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VOL. 3 ISSUE 3 DECEMBER 2013
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Collision Repair Classes, Meetings and Exhibitors Attract Shops to Largest SEMA Ever by John Yoswick
The 2013 Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) show attracted more than 126,000 people—attendees and exhibitor representatives—to Las Vegas in November, filling the massive Las Vegas Convention Center and surrounding spaces with all things automotive. Show organizers say that count was up 7 percent over the previous year and was the highest ever. The collision repair and refinish section of the show boasted just over 200 exhibitors, a small but rapidly growing percentage of the more than 2,300 companies and organizations
exhibiting at SEMA this year. Although attendees could easily
spend several days on the show floor to see it all, there were a number of
pecial SSEMA
coverage Coverage Pages: 1, 8, 12, 18, 19, 24, 25, 27, 29, and 31
(L-R) Barbara Davies, GM at Autobody News, Kenny Youngblood, Fine Art Automotive & Race Car Portrait Artist, Paul Stoll, PPG Technical Sales Instruction Supervisor, and Cristina Fronzaglia, PPG Communications Manager
See Biggest SEMA Ever, Page 10
Ohio Supreme Court Ends Class Action Status on State Farm Windshield Installation Case
PartsTrader, Insurer Mandates Draw Industry Ire at Collision Industry Conference Held with SEMA
The Ohio Supreme Court has ruled that a class-action lawsuit alleging that an insurance company did not disclose the option to replace damaged windshields to its policyholders does not meet the legal requirements for a class action. The high court issued its 26-page ruling in Cullen v. State Farm Mutual Auto Insurance Co. on Nov. 5. In 2003, plaintiff Michael Cullen contacted State Farm to report damage to the windshield of his car. After speaking with his agent, Cullen spoke to a representative from Lynx
Following a panel discussion on parts procurement at the Collision Industry Conference (CIC) in Las Vegas in early November, attendees spent nearly an hour voicing criticism of mandated use of any particular system. Tom McGarry of Axalta Coatings ProfitNet Management System noted that unlike several other systems, PartsTrader interfaces with estimating systems but not management systems. He also said a shop ordering parts might need to use one Tom McGarry electronic system in order to receive an automaker rebate, but the shop’s preferred vendor might use a different system, with State Farm requiring yet another. “It’s not a procurement decision anymore; it’s a marketing decision,” McGarry said. “How do you handle that?” Nebraska shop owner Andy Dingman, who participated on the
Services LLC, a company that began handling windshield claims for State Farm in 1996. Twinsburg Glass & Mirror then repaired his windshield. Two years later, Cullen sued State Farm, requesting class certification and a declaratory judgment that the insurer’s practices were illegal and violated obligations owed by fiduciaries pursuant to Ohio law. In addition, Cullen asserted claims for breach of contract, bad faith and breach of fiduciary duty, and sought compensatory and punitive damages. The complaint defined the class See Windshield Case Ends, Page 11
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by Jessica M. Karmasek
by John Yoswick
CIC panel, agreed that shops could be faced with using multiple systems. “And that’s going to be very efficient,” he added sarcastically. California shop owner Randy Stabler, also on the panel, agreed. “The challenge here is the insurance community doesn’t understand by and large that when they increase the body shop’s costs, they have to pay for it somewhere,” Stabler said. “Lowering the payout isn’t increasing efficiency. If the insurers could take that Randy Stabler back to their corporations and figure out ways to reduce the body shop’s operating costs, then they can share in it, but reducing the payout doesn’t increase efficiency.” Stabler also said, however, that he’s “kind of perplexed” why the PartsTrader mandate has become “such a lightening rod” for an industry that has been accepting insurer mandates since the early days of computerized estimating. See Industry Ire, Page 14
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