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VOL. 4 ISSUE 2 MAY 2014
At CIC, Ford Outlines its Strategy to Help Repairers Prepare for the New F-150, Focus on Repairability
Thousands Attend Record Breaking Northeast™ Trade Show, Positive Reaction from Many Attendees
Ford Motor Company representatives at the Collision Industry Conference (CIC) held in Portland, Ore., in April provided more information not only about the automaker’s 2015 F-150 pick-up, but also about the “Ford National Body Shop Network,” through which Ford hopes to promote both dealership and independent shops to owners of Ford vehicles needing collision repair. Paul Massie, collision product marketing manager for Ford, acknowledged that his company may have
The 37th annual Northeast Automotive Services Show presented by the Alliance of Automotive Service Providers of New Jersey (AASP/NJ) was held at the Meadowlands Exposition Center in Secaucus, NJ, March 21–23, 2014. Filled with useful and informative seminars, demonstrations on the showroom floor, and over 100 exhibitors from all segments of the industry, the LIABRA’s Ed Kizenberger responds to questions about possible litigation of PartsTrader 2014 show was well-attended berger of the Long Island Auto Body and successful! Repairmen’s Association (LIABRA); Tom Elder of Auto Body DistributPartsTrader Panel Discussion ing; Mitch Portnoi, Esq. of Post, The seminars kicked off with “Parts See Northeast Trade Show, Page 18 Trader Comes to the Northeast: NOW
by John Yoswick
fallen behind other automakers in developing a certification or recognition program for independent shops. But it also is clearly the new F-150, an aluminum-intensive vehicle expected to hit showrooms in November, that is behind Ford’s push to increase the Paul Massie number of body shops equipped and trained to work on aluminum. The F-150 has been the best-selling vehicle in the country for See Ford’s Plan, Page 22
Attorneys for Collision Repairers Respond to State Farm’s Request for Dismissal of Antitrust Case
for automobile parts and services, adopted similar reimbursement policies and practices, and attempted to steer customers away from shops that refused to adhere to Defendants’ price limitations. The ‘crucial question,’ however, is ‘whether the challenged anticompetitive conduct stem[s] from independent decision or from an agreement, tacit or express,’’ State Farm’s attorneys write in their response. “As a general rule, businesses are free to choose the parties with whom they will deal, as well as the prices, terms and conditions of that dealing,” See State Farm Requests, Page 34
Change Service Requested
P.O. BOX 1516, CARLSBAD, CA 92018
Attorneys for repair shops that filed suit against State Farm and more than a dozen other insurers recently responded to the insurer’s request for the U.S. Middle District of Florida Court, Orlando division, to dismiss their antitrust and steering lawsuit, saying that there is “more than sufficient facts asserted to satisfy the pleading requirements.” The Florida repair shops sued State Farm and dozens of other insurers. See this issue and Autobody News April issue for more on the lawsuit, or search online at Autobodynews.com. “Plaintiffs allege that Defendants imposed maximum price limitations
by Chasidy Rae Sisk
WHAT?” a panel discussion that included Barry Dorn of the Washington Metropolitan Auto Body Association (WMABA); Ed Kizen-
Indiana Autobody Association and Indiana Shop Owners File Suit to Block Tortious Interference The Indiana Autobody Association (IABA) along with fourteen Indiana Collision Repair Shops filed legal action against twelve Property and Casualty Insurance Companies and their subsidiaries on April 2, 2014. The suit seeks unspecified financial damages and names 27 insurers including Illinois-based State Farm, which has the largest market share in the state at about 25 percent. Others with large market share include Ohiobased Progressive Insurance and locally based Indiana Farmers Mutual Insurance Co. The suit accuses the insurers of “enTony Passwater gaging in an ongoing, concerted and intentional course of action and conduct with State Farm acting as the spearhead to improperly and illegally control and depress the automobile damage repair costs.” In addition, “The insurance com-
panies (“Insurers”) are improperly intruding upon the relationship between the Shops and consumers, and placing the driving public at harm by their practices.” As it pertains to DRP shops, the suit also accuses the insurers of “engaging in an ongoing pattern and practice of coercion and implied threats to the pecuniary health of the individual plaintiff businesses in order to force compliance with unreasonable and onerous concessions.” Tony Passwater, IABA Executive Director, states, “There’s going to be a battle. For decades the insurers have interfered with the collision repair professional’s obligation to restore the vehicle back to pre-accident condition as humanly possible. It has been well documented with the 1963 Consent Decree. Since then, over the last two decades, the pressure to compromise the repair quality and safety has increased with many insurer mandates See Tortious Interference?, Page 35
Presorted Standard US Postage PAID San Bernardino, CA Permit #2244