In June, IMR asked general automotive repair shops about current and future threats to their business. Of the six current/future threats asked about, the cost of tools and equipment required to service late model vehicles and advanced technology on newer vehicles nearly tied for the highest threats to general repair shops overall.
However, the study found that as the size of the shop increases, the threat of the cost of tools/equipment also decreases. For shops with four to six bays and 11-plus bays, advanced technology on newer vehicles is actually the No. 1 threat.
While equal access to telematics data was considered the fourth largest threat, one in five shops considered it a No. 1 or No. 2 threat while more than half of smaller, one-to-three bay shops considered it the least threatening. For shops with four to six bays and seven to 10 bays, equal access to telematics data was more of a threat than finding qualified technicians.
Only 15 percent of shops ranked new B2C online vehicle service models as a one, two or three. The vast majority of shops ranked that threat as a five or six.
IMR also asked the shops if there were other threats to their business that weren’t mentioned in the options. The most frequently cited responses were the high cost/price of parts, cheap foreign parts and low-quality parts.
