Page 8 - Australian Paint & Panel March-April 2020

NEWS
8
PAINT&PANEL MARCH / APRIL 2020
WWW.PAINTANDPANEL.COM.AU
DINGGO GOES NATIONAL
AUSTRALIAN START-UP DINGGO, CREATOR
of the online platform for collision re- pairs has announced plans to leverage a half-a-million-dollar matched grant to expand across Australia and beyond.
DingGo will match the $248,262 Gov- ernment grant dollar for dollar to make its repairer network fully national, fol- lowing successful growth in Victoria, Queensland, New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory.
“The technical complexity of cars is advancing faster than the industry can keep up, making it difficult for people to find the right repairer for the job,” said Josh Sandford, Co-Founder of DingGo.
“Our platform vets and classifies the capabilities of all repairers, offering a trusted recommendation by matching reliable, skilled panel beaters with driv- ers’ specific needs. It also provides a lev- el playing field for small and independ- ent repairers to access new work, while identifying and catering for the types of repairs which are becoming more com- mon and may require the development of new technical skills and technology.”
The initial expansion for 2020 will centre on Adelaide, Perth and Tasmania,
with the company aiming to be fully na- tional by May 2020. DingGo also aims to take its platform beyond Australian shores in due course.
As part of the expansion, DingGo will integrate its platform with Australian fleet management company sgfleet, which invested in the company in 2018.
“The smash repair industry has reached the digitise or die stage,” added Sand- ford. “Consumer demand for choice and the need for specialist repairers is driv- ing this. Traditional generalist panel beaters trying to be all things to all peo- ple and survive offline will ultimately fall behind.”
and Chief Executive Officer said that IAG's underlying business had a strong performance over the half.
"In Australia, while we achieved sound growth in our short tail personal lines, overall GWP growth was flat. This reflected business exits and continued remediation in our commercial busi- ness, and lower CTP premiums in the wake of scheme changes.
The company said it expected strong performance in the second half of the year. One of its 2020 priorities is the in- tegration of the recently acquired Mo- torServe business, within the motor re- pair model, providing a one-stop-shop for repairs and servicing. Another pri- ority is the expansion of Carbar, the digital car trading and subscription platform, to respond to customer appe- tite for alternative forms of vehicle ownership.
BELOW: Team DingGo set to grow as the repair platform secures funding to have a national footprint.
INSURER PROFITS DOWN
BUSHFIRES, HAILSTORMS AND FLOODS
over the summer have hit the ‘big two's’ profits. Suncorp announced a decrease in profit after tax from $123 million for the half-year ended 31 De- cember 2019 against December 2018: $128 million, adjusted for the sale of the Capital S.M.A.R.T and ACM Parts businesses.
IAG revised its margin guidance to 12.5-14.5% citing catastrophic weather events as having a financial impact on business performance. On 24 January 2020, it revised its reported margin guid- ance to 14.5 – 16.5% after the devastating bushfires and the hail event in Mel- bourne, Canberra and Sydney.
Peter Harmer IAG Managing Director