Auto Refinish Market
October 2017 www.coatingsworld.com Coatings World | 47
can advantage individual brands. We’ve seen the latter in the
U.S. as well as MSOs continue to gain share. In China, a different dynamic is at play as we seen growing influence of OEMs on
the collision repair industry.”
Trends
The collision repair industry is extremely dynamic.
“Consolidation at all levels of the industry is a major trend
as well as the pressure on body shops to continuously improve
productivity and profitability, as well as their customer satisfac-
tion,” said Marvin Gillfillan, vice president, business manage-
ment, Automotive Refinish at BASF. “Another critical challenge
is talent management and talent recruitment. Finding qualified
technicians, developing them and retaining them is a real indus-
try challenge.”
“Consolidation, of course, is still a trend in this marketplace,”
said Rob Mowson, vice president, marketing, Sherwin-WIllimas
automotive finishes. “Sherwin-Williams Automotive Finishes
continues to build value for Multiple Shop Operators by provid-
ing them with the products and tools they need to consistently
deliver high-quality repairs, along with the cycle-time reduction
desired by vehicle owners and insurance companies. Other fac-
tors affecting the collision repair market are new OEM produc-
tion processes that involve advanced lightweight materials and
increasing car connectivity. Concerning the latter, collision centers
in the near future will have to prepare their business to handle
new connected-car technologies. These technologies will seam-
lessly connect vehicles and consumers to the manufacturer, dealer
and the dealership’s service, parts, and body shop operations.”
“In addition, collision centers will find that they have to be
capable of repairing all vehicles to “crashworthy” standards,” he
added. “This new repair standard will be required in order to
place the vehicle back into service. It requires reconstruction of
the damaged vehicle to the OEM specifications, so that it is ca-
pable of sustaining a subsequent accident and responding exactly
as it was originally designed and engineered to perform. And of
course with the advent of technology, comes the potential decline
in some repairs needed simply through the onset of new vehicle
accident avoidance systems, increased ridesharing services and
the advancement of driverless cars. As these influences poten-
tially diminish repair volumes, collision centers must consider
alternative sources of revenue to replace those that may decline.”
Innovation and utilizing new technologies is key to growth in
the automotive refinish market. “Technology is becoming more
important and playing a larger role in industry innovation,” said
Korsmit. “Cars are more complex, bringing more complexity
for bodyshops to repair cars. Innovative technologies in the
short-term are helping to reduce the severity of accidents, result-
ing in a shift in balance between technical repairs and cosmetic
repairs. Looking further out, these technologies are expected to
have a positive impact on the accident rate.”
“Technological innovation for cars is moving rapidly,” added
Korsmit. “As automobiles become more technologically com-
plex, more repairs will address technology inside the car. The
costs of the repairs are not expected to decrease, despite the
efforts and wishes of the insurance companies.”
Axalta expects consolidation to continue but said the level
at which this will happen will depend on the market. “Plus, the
speed of consolidation will depend a lot on the overall economic
and market conditions, available and deployed cash for investments and succession strategies and plans,” added Winokur.
“Increasingly, customers are focused on innovation and service.
For example, in Latin America we’re taking training to body
shop technicians with mobile training classes rather than depending on them to come to one of our training centers. In other
markets, increasing environmental regulations drives the development of technically advanced high-productivity low-VOC
and waterborne coatings.”
Key Issues
Depending on the shop, needs will vary in importance and
magnitude. “For many independents and megashops, securing
talent is a key concern and managing insurance DRPs is a time-
consuming key factor to ensure they get cars to their doors, said
Gillfillan. “For MSOs, cycle time and processing vehicles as
quickly as possible is a major concern. For dealerships, business
management and tracking of KPIs are key challenges.”
For each of these sectors, BASF reported that it has the
knowledge, resources and tools to help them succeed, including
Business Development Manager (BDM) experts who partner
with its customers.
“Our market-leading Advanced Process Solutions lean program, our VisionPLUS Online reports and our Performance
Groups support all of these challenges,” said Gillfillan. “BASF
prides itself on being able to partner with our customers to work
side-by-side with shop owners and managers to improve their
business by leveraging our best-in-class tools and services. We’re
working to provide solutions for our customers that improve
Photo courtesy of AkzoNobel
