July 2001 Editor's Page
Where Will It End?

In May, Allstate purchased the 39 collision repair shops operated by Sterling.

In June, Progressive Insurance announced its innovative pilot program - Concierge - which provides customers with the opportunity for unprecedented one-stop collision repair service.

Where will it end?

That's the thought on the mind of the collision repair industry as Progressive, of Mayfield Village, Ohio, fired the latest shot in the insurance industry's effort to grab its share of the collision repair process.

In particular, that question is on the mind of at least one disgruntled shop owner who e-mailed us this salvo upon hearing of the Concierge program:

"The insurance industry now owns the collision repair industry - lock, stock, and barrel. We, as honest, poorly paid professionals, have lost all say about how our businesses are run.

"No one outside our industry knows or even cares about our plight."

While that reader's tone may be a little extreme, in that many techs in our industry earn well over $50,000 per year, he does touch upon a valid point. In an era that has seen unprecedented consolidation, in which fewer and fewer companies are occupying the dominant spaces at the top of the industry's power structure, where will the consolidation end?

While Progressive's pilot program does have the potential to offer customers a host of valuable services, will customers and the smaller sectors of the collision repair industry lose the right to make important decisions?

My overall opinion is that anything that improves customer service and the final product is a good thing; let the free-market system determine who can keep up with the competition. But I'm sensitive to the idea that our industry, like the world around us, is slowly being taken over by corporate giants who will focus almost entirely on increasing their market share.

Speaking of the powers that be in our industry, as if on cue we now have confirmation that the Justice Department is investigating the world's paint giants concerning allegations of price-fixing, which, given the overall competitiveness of the refinish industry, seems preposterous. There are even rumors of secret meetings in faraway places at which the fate of our industry was discussed.