If you see fewer auto repair shops in your community 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 business.
The global problem could be the auto repair and service market has been shrinking in the last 10 or 15 years. Technology has made cars much more reliable with fewer breakdowns, repairs and scheduled maintenances.
Many manufacturers offer the latest 100,000 mile warranty relating to this the independent will get little chance to work on that car for the first 5-10 years it is owned.
As new car sales margins go down, VW, Chevrolet, Toyota and other manufacturers are in order to their service departments to make along the difference.
Additionally many dealers such as Porsche and Saab are adding other useful benefits such to be a loaner car while repairs are being made. Independents think you are forced to give courtesy rides to customers in hard work 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 to be able to independent repair shop prices.
But it’s simply competitive pricing that is worrying the independents.
The battle for skilled labor is also being won through dealers: the dealers generally competed for skilled labor and now have become even more aggressive. With fewer right now entering effect on repair profession and opting instead for careers such as health and technology, overall talent pool of the superior skilled auto technicians is shrinking.
Increasingly around the globe becoming harder for independents to utilize and retain these highly skilled employees. Regarding automotive technician, would you rather appeal to Audi or Joe’s Shed?
The dealers are collecting the best ‘mechanics’ or as they may be known today, ‘technicians.’ An excellent end dealer technician may well make $100,000 a whole year with benefits while an independent shop owner would have to gross within the $1,000,000 twelve months to make that and still have to reimburse their own benefits and social equity.
Because in the economic realities many independent owners are now closing their shops on and on to work with GM, Nissan and other dealers.
This puts the independent auto repair center at a definite disadvantage when diagnosing and repairing difficult drivability, fuel injection, electronic and computer related crises.
Additionally, any time a diagnosis appeared and a fraction needs replacing the dealer will are in stock, not only verifying the verification but greatly speeding inside the repair as well as increasing customer satisfaction. Big advantage Cadillac and Bmw.
But it’s not only a skilled employee struggle. Techs cannot fix cars without information and love a long and ongoing dispute between the dealers/manufacturers and independents over technical information access and diagnostic applications.
The manufacturers claim their technical details are proprietary while the independents claim the information should be around to anybody that owns or fixes that make of car.
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