The board of Driven Brands Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: DRVN) unanimously rejected an unsolicited $18 per share cash proposal from activist investor ADW Capital Management LLC, the company announced Aug. 3, calling the offer highly conditional and short of the company’s value. Driven Brands is the parent of collision repair networks CARSTAR, Abra and Fix Auto […]
State Farm Begins Issuing $5 Billion Policyholder Dividend
State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company has begun issuing payments on its one-time $5 billion cash dividend to qualifying auto customers, the largest policyholder distribution in the insurer’s history. Millions of customers have already received individual payments. The dividend covers more than 49 million insured vehicles and is being distributed in waves. Each payment is […]
SUN Collision Names Winners of Three-Week Summer Sweepstakes
SUN Collision has named the three winners of its Summer Sweepstakes, a three-week promotion that awarded a $100 gift card to one entrant each Friday through the company’s Facebook page. The winners are Adam Godinez of Grubbs Collision and Motorsports, Aaron Lewis of Lewis Auto and Tara Rivera of Riveras Repairs. “We’re thrilled to congratulate […]
Collision Repair Education Foundation Awards Over $196,000 in 2026 Scholarships
More than 100 students benefit from industry support. The Collision Repair Education Foundation distributed $196,230 in scholarships to 102 collision repair students through its 2026 Student Scholarship program. Additionally, for the third consecutive year, the Women’s Industry Network (WIN) partnered with CREF to administer its U.S. scholarship program, awarding $29,500 in scholarships and 20 tool […]
Ford Issues New ADAS Position Statement in Latest On Target Magazine
Ford Motor Company has issued a new collision repair position statement covering advanced driver assistance systems, bringing its Ford-brand roster to 12. The statement is detailed in the 2026 Vol. 2 edition of On Target, the automaker’s quarterly collision repair publication. Posted for both Ford and Lincoln vehicles as “ADAS Integrity and Technical Imperatives,” the […]
PPG Launches Quickline Waterborne Refinish System in U.S. and Canada
PPG Industries Inc. (NYSE: PPG) on Aug. 3 introduced the PPG Quickline waterborne refinish system, a portfolio of basecoats, undercoats, clearcoats, toners and ancillary products for collision repair facilities in the United States and Canada. PPG says the products are formulated to hold color and finish quality across a range of application environments. “Not all […]
SEMA Awards $100,000 in Scholarships and Loan Forgiveness to 50 Recipients
The Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) awarded $100,000 through its SEMA Memorial Scholarship Fund to 50 students and employees of member companies, the association announced Aug. 4. The total is the largest in the program’s history and the first to reach $100,000, up from the $99,500 awarded to 50 recipients in 2025 and the $99,000 […]
Michael Horne Named Chief Financial Officer at Certified Collision Group
Certified Collision Group has named Michael Horne chief financial officer, effective July 20. Horne brings more than a decade of financial leadership experience across private equity-backed, multi-entity organizations. He joins CCG from Babilou Family US, which operates as Little Sprouts, a multi-state, private equity-backed early education platform. There he led enterprise financial planning and analysis, […]
U.S. Traffic Volume Down in May Compared to 2025
First year-over-year monthly decline since February 2025 as pump prices reached their highest monthly average since July 2022. Traffic volume in May was down in the U.S. overall, the first year-over-year decline in monthly travel since February 2025, as gasoline prices continued to climb amid the war with Iran. Travel for the month of May […]
ASA Builds Rebooted NACE/CARS Around SPARK Repair-Knowledge Framework
The Automotive Service Association has organized its rebooted NACE and CARS event around a repair-education framework it calls SPARK — Safe Profitable Automotive Repair Knowledge — and has already begun releasing instructional videos under that name ahead of the Sept. 29 program in San Antonio. The framework ties the event to the documentation and procedural […]