Aug. 15, 2017—In June, IMR Automotive Research asked general automotive repair shops about current and future threats to their business.
According to the research (displayed in the table above), of the six threats asked about, the cost of tools and equipment required to service late model vehicles and advanced technology on newer vehicles nearly tied for the highest threats to general repair shops overall.
However, as the size of the shop increases, the threat of the cost of tools/equipment decreases. For shops with 4–6 bays and 11-plus bays, advanced technology on newer vehicles is actually the number one threat.
While equal access to telematics data was considered the fourth largest threat, one in five shops considered it a No. 1 or No. 2 threat, while over half of smaller, 1–3 bay shops considered it the least threatening. For shops with 4–6 bays and 7–10 bays, equal access to telematics data was more of a threat than finding qualified technicians.
Only 15 percent of shops ranked new B2C (business-to-consumer) online vehicle service models as a No. 1, 2 or 3 threat. The vast majority of shops ranked that threat as a No. 5 or 6.
IMR also asked the shops if there were other threats to their business that it didn’t mention. The most frequently cited responses were the high cost and price of parts, cheap foreign parts and low quality parts.
Image courtesy of IMR.
