The Remarkable Career of the Collisionista

Even in retirement, Petra Schroeder is helping to ensure the future of collision repair

By TODD KORTEMEIER

THE CITY OF WUPPERTAL, Germany, may not sound familiar, but you likely know one of its most famous exports. Aspirin was patented in 1899 by the Bayer company, which began life in 1863 in what is now a part of Wuppertal. One of the city’s lesser-known exports globally is Petra Schroeder, though in the world of collision repair she can properly be considered a star.

Though she likely didn’t know it at the time, Schroeder’s journey to the United States and a half-century association with collision repair began when she took a job with the German chemical company Herberts in 1969. Herberts is nearly as old as the Bayer company, founded in 1866 in the same town. By the time Schroeder began as an apprentice, the company was known for its popular Standox brand of automotive refinishes.

Fast forward to 1995 and Schroeder came to the U.S. as the Standox director of technical services. In 1999 came a merger with DuPont, which ultimately resulted in the formation of the Axalta brand known around the industry today. In the midst of all those changes, Schroeder chose to stay in the U.S. permanently, and she also developed a passion for collision repair and its people that has endured long past her retirement from Axalta in 2016.

While Schroeder is no longer actively working in collision repair in a professional sense, everyone knows her title. Schroeder says she isn’t big on titles but had to have one to register for conferences. She came up with “Collisionista,” and that’s what everyone knows her as today. You’ll often find her at industry events