Delphi Promotes National Car Care Month
Delphi Corp. announced its support of National Car Care Month, a vital part of the Be Car Care Aware educational campaign designed to increase public awareness about the benefits of good vehicle maintenance and repair.
AADCO Named a Preferred Supplier for Collision Care Canada
AADCO Automotive Inc., a leading supplier of Like, Kind and Quality (LKQ) used auto parts, has signed an agreement to provide LKQ and aftermarket parts to Collision Care Canada Inc. (CCC) facilities. AADCO Automotive Inc., a leading supplier of Like, Kind and Quality (LKQ) used auto parts, has signed an agreement to provide LKQ and aftermarket parts to Collision Care Canada Inc. (CCC) facilities.
ASA Launches New Government Affairs Web Site
The Automotive Service Association (ASA) has launched a new Web site to help communicate with federal and state representatives about issues impacting the automotive repair industry. According to a press release issued yesterday, the new Web site will help ASA and its members “mobilize support or dissent for issues directly impacting the automotive repair industry on both federal and state levels.”
New Import Parts Specialist Certification Tests Available
Aftermarket firms can begin the new year with a competitive edge by encouraging employees and customers to take the newly updated Auto International Association (AIA) Import Parts Specialist and Master Import Parts Specialist certification tests. Better-trained counter personnel and service technicians are vital to ensuring quality repairs and satisfying import nameplate customers. These tests address the pressing need for professionals with knowledge and training to help drive improved sales and provide the best customer service to import nameplate owners.
Campaign to Bring Back the “Midas Touch”
Midas wants to return to its core value of trust with the resurrection of a marketing campaign first used in Midas advertising in the 1980s. The company’s new national advertising agency DDB Chicago is collaborating with Ogilvy & Mather Toronto on the “Trust the Midas Touch” campaign. The campaign will include commercials that take place in a Midas shop and show a humorous dialog between a customer of Midas and a Midas service employee, who is hooked up to a polygraph machine. The commercials are the first in a long-term campaign to grow Midas’ category-leading shares in brakes and exhaust and to support the expansion of its services, including oil changes and other routine maintenance services.
Parts Distributor Leverages Technology to Achieve Growth Profitability
Georgia parts distributor, Powertrain Inc. of Savannah, has reported a 25 percent growth in the company’s billed labor time since it began using DST Inc.’s DSTWare Service module to manage both its parts distribution and service business. With 33 percent of its business mix consisting of service, the Durrence’s have said they attribute this growth to the software’s ease of use.
Lord Corp. Opens New Michigan Facility
Lord Corp. — which makes specialty adhesives, polyurethane coatings as well as electronic, vibration and noise control solutions for the automotive market — has expanded its Detroit area facility in an effort to better serve the automotive market. Located on 4.8 acres in Wixom, Mich., the newly constructed 19,020-square-foot facility houses the company’s automotive sales office and includes a 7,736-square-foot high-technology formulation and testing laboratory, automotive aftermarket training classroom, and a garage for hands-on automotive application training.
ASA Planning ‘Celebration of Excellence’
The Automotive Service Association (ASA) is finalizing plans for the “Celebration of Excellence” which will take place Friday, Nov. 5 at the Flamingo Las Vegas. The event will honor the achievements of ASA members and other industry leaders. The program will include a graduation ceremony recognizing those who have earned the Automotive Management Institute’s Accredited Automotive Manager (AAM) designation, as well as the presentation of a number of awards, including the Chairman’s Award of Excellence, a humanitarian award and a legislative award.
High Schoolers Earn Certifications from Industry
A diploma isn’t the only important document that some students have in hand when they graduate from high school these days. A growing number of students, educators say, are graduating with specific, industry-defined skills certifications that can have immediate value in the job market. Industries in which such certification is available include computer maintenance, automotive repair, nursing, graphic arts and food service.
Car Care Council Offers “Be Car Care Aware” Starter Kits for National Car Care Month
“Be Car Care Aware” point-of-sale starter kits — containing marketing and promotional materials to help businesses promote vehicle maintenance and the on-going “Be Car Care Aware” consumer education campaign — are available just in time for National Car Care Month in April. The starter kit features National Car Care Month materials that can be used each April to celebrate and promote this national event. The kit includes “Be Car Care Aware” signage, consumer literature and the industry’s first comprehensive service interval schedule.