GOING GLOBAL
Collision Builders is expanding and is currently in discussion with multiple franchised collision repair businesses across the United States. According to a press release on the company’s LinkedIn profile, the team currently advises a twostore franchised collision repair business in California and is looking to provide collision repair business advice to more shops. Collision Builders provides a feebased advisory service for owners who want to sell their business, increase its value or acquire additional auto repair shop locations.
CHECKS AND BALANCES
Uni-Select and LKQ say they are pleased to announce they have gotten the green light from the Canadian Competition Bureau to go forward with LKQ’s acquisition of Uni-Select, first announced in February. According to Uni-Select’s press release, the arrangement remains subject to certain closing conditions, including the receipt of other applicable regulatory approvals, consisting of approval under the Investment Canada Act and clearance by the U.K. Competition and Markets Authority. The companies expect the arrangement to be concluded by the second half of 2023.
FORD’S FINANCES
Ford does not expect its electric vehicle (EV) unit to be profitable until 2026, Known as Model e, Ford’s EV unit lost US$2.1 billion in 2022 and could lose as much as US$3 billion in 2023. Ford’s Model e business also reported US$900 million losses in 2021. The automaker says it sold approximately 96,000 EVs in 2022, representing US$5.3 billion in revenue. On EBIT, Ford Model e worked with a profit margin of negative 40 percent in 2022. The automaker said the unit is targeting an eight percent operating profit margin, and profitability, by 2026. For comparison, Tesla reported a 22 percent profit margin for Q4 2022.
Nonetheless, Ford CFO John Lawler remains confident. “We’re already seeing green shoots of the improvements in the profitability of Model e. We expect Model e to break even at the end of this year, and, in 2024, we believe our first-generation products can be EBIT margin positive.”
