The ongoing price fixing investigations being conducted by the U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division and the Federal Bureau of Investigation netted its latest guilty pleas. Corning International Kabushiki Kaisha (Corning International K.K.) has agreed to plead guilty and pay a $66.5 million criminal fine for conspiring to fix prices, rig bids and allocate the […]
NADA Used Car Guide Price Index Falls for Fifth Straight Month
While used cars prices are diving, large utility and pickup truck prices mitigate downward trend. According to the May edition of NADA Used Car Guide’s Guidelines report, wholesale used vehicle prices fell by an average of 1.7 percent in April largely due to a poor performance across car segments. As a result of the occurrence, […]
Automotive Industries Association of Canada Elects New Board of Directors
The Automotive Industries Association (AIA) of Canada announced the election of two new directors, along with other changes to its Board at the 74th Annual General Meeting held in Montreal, Québec on May 11, 2016. The new members are Susan Hitchon from Schrader Performance Sensors and Simon Weller from NAPA Canada. Hitchon is the Canadian […]
U.S. Length of Rental Upward Trend Continues in First Quarter
According to the latest research from Enterprise Rent-A-Car, the U.S. average length of rental continued to increase in the first quarter of 2016. Overall U.S. Length of Rental (LOR) increased .4 days in Q1 2016 from 11.5 to 11.9, although the changes varied by region and state. A variety of factors contributed to the increase […]
Maryland Makes Selling and Installing Fake Airbags a Crime
Selling and installing non-functioning airbags is now a crime in Maryland. Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan’s signing Senate Bill into law May 9 that makes it a crime to install or sell counterfeit airbags. Conviction earns up to five years in state prison and up to $5,000 in fines. Making airbag scams a specific crime in […]
Automotive Industries Association of Canada to Launch Collision Repair Industry Accreditation Program
The Automotive Industries Association (AIA) of Canada announced May 13 that it will be launching a nation-wide collision repair facility accreditation program in the fall of 2016. Tony Canade, AIA Canada Chair and President of Assured Automotive, provided some background on the decision, “The industry is seeing a rapid growth in OE certified repair network […]
Federal-Mogul Joins ASA as Corporate Member
The Automotive Service Association (ASA) has announced one of its latest corporate members: Federal-Mogul Motorparts. Corporate membership provides an opportunity for companies to expand their relationships with ASA and its leaders in the collision repair and automotive service segments of the industry. Brent Berman, director of training and consumer experience, said about its new membership […]
New AAA Survey Reveals Drivers’ Frustrations with Crumbling Infrastructure
About 70 percent of drivers traveling this summer are concerned about poor road conditions or traffic congestion, according to a new survey from AAA. The survey revealed that 56 percent of U.S. consumers will be hitting the road for summer vacation, but only 1 in 5 think the roads are in great driving condition. Some […]
Boyd Group Reports Same Store Sales Up 7.4% in First Quarter
Overall sales increased by 24.3 percent. Softening demand in second quarter could result in lower growth. Added 20 collision repair centers since start of year. The Boyd Group Income Fund (TSE:BYD.UN) today reported its financial results for the three-month period ended March 31, 2016. Sales increased by 24.3 percent to CA$350.4 million ($270.6 million) from […]
CARSTAR Adds Collision Repair Center in South Dakota
CARSTAR Auto Body Repair Experts announced the addition of CARSTAR Riverside Auto Body, owned by Tim and Sheila Steiner, to its network of independently-owned collision repair centers. The facility is located at 89850 Highway 81 in South Yankton, S.D. “The reason I looked at joining CARSTAR is because it was getting to a point where […]