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Old 08-06-2013, 11:01 AM   #1
XDCX
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Default What percentage of New Car Dealerships have Body Shops onsite?

I read a report indicating that the number of Dealerships that have onsite Body Shops dropped in 2012 continuing a long-term decline. To read the full report - click here

While the findings of the report were not surprise to me I was somewhat shocked when the report estimated that 34% of all New Car Dealerships have an onsite Body Shop. That figure seems way too high from my experience. (NADA data was the source of the estimate.)

Maybe it's a West Coast thing, but very few of the dealerships I ever called on had an onsite Body Shop - I'm guessing less than 10%.

Is the NADA data wrong or are onsite Body Shops more common in other parts of the country?

Additionally, is it still profitable for a Dealer to run a Body Shop as part of his/her operations or has it become too costly to keep up on training, technology and compliance?
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Old 08-06-2013, 12:45 PM   #2
jayhawk
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we shut ours down in '93 over epa/osha fears.
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Old 08-06-2013, 01:45 PM   #3
57years
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17 franchise facilities in 15 mile radius (3 independent owners, 4 multi-franchise owners) and only 5 facilities do not have a body shop. Northern Kentucky part of greater Cincinnati. I have not heard of anyone who is considering closing his body shop.
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Old 08-07-2013, 08:51 AM   #4
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Our body shop has been a profit center from day one, wouldn't dream of shutting it down. Looking at the dealers in our area, approximately 65-70% have in house/on site body shops.
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Old 08-07-2013, 09:10 AM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jayhawk View Post
we shut ours down in '93 over epa/osha fears.
I think that's the reason why a lot of dealers have decided to close their body shop operations. I've also heard stories that body shops can be difficult to run because it's hard to find good employees and it's hard to set up safeguards to prevent employee theft of materials and supplies.
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Old 08-07-2013, 09:15 AM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 57years View Post
17 franchise facilities in 15 mile radius (3 independent owners, 4 multi-franchise owners) and only 5 facilities do not have a body shop. Northern Kentucky part of greater Cincinnati. I have not heard of anyone who is considering closing his body shop.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lakeshow View Post
Our body shop has been a profit center from day one, wouldn't dream of shutting it down. Looking at the dealers in our area, approximately 65-70% have in house/on site body shops.
Great posts - thanks for the information.

I know that California has enacted a number of laws over the years that impact body shops so maybe that's why I see fewer dealers with onsite body shops in my travels.

The percentage of dealerships with onsite body shops seems to vary based on region. I wonder if there are any other markets where the percentage of dealers with onsite body shops is relatively low?
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Old 08-07-2013, 06:28 PM   #7
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We have seven franchises over two cities, and each city has it's own body shop.
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Old 08-08-2013, 09:44 AM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mryan55 View Post
We have seven franchises over two cities, and each city has it's own body shop.
That's interesting.

When I created this thread I really thought the NADA data concerning the number of body shops must have been wrong. Based on the feedback we've received in this thread it appears their data is 100% correct.

Since I don't have much experience working with body shops I'd be interested to hear how much a body shop adds to a dealership's profitability and whether their business experiences much "seasonality" or whether it's pretty steady all year long.

I'd also be curious to hear if most dealership body shops do collision and frame work or whether they tend to focus on vehicles that only sustained modest damage?
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