technological disruption.
Businesses did not have to re-invest in training and equipment as they do today. Vehicle structures, metallurgy, and technology evolved at a predictable pace. Tooling and education was standardized and predictable. The result was companies that could skimp on both investment and maintenance CAPEX yet still generate attractive cash flows.
Today, technology in the automotive aftermarket is evolving at a breakneck pace. This impacts both vehicle hardware (structure, metallurgy, sensors, etc.) and vehicle software (ADAS, diagnostics, “info-tainment”, etc.). The tools, training and technology required to repair vehicles has never been greater, or costlier. Continue reading here.
