TOWING NEWS
WITHOUT A HITCH The autonomous vehicle market has found its newest technological advancement in the creation of what is being called ‘hitchless towing’. Toyota is the leader of this new technology, having presented the concept for a media event at the American Centre for Mobility, an AV test centre in Ann Arbour, Michigan. The technology […]
RECYCLING NEWS
A SMASHING SUCCESS Dom’s Auto Parts was at the Autofest Nationals in Oshawa, Ontario, in August where, as the main sponsor for the event, the local auto recycler gave attendees a thrill by letting them smash up a scrap car. The festivities kicked off on Friday, August 26 with a cruise through Oshawa’s downtown during […]
CAN YOU BELIEVE THIS?!
FAMILY PLANNING WITH RIVIAN For those critics who believe that driving an electric vehicle effectively neuters a man, in this case they are technically correct, as a Texas doctor recently performed an entire vasectomy procedure powered by a Rivian RT1’s onboard generators. In May, Austin, Texas-based urologist Dr. Christopher Yang informed his patient that his […]
TECHNOLOGY NEWS
MORE TECH, MORE TROUBLES New vehicle technology comes with an understandable learning curve for drivers, though a recent J.D. Power report suggests these additions affect driver satisfaction in ways more nuanced than it may seem. In its 2022 Tech Experience Index (TXI) studies and Initial Quality Studies (IQS), J.D. Power measured vehicle quality via a […]
OEM NEWS
DOUBLE DEALS The Canadian government has inked deals that will see Mercedes- Benz and Volkswagen Group each gain access to the nation’s largest stores of key battery materials—like lithium cobalt, nickel and graphite—for use in electric vehicles (EVs). The twin Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) will see Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz receive priority access to Canadian battery […]
INSURANCE NEWS
INTACT IMPACT Intact Insurance’s personal auto insurance claims grew by 28 percent in Q2 2022, though its CEO Charles Brindamour say the gains are more than just “pricing-driven.” “Equally important is how we manage claims and our supply chain,” the CEO referenced during Intact’s Q2 2022 earnings call. The insurer tours relations with collision repairers […]
BUSINESS NEWS
HEAD ABOVE WATER One in six small business owners are considering going out of business, according to a report from the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB). The CFIB’s report, released on August 11, says official small business bankruptcy numbers have been “steadily increasing since the beginning of the year and are currently at a […]
INDUSTRY NEWS
TO EACH THEIR OWN A deep dive into the consolidation trends of the collision repair industry published by the Financial Post on August 25 offered scathing criticism of the business practices of insurers in the auto repair space, and solutions. Titled “Self-preferencing is cannibalizing Canada’s autorepair industry,” Vass Bednar, head of McMaster University’s Public Policy […]
