WHAT’S HOT
The latest in what’s happening in the South African market of collision repair is featured in What’s Hot. Keep up-to-date with new products, training developments, technical know-how and much more.
EV BATTERY RECYCLING NEEDS INNOVATION
Between full battery-electric and hybrid plug-in variations, there were around 7.2 million electric vehicles on the road globally in 2019, up from a measly 20 000 in 2010, according to the International Energy Agency, with the U.S. accounting for around 1.5 million. Demand is outstripping battery supply.
FRANCE TO OPEN FIRST ELECTRIC CAR BATTERY FACTORY IN BID TO CATCH UP WITH CHINA
France is inaugurating its first factory to produce batteries for electric cars, a sector traditionally dominated by China. The plant in Billy-Berclau, in the north of France, is aiming to supply its automotive industry with enough batteries assembled in the country by 2027 – and even export French batteries thereafter.
MERCEDES-BENZ TESTS ChatGPT IN INTELLIGENT VEHICLE PRODUCTION
Using ChatGPT through Microsoft as part of the MO360 digital ecosystem is another example of how digitalisation is taking production at Mercedes-Benz AG to the next level. ChatGPT will now support production employees as a universal, voice-based interface to help detect errors quicker in quality management.
A PUSH FOR TRANSPARENCY WITH VSD
Enhanced transparency in the used car market has been called for once again with the establishment of a Vehicle Salvage Database (VSD). The disclosure of VIN numbers for vehicles that may have been written-off is paramount for the protection of customers and the safety of our roads.
CRA SELL OUT CONFERENCE AT AUTOMECHANIKA
Another successful conference was delivered at Automechanika Johannesburg by the Collision Repair Association of South Africa (CRA). It was a sell-out affair and saw several pop-up stalls in the room showcasing paint, polish, finance, spray guns, new names for glass and much more.
AUTOMECHANIKA JOHANNESBURG 2023
The recent Automechanika Johannesburg show in South Africa saw a record number of conferences held and attended during the three days. Many brands and countries were represented in amongst the local exhibitors.
CYMOT CELEBRATES 75 YEARS OF SUCCESS
xThe secret for CYMOT’s success in Namibia is held in their excellent relationship skills with their staff and clients. Everyone feels like family, and as such they came out in great support to celebrate with the CYMOT team recently in Windhoek.
SHAPE-SHIFTING THE CARS HE LOVED AS A BOY
As a young boy Pierino Scalco dreamed of beautiful cars and as a retired panelbeater he now rebuilds all these care that dreamed about. As a teen he assisted the famous English racing driver, David Piper. He has many projects under the belt, including this beautiful Ferrari 250 GTO project.
MANUFACTURERS RUNNING HARD TO GO NOWHERE FAST
With loads of product variation, leading to more difficult-to-get special parts due to lower production volumes – as well in Europe – product support ceasing five years after the last production of a model. The issues show up in trim items, unique panels, and all the parts typically used in collision repair.
HURRICANE CRAFTER BENCH ONE SIZE FITS ALL
The Crafter Bench is a high performance and cost-effective solution for reshaping and body straightening for vehicles. The Hurricane Crafter Bench has been developed specifically to assist truck and bus repair centres who need added platform length to effect truck chassis fixing, plus a taller design for faster repair cycles.
MEET LUCIAN JANTJIES; AXALTA REFINISH BUSINESS MANAGER SA
Automotive Refinisher magazine took time out to interview Lucian Jantjies, Axalta Refinish Business Manager, SA to chat about his paint refinish career, how he sees his new role, local success, development and relationships in the market.
THIS IS NOT THE JAMES BOND CAR COMPANY
William Lansbury met Paul Spires the current President of Aston Martin and was given the privilege of a guided tour of the Works together with Aston Martin heritage communications manager, Scott Fisher. They talked about the many changes, dedicated managers and greatest names that have led with passion and dedication.
OPPERMAN-THIELS AUTO BODY REPAIRS, WINDHOEK, NAMIBIA
Opperman-Thiels Auto Body Repairs in Windhoek, Namibia, is a modern workshop that could be placed anywhere in the world for its state-of-the-art repair on damaged vehicle repairs. The local market is different from SA and has a huge influx of grey Asian market vehicles, where parts are hard to obtain.
TURBO PANELBEATERS
Turbo Panelbeaters in Witbank boast many repair approvals from vehicle manufacturers. They continuously strive for customer satisfaction through sheer hard work and use state-of-the-art equipment. With their new PPG Moonwalk machine, they have transformed the body shop mixing room into a cleaner and safer and much more efficient operation.
GLASURIT 100 LINE: SPEED, EFFICIENCY, PERFECTION
Sustainability is more than just ecological responsibility. For the South African refinish industry, sustainability is about speed, efficiency and perfection while also going green. Glasurit offers world-class solutions, paired with advanced German technologies for over 100 years. It has more OEM approvals than any other product line on the market.
INDASA EXPAND THEIR GLOBAL PRODUCT LIES
INDASA showed a new vision of forward thinking that will see the ramping up of new and innovative market driven solutions. They introduced new products to back up their very successful high performance coated abrasive technologies which have been developed using in-house research and development over the last 40 years.
THE PLEASURE OF SPENDING TIME WITH A HYBRID CAR ONCE AGAIN
From the first early Prius model driven at the Toyota Research and Development Centre in Brussels before the public launch in 1997, Roger Houghton has driven many hybrids and is impressed how these vehicles has increased exponentially in South Africa after a slow start.
SHEPPIE CAR PAINTS AND ABRASIVES ON A ROLL WITH CARVELLO REFINISH
Sheppie Car Paints are delighted with the Carvello refinish range from Luxor as people are price and quality conscious, and the range meets demands well. They recently introduced the colour spectrometer which is a valuable tool for refinish. Carvello can deliver over 80 000 world shades to their clients.
BMW DEPLOYS ROBOTS TO PERFORM PAINT INSPECTION PROCEDURES
BMW is using robots to inspect, process and mark painted vehicle surfaces at its Regensburg, Germany plant. They say it’s the first automaker in the world to use artificial intelligence (AI) based technology on this scale. The AI robots process each vehicle individually in production to meet specified quality standards.
TOP MOTOR BODY REPAIRERS 2022
The annual celebration of top Motor Body Repairers in South African under the banner of Lightstone Auto’s EchoMBR Ranking Awards is back, recognising and highlighting repairers who have achieved customer service excellence, despite the challenges faced over the last year. Based on many criteria, these awards are always highly anticipated.
UP THE LADDER AND DOWN THE MINESHAFT
In the seventies the free enterprise system of the world changed in just one day when President Nixon refused to repay markets in Japan in gold for one third of the world’s floating Dollars in 1973 and two things happened on that day. How is this affecting us now?
COMMERCIAL AUTO GLASS MEET CALIBRATION NEEDS
Commercial Auto Glass have over four decades of glass fitment service under their belt. The company have developed an all new mobile ADAS calibration measuring service for their client base which covers collision repair shops in the fast-changing vehicle market.
DISABILITY IS NOT AN OBSTACLE
Luvo is living proof that living with a disability is not an obstacle. He is a great professional in the collision repair sector living his dream with passion and care for all of his customers and his workmanship. He is the director of A+ Panel Beaters and doesn’t let his spinal cord injury stand in his way.
AUDI BEGINS ROLL OUT OF AI FOR QUALITY CONTROL SPOT WELDS
Audi is pushing forward with the digitilisation of its production activities following a very successful pilot project. They will roll out the artificial intelligence for quality control of spot welds in car body construction. The AI was developed and tested in Germany, will be installed at three other VW locations.
ELECTRIC VEHICLE REPAIR: IT’S INEVITABLE
In life you can choose to be an early adopter, go along with the crowd or get dragged kicking and screaming against change. Repairing electric vehicles (EVs) and hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) are all going to have to be repaired, so being prepared sooner than later is the better option.
FIAT SAY YES TO BRIGHTER COLOURS
Italy is the land of FIAT, and colours. FIAT will stop producing grey cars and enhance the importance of colours in life, embodying the Italian way of living and reaffirming the Brand’s New Dolca Vita value. This is their way of further reinforcing FIATS leadership as the brand of joy.
FRANCE & OTHERS CHALLENGE EURO 7 EMISSION RULES AS ‘UNREALISTIC”
Currently there are eight countries pushing to weaken new EU emissions limits for cars saying this to too unrealistic for carmakers to achieve. They say that parts of the law, including curbs on exhaust and pipe emissions, should be scrapped entirely and that they oppose any new exhaust emission rules.
THE CHALLENGE OF WINDSCREEN CALIBRATION
With all the challenges and the goal of getting a vehicle back to the customer, we have to be sure that after all the collision damage is repaired or replaced that we are completing the repair process and validating that all safety systems are operating correctly.
THE FUTURE IS MUCH CLOSER THAN YOU THINK
Automotive repair in today’s world requires a different mindset than it did in the past. Planning and being prepared is critical and can save money. Keeping up with the necessary processes and procedures is becoming more difficult. An analysis of the vehicles you work will determine the equipment you need.
THE PAINT SHOP TECHNOLOGY ADVANCEMENTS
The evolution of the paint shop has come a long way. From receiving factory-packs to the ultimate mixing banks, colour retrieval formulas are found in seconds with the use of computers and the internet provides updates instantly. The paint shop has evolved into a highly efficient process partner.
THINKING IN 3D, JUST THE START
As waiting times for parts have been lengthy due to supply chain constraints, thinking out of the box is key. Many OEMs are interested in the use of 3D printing in production and opportunities are presented for those in the aftermarket industry, to save time and money in obtaining and repairing parts.
WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED FROM THE MICROCHIP SHORTAGE?
As car become rolling computers that require many microchips to power the various electronic functions the demand for semi-conductors increases. Our cars use hundreds of different semi-conductors and just missing one chip can stop production. 2023 sees less volatile raw material costs and a more stable supply chain is predicted.
MERCEDES-BENZ RECALLS MORE THAN 13 000 CARS IN SOUTH AFRICA
Recalling cars is a costly business for each manufacturer, so it is important to always stay up to day with your car and checking for faults is vital. Dealers will usually inspect and replace and repair as necessary and replace those parts for free, or repair the faults for free.
AUTOMECHANIKA BIRMINGHAM UK
The recent Automechanika Birmingham, UK, saw record attendance and loads of new products and technology on show. The aftermarket sector was well catered for with specific programmes on training, live demonstrations of products at the expo and the national paint championships final.
IBIS 2023 – SUSTAINABLE STRATEGIES FOR SUCCESS
The International Bodyshop Industry Symposium (IBIS) was recently held in Milan, Italy. Set over two days, it saw industry heavy weights from around the world gather to find out what is new in the industry, problem solve and celebrate excellence.
INDASA FACTORY REVEALS 25 MILLION EURO EXPANSION
INDASA recently hosted media from around the globe at their Aveiro factory in Portugal. The team highlighted the upgrades that have been implemented at the production facility. The teams are working 6 days a week to keep up with demand for their abrasive lines.
UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL WITH PETER RODGERS, NETASSESS
Automotive Refinisher magazine went to chat with Peter Rodgers of NetAssess, to find out how they are making their customer experience more pleasant, along with the addition of Audatex into their system, when assessing a claim, taking out the hassle of the customer having to get various quotes.
VDQ’S GET PROFESSIONAL BODY RECOGNITION
The VDQBSA is a professional body for professional people. They were proud to hand out certificates to 50 members recently at a recent ceremony, who qualified as Vehicle Damage Quantifiers after completing this brand-new course.
PPG LINQ DIGITAL ECOSYSTEM FOR THE REFINISH INDUSTRY
PPG are continually provided innovative solutions for modern body shops to meet their goals, making them more efficient and giving them more time to service cars in less time as well as reducing their environmental impact. The PPG LINQ system allows body shops to be more productive and reduces wastage.
SPOTLIGHT ON HEADLAMP REPAIR
Our ‘eyes on the road’ are no longer simple lights we just install in our cars. They are complex and intelligent and are a prime example of the car making decisions on behalf of the driver through ADAS. It is the most frequently damaged part and now needs expert repair.
UPDATE REVIEW OF OEM CERTIFIED REPAIR ADVERSE DEMANDS
A number of complaints have been received by the CRA from collision repairers about approval management companies who continue to list provider specific repair approval equipment on their criteria. This blocks entrance for smaller facilities, there’s no return on investment and even duplication of equipment which is completely unnecessary.
ONEBOND; FOR BONDS THAT LAST FROM SAINT-GOBAIN
Using adhesives in the day-today workshop and assembly environment can be costly. Onebond was developed to provide a competitive alternative to the more expensive and time consuming traditional mechanical fastening and joining methods. Onebond offers a range of formulas for use in the body shop for performance and quality repairs.
IS THIS THE MOST BEAUTIFUL JAGUAR RACER EVER BUILT?
The C-Type shape was designed by aerodynamicist Malcolm Sayer, won Le Mans twice, in 1951 and 1953 and is possibly the most beautiful Jaguar ever built. Kobus van Wyk embarked on a two-and-a-half year project to build an exacting replica of one of the most significant racing Jaguars to date.
FIXMAN 6-DRAWER ROLLER CABINET
The Fixman Roller Cabinet is a modular storage system that allows every tool to be easily located. It is elegantly and ergonomically designed. These cabinets and tools are made to a high-quality specification and are really durable, even with intensive daily use.
PHILIPS ECOPRO LED WORK LIGHT RANGE
Lighting is an important part of working in a body shop. Philips have developed some great LED lighting solutions for the automotive industry. They have a series of high-quality durable LEDs with hand’s free features. They provide natural bright light while also being tough to withstand workshop conditions.
GLASURIT; 135 YEARS AT THE TOP
In the past 135 years, Glasurit has made a name for itself as a technological leader with its innovative and sustainable products. Supporting their view on innovation and evolution, Glasurit’s product range now extends far beyond refinish products.
CLASSIC CAR SHOW 2023
An unprecedented 88 000 people pulled in to The Classic Car Show, at NASREC Johannesburg, to see an expo centre packed with classic cars from the 1950s, ‘60s, ‘70s and ‘80s, and a huge exhibition of the power of modern classics in the gigantic German versus Jap segment.
MODULAR ASSEMBLY SYSTEM IN THE AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY
Audi is introducing the world’s first modular assembly system in the automotive industry as a new and supplementary form of organisation as conveyor belts in production have reached their limitation. Growing complexity in products and demand are changing the requirements for production and flexibility and adaptation needs to be embraced.
HINO SA CELEBRATES PRODUCTION OF NEW 700-SERIES
Hino have been producing trucks locally for 50 years. They recently celebrated the production of the new 700-Series at the Prospecton facility in Durban. This marked the return of Hino to the extra-heavy segment of the South African truck market after a break of two years.
REPAIRING MAJOR DAMAGE ON METAL SUBSTRATES
Body shops have to dedicate a lot of time to a vehicle that has major damage and no customer wants to be without their vehicle. Standox have introduced a new product to help repairers fast track major paint damage on metal substrates to get a right-first time repair.
AUTOBODY REPAIR SHOP OWNER SHOWS HER REAL GRIT AND DETERMINATION
Ayanda Mtetwa is strong willed with immense drive and passion for the body shop industry and is now part of the Motor Accident Group (MAG) family. She has an inspiring “phoenix rising from the ashes” story and the future promises a great deal for her and her new franchise.
2023 SOUTH AFRICAN CAR OF THE YEAR WINNERS ANNOUNCED
For the first time in the 37-year history of the South African Car of the Year (COTY) competition, a leisure double cab 4×4 bakkie has been crowned South Africa’s Car of the Year for 2023: The Ford Ranger.
IN-CAR TECHNOLOGY
EVs are cool and trendy, and they certainly reduce your carbon footprint. But what are the realities of servicing EVs? Collision repairs show much higher costs when compared to ICE vehicles, from some 27-53% more expensive.
INNOVATION AWARDS FOR AUTOMECHANIKA
The innovation awards for Automechanika Johannesburg 2023 are underway. There are 10 categories covered in the automotive industry and will be highlighted at the upcoming show from 5-7 September.
MG: THE AMAZING TALE OF A NICHE SPORTS CAR
The MG brand has attracted the attention of motoring enthusiasts since its inception and today there are more than 55 000 affiliated members of the MG Car Club, which makes it the biggest single marque car club in the world.
PHILIP OTTO – OBITUARY
Many people will remember Philip Otto from his involvement in automotive related expos and exhibitions. He was part of the Auto Africa team, Johannesburg International Motor Show, Automechanika and most recently Africa Agri Tech to name a few. He was well liked and will be missed in the automotive arena.
Editorial – TIME FLIES
Reflecting on the past 38 years, Automotive Refinisher has seen many changes in the way communication takes place. We have learned how to use a multitude of apps and communication aids, and the magazine has survived and thrived through it all with loyal supporters and subscribers.
VOLVO SIGNS GREEN POWER DEAL WITH WIND PARK
Volvo is aiming to have net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2040. As such they have negotiated with Vattenfall – a Swedish company who will produce wind powered renewable energy – to use 50% of their energy to achieve this future goal.
WE ASKED AI TO DESIGN KING CHARLES’ PERFECT LEASE CAR
Midjourney – an AI hub – was asked to design the perfect lease car for King Charles by looking at Rolls Royce, Jaguar, Bentley, Audi, Aston Martin and MG as well as the Diamond Jubilee State Coach. Midjourney’s take resulted in some interesting features with bling and ornaments on the hood.
WHAT IS BEVS DID NOT TAKE OVER THE WORLD?
In a world where we are looking at phasing out combustion engines, second hand vehicles and new electric vehicles, we should take a look at how we are going to refurbish things like large battery packs for BEVS and PHEVs. How are we are going to repair these battery packs?