Jan - Feb 06: News

News

NRMA sues MTA (NSW) and CNVRA
NRMA Insurance has announced that it has commenced legal proceedings against the MTA NSW and the Country North Vehicle Repairers Association (CNVRA) in response to a campaign of alleged misleading and deceptive conduct.
NRMA Insurance head of claims and assessing, David Brown, said ?enough was enough? and the insurer had no choice but to bring the issue before the courts.
Brown said the legal action was prompted by repeated misleading and untrue statements made by representatives of both organisations about the safety of repairs conducted under the 'Care & Repair' service.
?We have been in continued discussions with the MTA NSW and the CNVRA on a range of issues affecting the smash repair and insurance industries and are happy to continue these discussions once these organisations commit to restricting their comments to the truth,? he said.
?However, both organisations have continued to engage in a public misinformation campaign attacking the safety of repairs conducted under Care & Repair.
?Repeated attempts to set the record straight with these organisations have failed, and we wrote to them again last week seeking a public correction of these untrue statements which are an insult to our staff and quality repairers.
?They are content to not let the facts get in the way of a good story, and on behalf of our repairers and staff we will not allow these misrepresentations to stand any longer.?
Brown said that NRMA Insurance would ask the court to compel the MTA NSW and the CNVRA to stop making misleading statements and retract the misleading statements they have made to date.
?Both these organisations have made statements about the qualifications of our staff and preferred repairers which are untrue and offensive,? he said.
?I want to congratulate and thank our staff and preferred repairers for displaying great professionalism and commitment to service in the face of this baseless campaign.?
Legal proceedings against the MTA NSW and CNVRA were commenced mid December, 2005. Brown added that NRMA would continue to consult with its own preferred repairers. He said the legal action would not affect customer service.
NRMA has condensed the issues, as it sees them, between it and the repairers with the following comparison table.

MTA NSW/CNVRA allegations Reality
NRMA Insurance requires repairers to quote from a photo. Every repair is physically inspected before work commences. There is no change to the way vehicles are repaired it is simply a change to the way we allocate work.
For repairs that qualify for allocation through web based tendering, experienced assessors provide a detailed scope of works for repairers (eg description of the incident, the damaged area and parts required). This is accompanied by a series of images of the damage taken with a high definition digital camera.
This method of quoting is unworkable, and leads to unsafe repairs.
This method of quoting has been operating successfully interstate for a number of years.
If repairers find any additional damage, they?ll have to repair it for the amount they originally quoted, and may have to cut corners to do so.Repairers submit additional quotes for any extra damage they find. This is no different from the former process where a repairer would submit a quote, obtain the authority, dismantle the vehicle and then submit a variation for any additional damage identified.
We authorise all fair and reasonable genuine variations to original quotes. In the three months to October 2005, 98% of all variations submitted on tendered repairs were approved.
NRMA Insurance has strict quality control procedures to ensure cars are repaired to the highest standard.
Customers will have to drive unroadworthy cars to a Care & Repair Centre to have the vehicle assessed. NRMA Insurance will organise a tow to one of our Care & Repair Centres if we are advised the vehicle is unsafe to drive. Assessors will also inspect any vehicles driven to our centres to ensure they are safe to drive.
NRMA Insurance employs unqualified assessors.100% of all NRMA Insurance assessors have motor trade qualifications. On average they have 15 years trade experience plus 8 years assessing experience.
NRMA Insurance will require up to 15 quotes before repairing a vehicle. There is no set number of quotes required.
Your car could end up anywhere, and NRMA Insurance is shipping cars interstate. Generally, quotes are called for from repairers in a local catchment area nominated by the customer. Earlier this year and with customer permission, a total of ten cars were sent interstate from Newcastle to IAG repair facilities in Melbourne, as a result of a backlog from February storms. No cars have been sent interstate from Sydney.
There are two thousand repairers in NSW who won?t work with NRMA Insurance. In recent years NRMA Insurance has only ever worked with 380-440 Preferred Smash Repairers in NSW, selected on criteria including quality of workmanship. There are sufficient repairers in the network to meet demand.
NRMA Insurance is scraping the bottom of the barrel, working with shonky repairers. NRMA Insurance has rigorous selection criteria including quality of workmanship. We conduct regular random audits of cars repaired by our repairers, review our repairers on quality performance once a quarter, and provide a lifetime guarantee on the workmanship of all repairs we authorise.
WRM eliminates choice of repairer NRMA Insurance offers customers choice of repairer as a policy option. The system actually increases consumer choice ? customers can choose to take the choice policy cover or choose to allow NRMA Insurance to manage the repair through the Care & Repair service.

Preparing the way for I-CAR
The highly regarded US autobody repair training organization I-CAR, will soon be operating in Australia. Initiated by the Motor Traders Association of Queensland (MTAQ) as lead agency, the complex documentation to form an I-CAR branch in Australia is currently being drawn up.
Apart from a small number of key personnel, I-CAR is operated by volunteers. The current CEO of I-CAR in the US, Tom McGee, was originally a volunteer before taking a paid position with the organization.
In Australia, I-CAR will initially be run by a board of about five people, one of which will be a representative of I-CAR in the US. It will have major input from MTAQ and the Australian Accident Repair Network whose temporary manager, Brian James, is a keen I-CAR supporter. AARN's outgoing general manager, Brian Parsons, will also play a role from his new position with Allianz Insurance as will David Newton-Ross, a long-time Australian industry and I-CAR supporter.
General manager of MTAQ, Richard Pratt, is driving the Australian I-CAR establishment through the various state MTAs. Initially I-CAR's Australian headquarters will be in Brisbane.
I-CAR has had a presence in New Zealand for 18 years and is currently run there by Robert Renwick. Recently, Renwick arranged for a series of training sessions to be carried our in New Zealand on the toRichard Pratt said that it would probably take until the end of March to complete formalities, after which courses specific to Australian conditions could be planned ? although it should be said that most of the US course material can be easily adapted for use here.

Testimony to the parts code
As the national parts code or practice gathers momentum, more and more suppliers are signing in the interests of stamping out trade in stolen parts. A side benefit is that customers of parts suppliers are now becoming aware of the benefits of dealing with code members and are giving them business.
After becoming a code member, Steven Goodenough of Japanese Auto Wreckers in Toowoomba had this to say about being part of the code movement.
"We have been a participant in the National Parts Code since its inception 12 months ago and we are fully behind the Code of Practice. Like most recyclers, we invest a lot of time, effort and money into our business, in particular marketing and advertising.
Our staff survey all our new customers about our level of service and in particular how they found us in the first place. The results have been interesting and have noticed a number of customers have found us through the National Parts website. These customers are not specific to Toowoomba which is located 130 kilometres west of Brisbane. Calls have been received from the Gold Coast through to Townsville & Cairns, some 1200 kilometres away with customers having more than 200 other auto recyclers to choose from. Like most other professional recyclers, we believe a code of practice is important to change the image of our industry but have been delighted with the commercial benefits we can gain at the same time. We encourage all recyclers to make the effort and join.

DuPont opens training supercentre
DuPont Performance Coatings has opened a regional training centre in NSW to offer training to users of its three paint brands: Standox, Spies Hecker and DuPont Refinish.
Previously the brands conducted training at separate locations but DuPont management saw more benefit in building one ultra high quality centre to cover all training requirements.
Standox, Spies Hecker and DuPont Refinish are all marketed quite separately. They also have different formulations and therefore require slightly different application training in their use.
DuPont has gone so some trouble to build a training centre which is capable of being set up especially and exclusively for each brand when it conducts training. This is to preserve the culture and market preferences that each band has brought with it when becoming part of DuPont Performance Coatings.
The training centre occupies most of the ground floor of one of the company's buildings in Riverstone, a Sydney suburb. It is equipped with a lecture room, full size spray booth, prep bay, mixing and colouration room, and a variety of spray guns to cover most of the brands professional painters use. There are also catering and outdoor eating facilities to accommodate longer training periods. Product and technical team manager, Paul Polveriono, says that training can take between one and four days, and can be for painters or brand distributors.
He makes the point that many experienced painters may be very skilled but may not have had the opportunity of catching up on current products and methods. The training centre will bring them up to date. He also said that the centre was of special value to apprentices in giving them experience and advice in a different painting environment from their school or repair shop.
"Apprentices are good for us too," he says. "Their presence encourages our trainers to go back to basics, and often experienced painters will The centre was in the planning stages in 2004 and commenced building in February 2005. It was opened in October 2005 and has a busy training schedule already booked in for 2006.
The centre has three full time trainers. In addition to hands-on training they conduct technical conferences for the various brand users and distributors.

Trade Fair on track
The Australian Auto Trade Fair that is being held at the Sydney Exhibition Centre, Darling Harbour, from 23 ? 25 June 2006, will celebrate its 30th birthday, making it one of Australia?s longest running trade fair events.
One of the features of this year's fair will be a prize for the best new product at the show, judged by Australasian Paint & Panel. Exhibitors will be given stickers by the organisers to attach to new products so they can be easily identified by the visits and judges.
Also the organisers, Expertise Events, will celebrate the 30th year of the exhibition with a party.
Exhibitors for this year's show are still being signed up, but there is renewed increase from Paint companies ? which have been largely absent from international shows in recent times.
US Commercial Services has booked a substantial amount of exhibition space for US products ? many of which will be new to Australia.
Firm bookings so far include Molnar, Akzo Nobel, Chemspec, Autoliner, Car-o-liner, Powerex, Launchtech, DNS and Nortons.
Ross Hannan, who is in charge of the show on behalf of Expertise Events, says that Australian distributors for famous international brands should not feel they only have the choice between a big spectacular stand or not being in the show.
"Australian buyers realise that this is small market compared to those in the US, Europe and Asia,' he says, "and there is no need to go overboard on cost just because the brand is famous. Better to have a presence in a well presented small space than let people think that either the brand has lost interest in the market or is not available at all."
Those interested in exhibiting can contact exhibition manager Ross Hannan on (02) 9452 7516 or email rossh@expertiseevents.com.au. There is a website too: www.autotradefair.com.au

How much difference in sales can new packaging make?
South African based paint manufacturer, Chemspec, is about to find out as its launches new labelling to go on all its paint products to be sold throughout the world, including
Australia. The change has taken the look of its paint cans from 'industrial' to 'luxurious' ? fitting the sales pitch of the company which claims European paint quality at budget prices.
Ryan Erasmus, manager of Chemspec in Australia, says that research has shown that a change to outstanding livery can in crease sales by up to 40 per cent.
"I'm not saying it will necessarily happen to our products but I can say that we are very happy with the re-design," he says.
Chemspec's brands, Metalux 2, Metacryl 2, and the primer each have a different rich velvet colour as a background with the logos printed over them. The cans all feature a process chart showing information such as mixing ratios and flash-off times.
After being available in Australia through distributors for some year, Chemspec set up its own facility at Brookvale some 18 months ago. Now it has over 200 shops using its products which go well beyond paint into body fillers, polishing systems, super-scuff products, foam, masking tapes and plastic car covers.
At the Brookvale facility there is a fully equipped spray booth with guns and mixing equipment t the ready for training painters. Currently the company is running regular training days.

Repairing the Mitsubishi 380
In releasing its new full size family sedan, the 380, Mitsubishi has also released a body repair manual relating for the car.
Although there is nothing of a science fiction nature in the build of the car to make it too challenging to repair, it does call for close attention in some areas because they are different to the previous Magna and most other cars on the road.
To provide rigidity and strength to the side of the car, Mitsubishi has opted for a single stamping from the A pillar to the rear end of the car. This includes the two door frames and sills.
While this makes for impressive driving performance, when it comes to a side repair, method is critical. The original panel is made in a single pressing and is cut into four parts for replacement panels. This is to cut down costs, not only because a localised piece of damage can be isolated with a smaller part-panel, but also because transporting the entire side panel would present cost and transportation damage issues.
If the side of the car is hit, and a small part of the single side panel is replaced, one would image that the strength and rigidity of the larger panel would be drastically reduced. Mitsubishi has tackled this by specifying overlap welds rather than butt welds. The sleeve effect retains the rigidity of the original if correctly welded.
The 380 uses two grades of steel throughout the car: normal mild steel and high tensile steel. Since there is no ultra hard steel, conventional drills and recent welders will handle it. Mitsubishi says that 90 per cent of the steel in the 380 has been treated with an anti-corrosion coating. Before welding, the steel must be de-coated and then re-coated after welding is completed.
Unlike previous models, the 380 has no structural foam in the car's construction. The only foam used is acoustic, to assist with sound proofing.
The repair manual for the 380 is available on disk to any repair shop requesting it.

New paint and benches from PaintMax
A Sydney based company, PaintMax Pty Ltd, has become the latest entrant in the list of Australian distributors of repair equipment and consumables ? including automotive refinish coatings.
Well known bodyshop supplies marketer, Carlo Tartaglia, has teamed up with Frank Fazal, best known as the developer and maker of the dent pulling system Easy Beat.
Fazal's original company, National Welding supplies Pty Ltd, has concentrated on designing and manufacturing welding equipment in Australia. That will continue as a separate entity. PaintMax Pty Ltd has been formed to source automotive repair products overseas and exclusively distribute them in Australia. Tartaglia is not only sales manager of the company but also travels overseas to secure the distributorship of likely products.
He retuned to Australia recently with the exclusive distribution of three models of the Italian Leader Bench. The company has been operating for over 20 years in Italy and makes a variety of panel shop equipment.
At around $22,000 the Leader Bench 2500 is likely to cause a stir in the bench business. It is basically a scissor-lift which then becomes an alignment bench using either universal pins or jigs. Once a car is in place on the bench platforms (which are only centimeters high from ground level) it is lifted, sill clamps fixed and then pulling can be carried out by a portable arm which can be set to pull in any direction.
Another machine, the Criss-car lift is an electrically driven car mover operated by one driver. An extensively modified fork lift, it can On a previous trip Tartaglia brought back a range of generic Italian paint which is being marketed in Australia under the labels Sinto tech, Hi-Tech and PaintMax. Those three labels offer a clear, high fill, prep sol, plastic primer, two part putty , hardener and reducer. In addition there is a system of 27 tinters intended for commercial vehicles but certainly usable on car full re-sprays.
Although there are many brands on the Australian market, Fazal and Tartaglia are confident of their coatings. They aim to build the volume to a million liters a year and then manufacture it in Australia ? with a eye to export. (As a matter interest, the Easy Beat is now a growing export product.) The reasoning behind marketing identical coatings under three different brands is so that distributors can be given exclusivity for a given territory.
Frank Fazal is a strong believer in making in Australia. Many of his engineering products are cheaper to make here than anywhere in the world ? especially when you take minimum quantities into account. In order to accommodate his plans to expand both the PaintMax importing and distributing business and National Welding Suppliers Pty Ltd the company is about to move into new, much larger premises in Wetherill Park.

Taking Car Bench to China
It's everybody's dream, although it calls for hard work and endless travel. That's the opportunity of selling Car Bench to the Asia Pacific ? in particular China. Veteran body shop equipment supplier, Tony Rugolo and his son Joe have a tiger by the tail as they present Car Bench to a massive and fast growing market ? which is just the opposite to Australia.
Car Bench, a leading Italian jig and combination system range of benches, has entrusted its marketing into the Asia Pacific region (with the exception of Japan which it handles through its own office)to the Rugolos.
Currently they are concentrating on the upper end of the Chinese market which is showing a growing taste for Ferrari, BMW and Mercedes. These brands all demand a jig system for body straightening and Car Bench is their choice.
So far the Rugolos have sold 25 Car Benches into China but the future promises to be huge. A sale in this part of the world is more than delivering the bench and taking the money. It involves training, which is why Joe is currently away more than he is at home.
Although China makes a lot of repair equipment, prestige car makers insist on traditional European brands when it comes to repair equipment.

Towing: Sydney Vs Melbourne
One of the major points of difference between the Melbourne and Sydney smash repair business is the way the respective governments handle the operation of tow trucks.
They are still a major influence in the selection of which shop gets which job.
In Sydney, the system is competitive and virtually unrestricted ? apart from the issuing of tow truck licences. Each licence must have a truck to go with it.
NRMA has tried to bring some control into the tow truck industry by running its own tow trucks for its policy holders. This will be even more effective as the WRM system beds down (same would say in a bed of protest nails)and the tows are taken to its assessment centres where scopes of works and images are prepared for the online tendering process. Heavy hits are still sent to PSRs on the long established allocation system.
For the rest, the tow truck business is regarded as being ruled by the law of the jungle.
In Victoria, the story is quite different ? and a whole lot better. Towing is allocated by a state government owned system which is operated under contract by the former RACV radio room. It allocates tows in rotation so that every plate owner gets an equal number of towing opportunities. Licences are granted for specific areas according to the average number of accidents requiring towing.
Like taxis, plates are the key to getting work. They don't have to necessarily all be attached to trucks. An owner could have ten truck plates and they may attract, say, 70 tow jobs a month, but he may run only three tucks. Although he is dealt with harshly if he doesn't promptly cover the work he is given, he is not compelled to have a truck for each plate.
In the past, it was virtually mandatory for panel shops to run their own tow trucks so they could compete for work. But now, under the licence allocation system - which is has virtually stopped issuing new licences - a new shop would not build its business around tow trucks.
The same does not apply for longer established shops which, although they may be basic, have their value in tow truck plates.
Robert Marinelli, whose family operated business is about to buy its 5th shop in Melbourne, that will give it 24 tow truck licences, says that plates bring between $200,000 and $300,00 each.
"They're not worth that individually," he says. "It only makes sense when you can combine a number of them. In any case, you never see the licences offered on their own. They are always part of a panel shop price."
He says that, on average, a licence in Melbourne brings in seven or eight tow jobs per month. Most of those will stay in the shop that towed in the job. If IAG introduces WRM to Victoria, there will be some sorting out when non-driveable vehicles are towed into non PSR shops.
"I don't know how it will work out," Marinelli says, "but in principle I'm not worried about WRM coming here as long as they educate the repairers in how to use it. From what I know, we're looking forward to it.

Australia's growing reliance on aftermarket
The Australian Bureau of Statistics? (ABS) release of the 2003-2004 household expenditure survey has enabled the Australian Automotive Aftermarket Association (AAAA) to update its estimate of the size of Australia?s automotive aftermarket. Based on that data, at a retail level it is $8.1 billion.
Two major factors have affected the automotive aftermarket negatively. One is the rising price of oil, and the other the number of companies that serve both the aftermarket and are original equipment suppliers to the Australian car industry. Many of these have been forced to reduce their workforces as Australian car companies source cheap parts from overseas. Australia?s trade in automotive components is imbalanced in favour of imported components. Up to 2002 this gap was narrowing, but this trend has been sharply reversed.
While the growth rate of the aftermarket is just 15 per cent 1999 to 2004, the growth rate of sales of new passenger vehicles and light commercial vehicles (LCV) continues to soar. This has meant that there is a 2.7 per cent growth in the number of vehicles in use from 2003 ? 2004. This is a positive, as these additional vehicles will also require service parts and accessories in the future.
Australia?s vehicle fleet remains one of the oldest in advanced economies with an average age of 10.3 years. 51 per cent of passenger cars are nine or more years, with 55 per cent of LCVs nine years or older. For the aftermarket this represents a significant number of service parts, accessories and repair work.
Vehicle usage is of particular significance to the aftermarket as the more a vehicle is driven the more service parts such as brakes, wipers, oils and lubricants are required. Overall the use of passenger cars and LCVs to travel to and from work has remained static but their personal use has increased. For LCVs the largest percentage increase has occurred in the ACT, followed by Tasmania, South Australia, West Australia and Victoria. For passenger cars the largest percentage increases were in Queensland and Victoria.
While the Middle East is the leading destination for automotive exports it is not among the top 10 export destinations for components. (Table 2 - Top 10 Destinations for Exports).
The AAAA is the body that represents the Australian automotive aftermarket, which comprises of manufacturers, suppliers, distributors, importers, exporters and retailers of automotive parts, accessories, tools and equipment. The Association is celebrating its 25th anniversary in 2005. Kim Elliott is the executive director AAAA on 03 9561 7044.]\

TABLE 1
The size of Australia?s automotive aftermarket

Spending per week on selected items of transport
Expenditure by Australian households 2003/2004 1998/1999

Oils, lubricants & additives 0.50 0.57
Batteries 0.41 0.33
Parts & accessories 4.03 4.42
Crash repairs 1.04 0.98
Tyres 2.75 2.58
Servicing 12.67 9.34
21.40 18.22


Sikkens to release Autoclear WB
A new Sikkens product to be released in Australia in the early part of next year was one of the main reasons for an open day at the Melbourne Car Refinish Instruction Centre (CRIC) last December. The day offered a sneak preview and demonstration of Sikkens Autoclear WB. Autoclear WB is a state-of-the-art waterborne Clearcoat. Sikkens believes it is the first such product to be commercially available to the repair industry. Autoclear WB offers superb gloss and excellent flow giving an outstanding finish. Application and drying times are similar to conventional clearcoats with a fraction of the solvent content. It is expected that this unique and innovative waterborne product will appeal to body repairers who regularly repair prestige vehicles, particularly those that are finished in waterborne technology at the factory. The product not only demonstrated a great finish but produced much positive feedback from everyone who attended.
The day was arranged to give customers the opportunity to meet team members from the V8 Supercar team, WPS Racing, preview the new product and announce the release of a new special effect colour. The new colour called Fantasy (Ford code NC-030) contains two Chromaflair toners which come from the Sikkens special effects colour range?. Ford Australia will be releasing this colour for the 2005-2006 model range in limited numbers and initially only 500 vehicles will be coated with this colour. It will appear on Falcon XR and FPV models. If the colour proves popular, Ford will release a small number of additional vehicles in this colour.
The afternoon was fairly informal with the team from WPS racing, of which Sikkens has been one of the contributing sponsors for the last 2 years, on hand. The show car and one of the drivers, Craig Baird, were present as well as managing director Shane Gore and team manager Keith Evers. It was soon discovered that although the team didn?t quite meet expectations (in their eyes) this year, a massive injection of funds into their 2006 campaign will see them implementing new technology, taking on new technicians and increasing the power of the V8 cars.

Fast-track apprenticeships announced
The Victorian Premier Steve Bracks, and Minister for Education and Training, Ms Kosky, have announced new, shortened apprenticeships for the automotive industry.
The Premier said: ?This deal provides a win for employer and employee alike. It is part of an initiative by the government, the training sector, AMWU and the automotive industry to tackle declining interest in apprenticeships and worsening skills shortages. The new fast-track program enables secondary students to complete Certificate II training in automotive at school, and to then take up an apprenticeship at second year level, and at second year apprentice pay."
VACC General Manager of Education and Training Kevin Redfern said:
"This is a welcome initiative. It is one that recognises the changed needs of young people. Traditionally, the industry sourced its apprentices at age 15 and 16. But now most apprentices are 18 or 19 years of age, having stayed on at school until completing VCE.
?Apprentices today have different income needs than the younger apprentices of old. They commonly have cars to run and are commonly more work-skilled and worldly-wise than the very young apprentices the industry used to rely on.
?This initiative, developed with the support of the Office of Training and Tertiary Education and Automotive Training Victoria, will make an apprenticeship a more attractive and practical career alternative.
?Everyone involved with the motor industry ? from manufacturers through to body repairers, to heavy vehicle workshops, to the corner mechanical repairer ? everyone is aware that it is becoming increasingly difficult to attract eager young apprentices to our trade.
?The automotive industry is rapidly ?greying?. Declining birth rates and some unwanted, and unwarranted, perceptions about the nature of automotive work and of opportunities in our industry are knocking us about.
?The narrow singular focus by schools and parents on university and academic qualifications has distorted the choices of school leavers. Too many, we think, are shepherded away before discovering their practical inclinations, skills and suitability, and before learning of the opportunities available for people with their skills.
?I can?t help but wonder how many careers teachers are aware of the career paths available in the automotive industry and that highly successful people can earn more than doctors, lawyers and other professionals,? Redfern said.
?We need to tell the story about opportunities in the retail automotive trade a lot better.

Thatcham belittles bad bumpers
The British automotive repair research organization, Thatcham has released a report that says that a collision at just 10 mph could cost over £4000 to repair because most car bumpers fail to absorb the energy of a low speed crash, or are positioned at the wrong height or are not fitted at all. The announcement followed two years of extensive research by Thatcham. It found that many vehicles fail to offer sufficient protection from severe damage following a minor collision because the bumper beam is poorly designed or in some cases omitted completely, leading to unnecessarily high amounts of damage.
The failure of many vehicle manufacturers to address this relatively simple problem is costing British (and unquestionably Australian) insurers a substantial amount in avoidable repair costs per year. This must lead to higher insurance premiums, loss of valuable no claims bonuses and unnecessary inconvenience. Vehicle repairers are also adversely affected by vehicles often being needlessly written off rather than being repaired.
While current European law requires bumpers to withstand simple pendulum tests many cars are designed to meet these standards only, and do not satisfactorily
protect the car from damage in a low speed, real world collision.
The increasing popularity of large SUVs exacerbates the problem since height mismatches will often cause the larger vehicle to override the rear of the smaller car exposing it to damage to vulnerable high cost mechanical components situated behind the bumper. Exposed spare wheels can also be a problem creating unnecessary damage to both vehicles.
Brake dive - the natural dip exhibited by a braking vehicle, compounds this misalignment issue and adds to the repair costs further.
Matthew Avery, crash laboratory manager at Thatcham said: ?Despite outward appearances, too many cars on the road do not have sufficient bumper protection. Underneath the cosmetic bumper cover the bumper beam on many cars is either too small, poorly positioned or missing. Certain manufacturers have, however, proved that good bumpers can be cost effectively fitted."
With the results of its findings Thatcham hopes to encourage more manufacturers to address this issue, benefiting insurers, repairers and motorists alike.
Following the results of the findings, and on behalf of British insurers, Thatcham has begun taking steps to address the problem. Working with a number of international partners
from RCAR (the Research Council for Automobile Repair), work has started to design an insurance test to encourage manufacturers to fit deeper, wider and more energy absorbing
bumper beams to their future vehicles.

Plug and scoot
EVT electric scooters are being hailed as today?s solution to rising fuel costs, greenhouse gas production and environmental degradation. They use little fuel, create little pollution, make no noise, are smooth and fun to ride and look great.
Available in two models; the classic, retro style EVT 168 and the sleek, sporty 4000e, EVT scooters utilise a unique electric hub motor that is part of the rear wheel. They are powered by batteries that have a distance range of 50-65km and can be charged from a domestic 240V power point. The maximum speed of the scooters is 50kph ? perfect for zipping around the city.
EVT Australia Director, Peter Fraser, was inspired to introduce the scooters to Australia in an effort to address the mounting impact of transportation on the environment.
?I think everyone in Australia is concerned about global warming, pollution of the local environment and over-use of hydrocarbon fuels," he said. "I woke up one day and decided to put my money where my mouth is and find a clean, green solution to the impact of urban transportation on our environment.?
Charging up an EVT 168 or 4000e doesn?t cost much more than leaving a couple of lights on at home. TyEVT scooters look and operate just like any other scooter, except for the fact they are quiet, smooth and there is no need to ?start? the motor. Just turn the key and twist the throttle. The scooters are as gutsy as their 50cc petrol-run equivalent and surprisingly good at pulling up-hill. Recommended Retail Prices: EVT 168 - RRP $4995.00 including GST + on-road costs; EVT 4000e - RRP $4950.00 including GST + on-road costs
Presumably these scooters, plus all their petrol driven relatives, will suffer their share of panel damage. Car body repairers, looking for some add-on business, could extend their services to scooters and motorbikes.