ABRN (Automotive Body Repair News) - Body shop related news for car dealers and collision repair centers

Requires
Flash Player 9
Version Test
Download Flash

New Series WRECKED premieres Thursday July 17th on SPEED!

To view this site, you need to have Flash Player 8.0 or later installed. Click here to get the latest Flash player.

SEE ALL VIDEOS

Discover the untold side of the world of towing. WRECKED, Life in the Crash Lane. Thursdays 10pm ET on SPEED.

www.speedtv.com

CLICK HERE

Prices sparking volatility

Aftermarket Business

As we approach midyear, it seems like a lifetime ago that oil prices were hovering below $100 per barrel. True, the economic impact was being felt even then, but today's price levels are certainly unexpected and — many may argue — unjustified. We think what may be more troubling to the market is not necessarily the actual level of oil prices, but rather the daily volatility. Large swings such as the $10 spike on June 6 are upsetting and exemplify underlying macroeconomic and geopolitical concerns.

China - Let the games begin

Aftermarket Business

The global supply chain continues to make for "interesting times" in the aftermarket. Last year Inoted that while China held one-fifth of the earth's population, it consumed a third of the world's steel, half of the world's concrete and was fast becoming the world's second largest purchaser of goods. That voracious appetite for raw material to feed its industrial revolution now is driving up costs on every front. The most recent reports out of China show that material costs from pig iron (up 150 percent) to coke (up 130 percent) are impacting production, especially for high steel-content auto parts. And we now see a rise in labor rates, up 295 percent in the coastal areas.

Freeze Frame: Guilty, but of what?

Motor Age

In my March 2007 column "Guiltless," I discussed what we as individuals and as an industry are doing about global warming. I said it doesn't matter whether we believe human activity causes global warming, because most countries have begun regulating CO2 emissions, and those regulations influence our lives personally and professionally. That much is true.

More Opinion & Commentary

RSS feeds for this site

Industry News

Insurance Auto Auctions launches I-Pay Services

Attendance at free ASA workshops growing

ASA creates Raw vs. Primed Bumper Cover flier

ABRA opens fifth repair center in Milwaukee

IIHS says federal bumper rules should apply to SUVs, pickups, vans, and cars alike

ASA contributes $5,000 to I-CAR Education Foundation

FIX AUTO promotes Ron Guilliams

Shops warned about engine fires sparked by ethanol use

Keystone's 2008 Crash Parts Digest now available

PPG posts 42 percent sales gain

Metal Shop

Bonds you can trust

MIG Brazing facts about non-fusion

Restraint System Review

Pulling techniques 101 and beyond

STRWS Welding: Get spot on with spot welding

Paint Shop

Finishing touches

Ozone Transportation Committee considers waterborne paint policy

Surface Prep Perfection

Big Opportunities in Small Damage

Painting Plastics

Nissan to use solar panels from ICP Solar Technologies

Motor Age

ICP Solar Technologies Inc., a developer, manufacturer and marketer of solar panels and products, has entered into a sales contract with Nissan in Europe and North America for OEM solar charger. A discharged battery is one of the most common problems facing the automotive industry with cars sitting in parking lots for a long period of time in cold or hot conditions, the manufacturer says.

Penske earns ASE certification for tech training maintenance program

Motor Age

Penske Truck Leasing recently received certification from the National Institute of Automotive Service Excellence (ASE) for the company's Continuing Automotive Service Education (CASE) program. Penske is the first and only truck leasing, rental and logistics provider to earn an ASE certification for a program of this kind, according to the company.

Ford technology moves beyond the pavement with new smart intersections

Motor Age

Ford Motor Company researchers have unveiled one of the first privately funded "smart intersections" in North America, a key step toward leveraging GPS technology and wireless infrastructure-to-vehicle communications to reduce traffic accidents and ease congestion.

Amended EPA rule encourages use of aluminum in cars

Motor Age

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has amended Hazardous Waste Rule No. F019 to encourage use of aluminum in automobile construction. This final rule, which became effective July 7, applies to wastewater treatment sludge produced when manufacturing aluminum.

New BorgWarner technology featured on Chrysler 2009 models

Motor Age

The Chrysler 300 and Dodge Charger will offer BorgWarner's new InterActive Torque Management? Transfer Case (ITM? tc) all-wheel-drive (AWD) technology as optional equipment for the 2009 model year. ITM tc offers enhanced response and controllability with reduced noise, vibration and harness (NVH) in a compact, efficient design.

The Push-button Parking Brake

Motor Age

To many, electrically operated parking brakes are the answer to a question nobody asked. These systems replace parking brake cables and the lever or pedal with a switch, a processor, wiring and actuators. They started coming into common use about six years ago – not long, but sufficient for some trends to be evident.

Factory Bulletins

Motor Age

Factory Bulletin

Active Wheel Speed Sensors

One step closer to full brake-by-wire.

Motor Age

Wheel speed sensors detect the rotation speed of a wheel that's moving. Active wheel speed sensors detect rotation speed all the way down to zero, and the newest sensors can detect the direction of rotation, too. Four different sensor designs are in use today.