Page 20 - Australasian Paint & Panel Nov-Dec 2022

Market Intelligence
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PAINT&PANEL NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2022 WWW.PAINTANDPANEL.COM.AU
JAMES KNOX
REPAIRHUB CEO
“I would expect to see ongoing steady growth in all the new emerging MSO groups
who are benefiting from insurer diver- sification away from AMA Group. I do expect a slight shift to acquisition growth rather than greenfield sites given the shortages in industrial prop- erty and rising property costs.
“I think industry volumes overall will be soft but that doesn’t necessari- ly translate at a shop level given the industry has lost a lot of production capacity over the last couple of years. I think affordability pressures across families will impact uninsured levels, claims behaviours and average excess- es. I don’t think we will see the CBD traffic and commuting levels back to pre-pandemic levels.
“The take up of electric cars will re- main muted in Australia compared to the rest of the world. A combination of affordability of electric cars, the lack of infrastructure to support and our demographics will hold us back.
“Unfortunately, I still believe we are six months away from peaking on in- flation and the impact of parts, labour and energy prices is going to continue to put pressure on industry pricing.
“I believe we are going to see ongo- ing disruption and change in the OEM landscape and in the next 12
months we will see at least one other major manufacturer exit the Australi- an market. For the collision industry, I think you will continue to see in- creasedgrowthinrecycledand“alter- natively sourced genuine parts” as a result of ongoing supply chain and pricing pressures across the industry.”
STUART FAID VICE
PRESIDENT ASIA
FIX NETWORK
“2023 promises to be another year of chal- lenge for the collision
repair industry. Continued downward pressure on repair costs, increasing la- bour costs and parts prices, as well as supply chain issues will remain at the forefront of the day to day challenges for repairers.
“Additionally, the ongoing labour and skills shortage nationwide will continue to impact on production ca- pabilities, in turn exacerbating the is- sues repairers face, just trying to “get the job done”. As we emerge from the pandemic into a full year of normality, I see things getting harder before they get easier. Masked by an abundance of work, the complexities of running a profitable and sustainable business will make for a year of significant challenge for many. Repairers that fo- cus on the details, implement robust controls, and manage their business with rigour and discipline will emerge
stronger and more viable for doing so. Repairers that just try and “mud- dle” through, may find they run aground very quickly.”
ANGELA MANTEIT
DIRECTOR DRIVE ACCIDENT SOLUTIONS Although the industry
is strong at the moment, I think we could be in for a bit of a rocky road ahead. There seems to be a lot of un- knowns with the local and global economy and we will see how that will affect customers’ spending habits, the unknown of what is happening with Russia and their relationship with the rest of the world. The overall economy in America and the impact this will have on the rest of the world. Also, the strong push to sustainability and how this will affect the vehicles we fix, and how the materials used in the process change overtime.
RUSS HILL, MCKENZIE’S TRUCK & BUS REPAIRS, SPRAY PAINTERS
AUSTRALIA GROUP, CRASHZONE