If you see fewer auto repair shops in your town then you are witnessing a trend that is spreading throughout the auto repair industry. The small independent auto repair shop is getting squeezed by both the dealers along with the ‘backyarders’ creating shrinking margins and putting many auto repair independents out of economic.
The global problem may be the auto repair and service market has been shrinking in the last ten or fifteen years. Technology has made cars much more reliable with fewer breakdowns, repairs and scheduled maintenances.
Many manufacturers offer the latest 100,000 mile warranty so that you can the independent will get little chance to work on that car for site to website 5-10 years it is owned.
As new car sales margins go down, VW, Chevrolet, Toyota and other manufacturers are looking to their service departments to make the difference.
Additionally many dealers such as Porsche and Saab already been adding other value added benefits such as a loaner car while repairs are being made. Independents think you are forced to give courtesy rides to customers in trying to keep lets start work on the dealers since customers now expect this service.
Furthermore dealers for example Mercedes and Ford are now directly offering specials on services making their dealer prices in order to independent repair shop prices.
But it’s not just competitive pricing is actually worrying the independents.
The battle for skilled labor may also be won through dealers: the dealers generally competed for skilled labor and will have become significantly more aggressive. With fewer conserve entering automobile repair profession and opting instead for careers with regard to health and technology, fundamental talent pool of the top skilled auto technicians is shrinking.
Increasingly appeared becoming harder for independents to rent and retain these highly skilled employees. Being an automotive technician, would you rather are employed by Audi or Joe’s Shed?
The dealers are discovering the best ‘mechanics’ or as they are known today, ‘technicians.’ A top end dealer technician may well make $100,000 one year with benefits while a private shop owner would require gross during a $1,000,000 every year to make that as well as have to pay for their own benefits and social safe practices.
Because the hands down economic realities many independent owners are usually closing their shops and going to work with GM, Nissan and other dealers.
This puts the independent auto mechanic shop at a definite disadvantage when diagnosing and repairing difficult drivability, fuel injection, electronic and computer related problems.
Additionally, is not diagnosis created from and a part needs replacing the dealer will purchase it in stock, not only verifying the verification but greatly speeding inside the repair time and increasing customer support. Big advantage Cadillac and Rolls royce.
But the goal wasn’t a skilled employee conflict. Techs cannot fix cars without information and love a long and ongoing dispute with the dealers/manufacturers and independents over technical information access and diagnostic applications.
The manufacturers claim that their technical details are proprietary everybody is making independents claim the information should be available to anybody that owns or fixes that make of automobile.
Excel Auto Repair & Sales
94 E Falmouth Hwy, East Falmouth, MA 02536
(508) 444-2777
https://g.page/excel-auto-repair-sales
Posted on:
August 24, 2019