Page 34 - Australasian Paint & Panel July-August 2019

Industry Insights
34
PAINT&PANEL JULY / AUGUST 2019
ABOVE: While electric vehicle sales have been dismal there will inevitably be more electric and hybrid cars sales and repairers need to be prepared.
There has been a significant after- market industry campaign to make the provision of servicing and repair data mandatory. While the Govern- ment is behind the scheme there are no penalties for manufacturers who don't comply. Generally repairers have access to methods for most models through a number of routes from dealerships to methods provid- ers such as Thatcham escribe or Ezi-Methods.
While Holden says it will educate customers about the importance of us- ing a Holden approved repairer and that it will market its own branded insur- ance, the reality for all of the manufac- turers is that they have little power over where a customer's car is repaired - the insurer holds that power.
WHAT ‘STANDARDS’ ARE
CURRENTLY IN OPERATION?
The manufacturers have their own standards in terms of equipment and au- diting of processes as do some of the in- surers. The Australian Motor Body Re- pairers Association (AMBRA) launched AMBRA shop grading way back in 2013 but uptake was slow, partly because Suncorp launched its own standards shortly after. The program certifies that the business is audited to perform one of three levels of repairs from non-struc- tural to heavy structural. Recent chang- es to the way the scheme can be admin- istered by state Motor Trade Associations and the adoption of AMBRA standards for the Holden and Subaru networks and Car Craft Accident Repair Group should
ensure that it becomes widespread and that it can establish itself as a true, inde- pendent national standard. Queensland’s MTA left AMBRA some years ago and there cannot give shop grading accreditation which is proving problematic for it’s membership, espe- cially those who require in order to re- tain or seek a manufacturer badge.
I-CAR Australia is the industry train- ing organisation. It has two recognition levels, Platinum which is for a individ- ual who has completed a certain num- ber of courses and I-CAR Gold which is awarded to a shop whose staff have completed a certain number of training courses which will include welding certification for panel technicians. There are less than 20 shops in Austral- ia which have achieved I-CAR Gold. IAG announced back in 2017 that all of its partnered repairers must achieve I- CAR Gold status but has done nothing to enforce this. While many more shops are on the 'path to Gold' the number is still a fraction of the industry. Having said that it has become another stand- ard, in this case to prove that staff are trained and up to date with the latest repair methods.