The collision repair industry is shifting from competing on repair volume to competing on complexity management, data analytics, and leadership, driven by advanced vehicle technology, declining accident frequency, and the need for greater collaboration across the repair ecosystem.
- Advanced safety technology is reducing accidents but increasing repair complexity, making individual repairs more valuable despite lower claim volumes
- Data is the collision industry's most undervalued asset, with shops generating millions of data points daily that remain trapped within individual organizations
- The future belongs to shops that learn fastest through predictive analytics and AI, not those that simply repair vehicles best
- Collision repair success now requires process, training, documentation, efficiency and trust alongside traditional repair expertise
- Leadership must prioritize adaptability, resilience, and continuous learning to navigate soft claims volumes, consolidation, and increasingly complex vehicle technology
Declining claims volumes, rising vehicle complexity, data and artificial intelligence, and the need for stronger leadership emerged as the defining themes at the IBIS Global Summit 2026 in Vienna, Austria, where collision repair leaders from around the world gathered to discuss the forces reshaping the industry.
Claims volumes and complexity
Rex Green of Jefferies LLC addressed concerns around declining claims volumes, telling delegates that much of the recent downturn may be cyclical rather than structural. Advanced safety technology is reducing accident frequency, he said, but increasing repair complexity continues to drive higher-value repairs.
Green said lower accident frequency does not mean simpler economics for the collision sector. More complex vehicles are changing the work required after a collision and increasing the value of individual repairs.
"It takes more work to fix a car today," Green said. "Cars are more expensive to repair, there’s more labour involved and significantly more calibration work."
He said the industry should prepare for a future in which repair complexity plays a larger role than repair volume.
Automotive analyst Steve Greenfield pointed to advanced electronics, advanced driver assistance systems, AI and growing competition from Chinese automakers as forces reshaping the automotive market.
"The cars are dramatically more complex than they were even a few years ago," Greenfield said.
That complexity is already visible across the collision sector, where repairs increasingly require scanning, calibration, documentation, research and process control. Greenfield also pointed to China’s growing role in vehicle manufacturing and EV production as a force likely to influence global vehicle design, pricing and repairability over the next decade.
Bart De Groof, vice-president, global refinish marketing at Axalta, focused on the industry’s response.
"Exclusivity is not the answer," De Groof said. "One technology, as good as it is, is not going to solve the problems that we are facing."
He called for greater collaboration and integration across the collision repair ecosystem, pointing to a need for more practical dialogue between repairers, insurers, OEMs, suppliers and technology providers.
Data as the industry's untapped asset
During one of the summit’s rapid-fire presentations, Dave Gunderson, vice-president, global automotive refinish at 3M, challenged delegates to rethink how the industry views information.
"What is the most valuable asset in your company?" Gunderson asked. "What is the most valuable, or undervalued, asset in the collision industry today?"
His answer: data.
Gunderson said collision repair businesses generate millions of data points every day through repair planning, production tracking, customer interactions and operational performance, but much of that information remains trapped within individual organizations.
While many businesses use data to measure past performance, Gunderson said the next opportunity lies in predictive decision-making. Analytics, AI and shared information could help repairers anticipate parts delays, forecast capacity constraints, identify repair trends and improve customer communication before problems occur.
"The future collision industry will not be defined by who repairs the vehicles the best," Gunderson said. "It will be defined by who learns the fastest."
He called for greater collaboration among repairers, insurers, suppliers and technology providers, arguing that better information sharing could improve outcomes across the industry.
Leadership through uncertainty
Leadership was another recurring topic throughout the summit. Sabrina Thring, president, Collision Group & Driven Glass Canada, spoke about leading through uncertainty at a time when collision repair businesses face soft claims volumes, consolidation and increasingly complex vehicle technology.
Thring oversees franchise locations across CARSTAR Canada, CARSTAR U.S. and Fix Auto USA. She told delegates that leadership requires adaptability, resilience and a willingness to embrace change, and that the strongest organizations are built around people who keep learning and stay open to new ways of doing business.
Thring described the current environment as an opportunity for independent repairers willing to invest in training, technology and operational excellence. Rather than chasing every new trend, she encouraged repairers to focus on the vehicle itself.
"If you follow the car and you understand the repair process, it’s not hard to build a plan," she said.
Thring said shops can apply that philosophy to emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, digital customer acquisition and workflow automation. Those tools can improve efficiency, she said, but understanding the repair journey remains the foundation for long-term success.
She also pointed to the growing importance of customer-pay work and the digital customer experience, noting that repairers can no longer rely solely on traditional referral channels. Shops need to get better at attracting, engaging and retaining customers while managing rising operating costs and increasingly sophisticated repairs.
A different repair environment
For Canada’s collision sector, the themes coming out of Vienna are familiar. Shops are dealing with more complex repairs, higher documentation expectations, labour shortages, training demands and pressure to prove that procedures have been followed. Insurers are watching claim costs closely.
The message from Vienna is that the industry isn’t simply facing fewer or more claims. It’s facing a different repair environment. As vehicles become more expensive, more connected and more software-driven, collision repair businesses will need to compete on process, training, documentation, efficiency and trust, alongside the data and leadership strategies needed to keep pace.
The summit also continued a revised IBIS format introduced earlier in 2026, with a stronger focus on shorter sessions, moderated debate, roundtable discussion and direct engagement between delegates. In an earlier interview with Collision Repair, IBIS conference director Robert Snook said the organization had “transitioned from being an event to an experience.”
"We want to be an environment to connect changemakers in the region," Snook said.
As delegates departed Vienna following two full days of presentations, debate and networking, one message came through repeatedly: information, technology and leadership are becoming as important to business success as repair expertise itself.
