By Levy Joffrion
I-CAR Celebrates 500th Article
The Inter-Industry Conference on Auto Collision Repair (I-CAR) is celebrating its 500th Advantage article, which was included in a recent edition of I-CAR Advantage Online.
Available to the collision industry through the biweekly I-CAR e-newsletter at no charge, the internationally read Advantage has been delivering up-to-date technical information to its readers for 17 years. It has subscribers in 48 countries.
For more information, visit www.i-car.com.
Survey Predicts Aftermarket Growth
While automotive aftermarket executives do not have high expectations for the U.S. economy in the next 12 months, they do overwhelmingly (80 percent) expect to see growth for their businesses. According to Grant Thornton's 2005 Automotive Aftermarket Survey, conducted in cooperation with the Specialty Equipment Market Association and the Automotive Aftermarket Industry Association, 84 percent of the respondents anticipate an increase in their 2006 revenue over the 2005 numbers, compared to 72 percent that expect their 2005 revenues to increase over 2004.
"Many firms expect to achieve these lofty goals by their own organizational efforts, rather than relying on market forces," says J. Scott Faber, Grant Thornton assurance partner and leader of the firm's Automotive Aftermarket.
NASTF Updates OEM Charges
OEM service Web site access charges are summarized in a new posting on the National Automotive Service Task Force (NASTF) Web site.
Access charges for the OEM service Web sites vary by manufacturer. To view the summary of access charges, go to www.nastf.org and click on "Summary of OEM Service Web site Access Charges."
Most automakers offer subscription rates for information on all of their models based on daily, monthly or yearly access. Some offer other options such as on a per-document basis and single-model basis.
CCC Marks 25th Year with Scholarships
CCC Information Services Inc. is celebrating its 25th anniversary by offering five schools a total of $25,000 in collision repair training and education scholarships. The scholarships are to assist deserving students pursuing a career in the automotive collision repair industry.
The scholarship program, developed in cooperation with the I-CAR Education Foundation, is now accepting applications for 2006. Applications can be obtained via www.cccis.com and must be submitted by 5 p.m. Feb. 6, 2006. Winners will be announced in April 2006.
Participating schools include Bridgerland Applied Technology College, Logan, Utah; Fox Valley Technical College, Appleton, Wis.; Nashville Auto-Diesel College, Nashville, Tenn.; Pennsylvania College of Technology, Williamsport, Pa.; and Universal Technical Institute, Houston.
