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Letter to the Editor
This article originally appeared in the July 2010 Issue of INSIGHT
©2009 Collision Repair Industry INSIGHT All Rights Reserved
PPG Refinish Announces New Appointments and Organizational Restructuring
Solera Holdings Appoints Renato Giger CFO and Will Move Corporate Headquarters to Dallas-Fort Worth
Sherwin-Williams A-Plus University Ecolean Level 1 Workshop Set for Indianapolis
smart fortwo Offers smart Expressions Customization Program for Driver Vehicle Designs
PPG Reports Strong Q2 Financial Results
Genuine Parts Company Reports Sales and Earnings Up in Q2
NCOIL Takes No Final Action on Model Parts Bill
DuPont Performance Coatings Honors Joe Jackson Industry Champion Award Winners
Automechanika Middle East Exhibition Continues to Grow
Ford Safety and Damageability Analysis Raises Red Flags About Aftermarket Copy Collision Parts
INDUSTRY UPDATE
PPG Automotive Refinish has restructured its North American sales and marketing organization with a number of key leadership changes. The announcements were made by Greg Benckart, general manager for PPG Refinish USCA.
“PPG Refinish is committed to maintaining a strong, dynamic management team,” said Benckart. “These new appointments, together with key strategic realignments, will help us maintain our leadership in providing the right products and support for our refinish customers.”
Bob Burgess was appointed director, training and sales development. In his new capacity, Burgess will be responsible for development of training and strategies for the Refinish sales force to ensure sales performance excellence and consistent value proposition delivery.
Brett Candler was named to replace Burgess as sales zone director, zone 1. The zone will be realigned to add region 2, headed by Randy Koch. According to Benckart, the realignment will enhance PPG’s ability to support the transition to waterborne basecoat in the northeastern United States.
Steve Zweig has joined the Refinish business unit as sales zone director for zone 3, which has been realigned to include its refinish business in Canada. Zweig, who replaces Brett Candler in his new position, was formerly with PPG’s Architectural Coatings business unit, where he held the position of zone sales director, Midwest and West. In that role, he was responsible for over 130 company store locations operating in 20 markets across the United States.
Jean-Guy Rosa has been appointed director, Refinish Canada, after serving in this role in an interim capacity since December 2009. Rosa joined PPG in 1992 and has held positions of increased responsibilities within training, value-added services and most recently as regional manager for Quebec and the Atlantic Region of Canada. He will report to Zweig.
John Parran was appointed to director, marketing, Refinish USCA. In his new role, Parran will oversee strategies and initiatives encompassing product marketing, customer service, communications and pricing.
Mark Juell was named to replace Parran as sales zone director, zone 2. Juell joined PPG in 1991 as a technical sales instructor and most recently held the position of regional manager.
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Solera Holdings, Inc., a global provider of software and services to the automobile insurance claims processing industry, has appointed Renato Giger to the position of Chief Financial Officer.
Giger's appointment follows Solera's decision to conclude Dudley Mendenhall's employment as Chief Financial Officer. Mendenhall's separation from Solera was not prompted by any regulatory issues nor is it related to Solera's financial statements or other reporting requirements. Solera notified Mendenhall on July 2, and he will continue to work through August 15 as part of a planned transition.
"We made this change to better align our executive management team with the Solera mission to reach one billion in revenue. Renato has successfully taken on increasing responsibility over the past four years and has consistently contributed to Solera's growth," said Tony Aquila, founder, Chairman and CEO of Solera Holdings, Inc. "We would like to thank Dudley for his efforts and wish him well in his future endeavors."
Giger was previously the Global Corporate Controller of Solera and Chief Financial Officer of EMEA. He has been with Solera since its acquisition of the Claims Services Group from Automated Data Processing, Inc. in 2006 and worked with the predecessor companies for thirteen years.
In other company news, Solera announced its decision to move its corporate headquarters and global executive team from San Diego to the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex.
"The relocation of our corporate headquarters to the Dallas-Fort Worth area gives us a broader recruitment pool and better labor arbitrage, cost efficiencies, and improved mobility and access to our markets," said Aquila. "This will place us closer to main transportation arteries and allows us to share additional business hours with our customers and colleagues around the world."
The relocation includes the Solera senior executive team which is: Tony Aquila, Founder, Chief Executive Officer, President and Chairman of the Board; John Giamatteo, Chief Operating Officer; Renato Giger, Chief Financial Officer; Abilio Gonzalez, Senior Vice President Corporate Global Human Resources; Jason Brady, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary; and Kamal Hamid, Vice President of Investor Relations.
The corporate headquarters relocation does not impact other U.S.-based operations.
Solera provides software and services to the automobile insurance claims processing industry in over 50 countries across six continents.
Sherwin-Williams Automotive Finishes will hold its next A-Plus(TM) EcoLean(TM) Level 1 workshop in mid-September in Indianapolis, Indiana. The workshop is exclusively designed to educate attendees about maximizing profitability by improving productivity and eliminating waste throughout their facilities.
The focus of the EcoLean program is two-fold. Trained professionals share best practices for driving profitability and productivity while helping facilities reduce their overall environmental waste. Previous workshops have been well attended by collision shop owners and managers from across the United States and Canada.
“We are excited with the ongoing response to our EcoLean program,” said Rodes Brown, Manager–Marketing Strategic Programs for Sherwin-Williams Automotive Finishes. “We see the market moving rapidly toward leaner business models that include an emphasis on reducing environmental waste.
The upcoming EcoLean Level 1 workshop scheduled for Indianapolis is specifically developed to meet the needs of collision shop operators. Instructors will teach attendees about the history of lean production and how to build a lean culture from the ground up. Shop owners and managers will also be given useful tips on lean production’s practical application in collision repair, and methods to make collision shops more efficient.
The program also educates shop owners on the connection between environmentally sound business decisions and the reduction of process and environmental waste. Partici-pants will leave the two-day event with tangible tools to increase the quality, production output and profitability of their businesses.
smart USA Distributor LLC, a subsidiary of Penske Automotive Group, Inc., is putting the power of creative expression into the hands of all smart fortwo owners with a new program that allows for vehicle customization.
The recently launched “smart Expressions” offers an unlimited palette of paint color choices and a variety of body wrap designs, which allow owners to transform their smart fortwo into a mobile masterpiece. Custom exterior colors and wrap designs can be ordered through any smart center dealer in the smart USA network.
“smart Expressions builds on the innovative smart brand and empowers owners to be creative with their vehicle through a number of personalization choices,” said Jill Lajdziak, president, smart USA. “The smart fortwo’s interchangeable body panels make this unique level of customization possible, which is unmatched in the auto industry.”
smart Expressions expands the offering of six factory color choices to a nearly endless variety of exterior color offerings. Owners can choose from 93 environmentally friendly, waterborne-based PPG Aquabase(R) Plus and Aquabase(R) Plus Tri-Coat paint colors.
Additionally, owners can custom match any shade by bringing a color swatch to any dealership through the “Any Color You Want” program. With “Any Color You Want,” owners can color match the car to anything - from their favorite sports team to their house, dog, or favorite fashion accessory. The program has a lifetime limited paint performance guarantee.
smart Expressions also offers a variety of full vehicle wrap designs. Vehicle wraps are made of laminated 3M vinyl and are available in two finishes - matte and gloss. Owners can select from a variety of pre-designed patterns. In addition, owners will soon be able to submit their own creative wrap concepts to their dealer for the ultimate customization. Wraps include a three-year manufacturer warranty against fading, peeling and cracking. Partial vehicle wraps are also available.
To view the complete gallery of paint colors and wrap designs, interested customers can visit the design studio at www.smartusa.com/smartexpressions.
PPG Industries has reported sales for the second quarter of $3.5 billion, an increase of 11 percent versus the prior year’s second quarter. Second quarter reported net income was $272 million, or $1.63 per share. Second quarter 2009 sales were $3.1 billion and reported net income was $146 million, or 89 cents per share.
“PPG’s strong results this quarter benefited largely from a 10 percent increase in volumes,” said Charles E. Bunch, PPG chairman and chief executive officer. “The breadth of geographies and end-use markets that we serve is enabling us to leverage continuing positive momentum in global industrial demand. The performance of our portfolio is being elevated by this higher industrial activity and strong demand across the Asia/Pacific and Latin America regions. This is more than offsetting weak construction markets in North America and Europe.
“Our earnings this quarter were aided by an improved sales mix from some of our top-performing businesses, such as aerospace, auto refinish and our Optical and Specialty Materials segment,” Bunch continued. He added that Commodity Chemicals segment earnings have rebounded significantly versus the first quarter and that the company’s Glass segment benefited from substantially improved performance in the fiber glass business.
“Our financial performance this quarter, despite demand levels that are more than ten percent below 2008 pre-recession levels, clearly demonstrates that our global portfolio and our efforts to restructure our businesses to reduce structural costs have positioned PPG to capitalize on what we anticipate to be a continued, gradual, global economic recovery,” Bunch said. “We are beginning to utilize our strong balance sheet to accelerate growth, and in fact are in the process of reviewing several potential small to mid-size acquisitions.”
Net income for the second quarter included aftertax charges of one cent per share in 2010 and two cents per share in 2009 to reflect the net increase in the current value of the company’s obligation under its proposed asbestos settlement, which is pending court proceedings.
Performance Coatings segment sales in the second quarter 2010 increased $45 million, or 4 percent, versus last year’s second quarter as a result of higher selling prices and favorable currency conversion. Volumes were flat, with modest declines in the North American architectural coatings business offset by solid growth in automotive refinish and aerospace, two of PPG’s top-performing businesses, along with continued growth in the Asia/Pacific region. Segment earnings grew $32 million, or 20 percent, to a new quarterly record of $190 million as a result of the improved business mix, higher selling prices and lower costs, which were partially countered by higher raw material costs.
Glass segment sales increased $40 million, or 19 percent, compared with the prior year as a result of improved fiber glass volumes. Segment income was $16 million, an improvement of $23 million due to higher volumes, lower manufacturing costs and higher equity earnings and royalty income.
Founded in 1883, PPG Industries serves customers in industrial, transportation, consumer products, and construction markets and aftermarkets. With headquarters in Pittsburgh, PPG operates in more than 60 countries around the globe. Sales in 2009 were $12.2 billion.
Genuine Parts Company has reported sales and earnings for the second quarter and six months ended June 30, 2010. Thomas C. Gallagher, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, announced that sales totaling $2.8 billion were up 12 percent compared to the second quarter of 2009. Net income for the quarter was $124.5 million, an increase of 20 percent from $103.6 million recorded in the same period of the previous year. Earnings per share on a diluted basis were 78 cents, up 20 percent compared to 65 cents for the second quarter last year.
For the six months ended June 30, 2010, sales totaled $5.4 billion, up 9 percent compared to the same period in 2009. Net income for the six months was $225.1 million, an increase of 17 percent from the same period in 2009. Earnings per share on a diluted basis were $1.42, up 17 percent compared to $1.21 for the same period last year.
In reviewing the quarter, Gallagher commented, "We are pleased to report another quarter of solid sales and earnings growth in 2010. In looking at the results by segment, our Industrial and Electrical businesses turned in the strongest results. Sales for Motion Industries, our Industrial Group, were up 26 percent in the quarter and EIS, our Electrical Group, generated a 32 percent increase. Both Motion and EIS sell into the manufacturing sector of the economy, which is performing well at this time. Our Automotive Group produced another solid quarter. Sales for this group were up 7 percent, following a 6 percent increase in the first quarter and we are encouraged by the sequential improvement that we have seen in our Automotive results over the past several quarters...."
Gallagher added, "Our balance sheet as of June 30, 2010 also remains in excellent condition. We ended the period with a sound cash position and we continue to generate strong cash flows as a result of our working capital, asset management and cost reduction initiatives. We are encouraged by our sales and earnings growth in the second quarter and through the first six months in 2010. As we look forward, we are optimistic that we can show continued progress over the balance of the year."
Genuine Parts Company is a distributor of automotive replacement parts in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico.
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The National Conference of Insurance Legislators (NCOIL) Property-Casualty Insurance Committee took no final action on its proposed Motor Vehicle Crash Parts and Repair Model Act recently at the NCOIL summer meeting in Boston. The committee will continue discussing the Model Act at its annual meeting this fall in Austin, Texas.
The Automotive Service Association (ASA) has voiced opposition to the NCOIL Motor Vehicle Crash Parts and Repair Model Act because of concerns about the provisions regarding aftermarket part certification, the lack of a written consent process for the use of replacement crash parts by consumers, and the equating of certified parts to original equipment manufacturer (OEM) parts.
ASA had been particularly concerned about the certification process and what standards would be in place to certify aftermarket parts as equivalent to OEM parts. Another concern is the language used in the Model Act to ensure that consumers will be aware of what types of parts were being used to repair their vehicles. ASA supports formal written consent, as to the replacement crash parts used in the repair, by the consumer to ensure that the consumer is fully aware of the parts being used to repair their vehicle.
The Property-Casualty Insurance Committee did approve a provision for the Model Act that differentiates certified aftermarket crash parts from aftermarket crash parts. ASA opposed this provision.
ASA encourages independent repairers to go to www.TakingTheHill.com, the ASA legislative website, to view the letter sent from ASA in opposition to the Model Act, as well as view the text from the proposed Model Act.
The Automotive Service Association is the largest not-for-profit trade association of its kind dedicated to and governed by independent automotive service and repair professionals.
Joe Jackson Industry Champion Award recipients were honored by DuPont Performance Coatings at a business conference for the company’s Champion jobbers in June. For the past four years, DuPont has presented the award annually to recognize one or more individuals in the Collision Repair Industry who represent the industry admirably to the public at large by demonstrating outstanding leadership, heroism, charity, or humanitarian work.
Timothy P. McCann, vice president - DuPont Performance Coatings, presented a posthumous award to honor March Taylor, whose selfless contributions to the collision repair business were rivaled only by the countless hours he donated to organizations in his Hawaiian community, such as the Exchange Club, Boy Scouts and Food Bank.
Taylor built a body shop more than 35 years ago in one of the most remote locations in Kona, Hawaii, and grew it into a successful family business. He also served on the Board of the Society of Collision Repair Specialists. He was a leading technical expert, and he shared his wisdom often with repairers and auto and equipment manufacturers. March also mentored local high school students. March suffered a fatal heart attack while scuba diving in 2007. Tiffiny Taylor accepted the award on behalf of her father.
Running successful businesses is nothing new to award winner Daniel Gérard Rouzier. Currently the head of Haiti’s largest car dealership and the exclusive seller of several major auto brands, equipment, and DuPont Refinish products, Rouzier has held several prominent corporate board seats in his native Haiti. He also is the president and founder of the biggest independent power producer there. He still finds time to serve as chairman of the board of trustees for Food for the Poor Haiti, whose mission is to provide food, housing, medical services and education to Haiti’s less fortunate.
Rouzier helped tirelessly when the most devastating earthquake the country had ever seen struck the Haitian capital of Port Au Prince, claiming the lives of hundreds of thousands of people. Rouzier was honored for turning his body shop into a foundry to make crosses for the mass graves of more than 150,000 Haitians who lost their lives. In addition, he enlisted a Haitian bishop and an American priest to bless their gravesite to ensure a proper burial.
In addition to the awards, DuPont will make a $5,000 contribution in March Taylor’s name to Camp Mak-a-Dream, a medically supervised, cost-free camp for children, teens and young adults with cancer. The camp, located in Montana, is supported by the Collision Repair Industry. Also, a $5,000 donation will be made in Daniel Rouzier’s name to Food for the Poor Haiti.
The Joe Jackson award is named after a well-respected DuPont colleague who made a powerful and lasting impression on everyone he knew.
“Joe was a dear member of our DuPont Performance Coatings family, and we will never forget his passion for life, and his positive impact on people throughout our industry and the world of NASCAR,” said Harry Hall, North America sales manager. “Joe enriched our business and brought honor to the industry as a whole. That’s why we present an annual award in his name. And we are extremely proud to recognize March Taylor and Daniel-Gérard Rouzier with this award.”
Jackson and nine other people perished in a plane crash on Oct. 27, 2004. The plane, owned by Hendrick Motorsports, was traveling to a NASCAR race in Martinsville, Virginia. Among those killed were the son, brother, and two nieces of Rick Hendrick, owner of one of the most successful organizations in NASCAR history.
Responding to today’s fast-paced, changing marketplace, where consumers are increasingly making purchase decisions based on recommendations found on Facebook and Yelp, PPG’s MVP Business Solutions group has introduced a new, dynamic training course to assist collision centers in maximizing sales opportunities in the modern business climate. Entitled “MVP Accelerated Sales and Marketing Systems,” the two-day workshop covers a wide range of topics concerning four primary market segments: the consumer, insurance DRP, insurance agent, and non-traditional media.
“Given this highly-competitive environment, today’s collision center can no longer totally depend on traditional ways of reaching and selling to their customer base,” said Norm Angrove, senior manager of value programs for PPG. “The objective of this course is to provide attendees with a hands-on look at innovative, results-driven strategies and tools for modernizing their marketing and sales efforts.”
Beginning with an overview of industry trends, the workshop provides real-world instruction for developing an effective marketing and sales plan using new tools and methodology. Another training component provides insight into today’s multi-generations and how their unique preferences must guide the collision shop’s marketing approach. Attendees also are schooled on how to compose a concise, carefully-planned positioning statement of the business, and the “ins and outs” of leveraging customer testimonials to market the business.
“In this ‘brave new world’ of communications, this workshop devotes considerable attention to social media, such as Blogger, Facebook, Yelp, and other social media opportunities,” said Angrove. “The aim is to give shops new skills and methods for influencing prospects and driving traffic to their door utilizing these new communication tools.”
The MVP marketing course was extensively tested and refined by MVP experts before being incorporated into the Business Development training series. According to PPG, response to a pilot seminar was overwhelmingly positive.
“We have been propelled as a team to the next level of marketing,” said David Mulder, president of Collision Centers of America, and one of the pilot course participants. “The content of the seminar was delivered in a very digestible way with a challenge to use all our employees as marketers and penetrating the markets in our communities with the expanded knowledge.”
The workshop is available to PPG collision center customers in a two-day course or a one-day condensed format that allows participants to customize the course and select the topics most important to them.
As one of 15 courses in the MVP Business Development Series, Accelerated Sales and Marketing Systems is the first of three new courses to be introduced this year by PPG. The other two classes are “Evolution of Selling” which will provide a practical, professional consultative selling process, and “Fundamentals of Estimating,” which will cover contemporary estimating trends, techniques and practices for entry-level estimators.
This year’s edition of Automechanika Middle East, which was held recently in Dubai, registered steady growth in both exhibitor and visitor numbers. This year 1,007 exhibitors from 46 countries showcased their products and services to the 16,058 visitors from 111 countries throughout the three day exhibition.
Held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, President of Dubai Civil Aviation and Chairman of Emirates Airline, Automechanika Middle East was a truly international exhibition which helped support the UAE economy. With 90 percent international exhibitors and 49 percent international visitors, airlines, hotels, and restaurants have greatly benefited from the event. Automechanika Middle East received exhibitors and visitors from a diverse range of countries including European stalwarts France, Italy, and Germany, as well as emerging countries like Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Chile, Trinidad & Tobago, and Congo.
Automechanika Middle East's goal was to raise the bar in the products and services available for the automotive aftermarket in the wider Middle East region by bringing international manufacturers together with regional distributors and buyers. The exhibition enjoyed the ongoing support of 29 trade associations and 20 official country pavilions.
Ahmed Pauwels, Chief Executive Officer, Epoc Messe Frankfurt, organizer of Automechanika Middle East, said, “We were delighted with the results of this year’s Automechanika Middle East which continues to grow from strength to strength. We launched the Middle East edition of this global trade fair brand in 2003 with 119 exhibitors and today, eight years on, we have over 1,000 exhibitors, registering a 750 percent increase since the inaugural fair. Dubai is considered one of the most important commercial centers for automobile parts and accessories and so we expect this steady growth to continue.”
Kari Surya Prakash, Sales Manager, Al Shamali Auto Parts, a UAE based aftermarket trader, commented, “It’s a great opportunity to meet new customers from different parts of the world and this show provides the bridge between manufacturers to distributors to end consumers. It is a very good place to promote our brand and products.”
First time exhibitor Promod Kumar, Chief Executive Officer, Europart Middle East FZCO, noted, “There was an overwhelming response. We could meet with over 400 visitors in the 1st hour of opening day.” Viren Batra, Director, Steel Impex & Industries, was happy with the number and quality of exhibitors to this year’s event. He said, “This was a very well organized show which attracted a large number of interested buyers from various important automotive markets. Major brands of the industry are present and a very good mix of products was displayed.”
The Automechanika Academy which ran alongside the exhibition also enjoyed great success with close to 20 industry experts discussing the latest trends in the automotive aftermarket. This year’s academy was the largest held to date and featured international and regional market influencers and experts focusing on a range of industry topics.
Automechanika is the leading international meeting place for the automobile sector. As the world’s biggest trade fair for the automotive aftermarket it spotlights innovations and solutions in the fields of parts, systems, tuning, workshop equipment, bodywork & paintwork, car wash, IT & management and the latest automobile services. Automechanika Middle East is one of 14 global Automechanika fairs held in Asia, Europe, North America, South America and Africa. The next edition of Automechanika Middle East will be held in May, 2011.
Messe Frankfurt is Germany’s leading trade fair organizer, with more than 1,500 employees worldwide. The Messe Frankfurt Group has a global network of 28 subsidiaries, five branch offices and 52 international Sales Partners, giving it a presence for its customers in more than 150 countries. Events by Messe Frabkfurt take place at more than 30 locations around the globe. The company is publicly owned, with the City of Frankfurt holding 60 percent and the State of Hesse 40 percent.
Material composition and Computer Aided Engineering (CAE) testing and analysis by Ford Motor Company of a sample of aftermarket copy structural collision parts disclosed major differences between genuine Ford original equipment replacement parts and aftermarket copies. The aftermarket copy parts studied were not of equivalent “like kind and quality.” Based on Ford's testing and analysis, these aftermarket copy parts will perform differently than genuine Ford original equipment collision parts in a subsequent crash event.
Aftermarket copy bumper beams, bumper isolators, bumper brackets and radiator supports were among the parts studied. Ford engineers concluded from their test simulations for the 2005-09 Mustang bumper beams and 2004-07 F-150 radiator support that more damage could occur in subsequent collisions if the aftermarket copy replacement parts tested were used for repairs.
Comparison testing of genuine Ford original equipment replacement parts and the aftermarket copies by Ford showed significant differences in material composition, material thickness and part weight. In one notable example, the Ford 2004-07 F-150 magnesium structural radiator support was copied using molded plastic with a sheet metal rib pop-riveted to it. Ford engineers consider this difference critical because one of the vehicle’s air bag sensors is mounted to the hood latch support bracket which is mounted to the radiator support.
“This preliminary simulated testing raises a number of red flags regarding the use of these aftermarket copy structural collision parts when repairing collision damage,” said Paul Massie, Ford Motor Company Powertrain and Collision Product Marketing Manager. “In the absence of both high- and low-speed crash testing – equivalent to testing performed by vehicle manufacturers – there is no way to validate that any aftermarket copy structural replacement part will perform equivalently.”
However, Ford’s CAE testing of the 2005-09 Mustang front bumper beam and the 2004-07 F-150 radiator support indicated that vehicles repaired with these aftermarket copy parts will perform differently than vehicles with genuine Ford original equipment replacement collision parts.
The issue of aftermarket copy collision parts was brought to light again last fall at a collision repair industry conference where a well respected industry trainer used a reciprocating saw to easily cut through an aftermarket copy bumper beam, but could not cut through the genuine OEM part.
“All components of the vehicle structure are designed and tested to work together in a real world crash including helping to ensure proper deployment of airbags,” Massie said. “Changes in materials, forming processes, dimensional inaccuracies and any number of other structural differences can dramatically alter the crush characteristics of a vehicle and affect activation of the airbag sensors.”
Auto insurers, who pay for the vast majority of collision repairs, have argued that the use of less expensive aftermarket copy replacement parts is crucial to hold down the cost of repairs. However, Ford’s analysis suggests that subsequent damage could actually increase if these aftermarket copy parts are used.
Sale prices of the aftermarket copy parts used in Ford's testing and analysis were lower than the genuine Ford original equipment replacement parts. “However, Ford's analysis showed the original equipment parts were superior in quality and the higher cost of the genuine Ford original equipment replacement parts is justified,” said Massie.
Aftermarket copy collision parts are not covered by Ford’s new-vehicle service part or corrosion warranty, or any variety of the Ford Extended Service Plan. In addition, any damage to or failure of a Ford part caused by the installation or improper performance of an aftermarket copy part is not covered by Ford’s new-vehicle service part or corrosion warranty, or any variety of the Ford Extended Service Plan.
Ford believes the interests of vehicle owners and collision repairers are best protected when genuine Ford original equipment replacement parts are used to repair collision damage. “We want to collaborate with the collision industry to ensure a high level of customer safety and vehicle integrity is maintained following a collision repair,” said Frederiek Toney, Vice President Ford Customer Service Division.
Ford Motor Company parts used to produce the vehicle are thoroughly tested during the vehicle development process. Ford vehicles are subjected to a battery of stringent internal tests as well as Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) tests to help ensure all individual components work as a system during a crash sequence and meet or exceed the performance standards established by Ford Motor Company and the U.S. Government - the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
Genuine Ford original equipment replacement collision parts are made on the same tools and dies as parts used in new-vehicle production. The same manufacturing processes and raw materials are also used. For these reasons, Ford Motor Company strongly recommends the use of original equipment replacement parts for collision repair. Use of aftermarket copy parts (non- OEM) or salvaged OEM parts could result in diminished value of the vehicle, increased damage in a subsequent collision, and may increase the risk of injury to the occupants in the event of a crash.
In summary, Ford Motor Company emphasized the following key points:
- Ford testing and analysis shows that aftermarket copy structural parts studied are not “like kind and quality” to genuine Ford original equipment structural parts.
- Ford engineers are concerned that increased damage and different safety system performance may occur in subsequent accidents if aftermarket copies used for repairs.
- Ford strongly recommends genuine Ford original equipment structural parts be used for collision repairs.
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