It's unanimous! - Critics and fans alike are hailing the 2003 Auto Show as the most beautiful since 1969

MONTREAL, Dec. 2 /CNW/ - The 35th Montreal International Auto Show closed its doors yesterday at 8 p.m., with an attendance figure of 141,001 visitors between November 22 and December 1. Results from a Léger Marketing internal poll taken during the event, indicate an unprecedented satisfaction rating from visitors. It is clear that moving the Auto Show to the Palais des Congrès of Montréal received a major thumbs-up from visitors, who enjoyed the atmosphere and comfort of the new exhibition hall and the diversity of
vehicles on display.

For the past 35 years, the Auto Show held in January, has created a long establish habit among car enthusiasts. It appears that the change of venue, dates, as well as season, did not break the habits of Auto Show fans who attend the event, numbers being lower than in the past. Comparing to last January's figures of 182,050 visitors, the Auto Show registered a 22,5% decrease in attendance.

"The entire Auto Show team worked very hard with the car manufacturers to bring a more complete and enjoyable exhibition to all visitors," said André Dorais, President of the Auto Show. "We strongly believe that this decrease in attendance will not reoccur next November when we will hold the 2004 edition of the Montreal International Auto Show."

323,051 VISITORS IN LESS THAN 10 MONTHS
"We anticipated that a change in the date of the event could affect the attendance figures for the first year. After all, people need time to adapt to change. However, we are confident that the high level of satisfaction among visitors during the 2003 Show will spread by word of mouth, and this will favourably affect all future Auto Shows," added Dorais. "It is important to note that the Show has attracted more than 323,051 visitors in 2002, because
we have presented two Shows in less than 10 months. This is something worth mentioning!" concluded Dorais.

The 2003 edition of the Auto Show featured all major car manufacturers, who displayed more than 650 vehicles, including 17 Canadian premieres, four prototypes and nine concept vehicles, including a North American premiere.

AUTO SHOW BLOOD DRIVE RECORDS 724 DONORS
The annual Auto Show blood drive, which was held last week, allowed Héma-Québec to collect 724 donors. Each donor was given an admission ticket to the Show. Auto Show organisers wish to thank all the visitors who gave blood. The Montréal International Auto Show is organised by the Montréal Automobile Dealers Corporation (MADC), a non-profit organisation founded in 1913.

New Version Aimed at French-Speaking Insurers and Body Shops in Quebec

SAN DIEGO (October 22, 2002) – Mitchell International, the leading provider of data, software and eBusiness solutions for the insurance and collision repair industries, today announced the availability of a new fully French language version of UltraMate, the collision repair industry’s most reliable Windows-based estimating system.

"Mitchell can now provide French-speaking Canadians with the best Windows-based estimating solution on the market today," said Marc Brungger, Mitchell’s vice president of Global Operations. "As an entirely French language product, UltraMate will now be even easier to use and more effective for our French Canadian customers in Quebec."

He said this version of UltraMate features a French language database, menus, help files, parts descriptions and procedure pages. French-speaking users will have access to all the same capabilities as the latest English language version of UltraMate.

An earlier version of UltraMate with French language enhancements is already being used by leading Canadian insurers, such as ING, Meloche, Royal & SunAlliance, RBC, Wawanesa, Allianz Canada, and by more than 100 collision repair facilities in Quebec.

Road tested and proven reliable for more than eight years, UltraMate continues to be one of the most widely used collision repair estimating products available. UltraMate

displays all necessary information on one easy-to-navigate screen, allowing the quickest and most intuitive workflow for writing a collision damage estimate. Behind the scenes, UltraMate utilizes the Mitchell Parts and Labor database, the recognized leader in collision repair information for over 55 years -- trusted for its accuracy and respected as the industry standard.

French Canadian UltraMate users will also enjoy excellent, locally based customer service. Collision shops will be supported by DMI Bureautique, Mitchell’s full-service sales and service representative in Quebec. "DMI Bureautique exemplifies the award-winning customer support Mitchell is famous for," said Mike Jerry, Mitchell’s national manager, Collision Sales & Service, Canada. DMI can be reached at 514-626-1520. Insurance customers will be supported by Mitchell representatives based in Quebec. Mitchell recently expanded its Canadian insurance team with the addition of Michel Gagnon, a Quebec-based director of corporate sales. Gagnon can be reached at 514-990-9279.

USA: Toyota Lowers Price of Rugged 4Runner Sport Utility.

TORRANCE, Calif., Feb. 2 /PRNewswire/ -- Toyota Motor Sales (TMS), U.S.A., Inc. has reduced prices for its 4Runner mid-size sport utility vehicle (SUV) to offer great value similar to the all-new Toyota Highlander mid-size SUV that went on sale in mid-January.

Highlander joins 4Runner to give Toyota a diverse, dual-entry in the mid-size SUV segment. The 4Runner is aimed at buyers seeking traditional mid-size SUV performance, with a bias toward rugged off-road use. Highlander is aimed at buyers demanding the image and versatility of an SUV, but who seek the ride, handling and comfort of a sedan.

Price reductions include $1,000 on all 4Runner SR5 models (compared to vehicles equipped with Extra Value Packages) and $1,500 on the Limited premium grade.

The $1,000 price reduction of the SR5 model is achieved through the standardization of an Extra Value Package formerly priced at $980. The contents of the value package, which included air conditioning, power windows, a 3-in-1 AM/FM/Cassette/CD player with six speakers, a keyless entry system, power antenna, tonneau cover and floor mats, are now standard equipment. The $980 savings are complemented by a $20 decrease in the manufacturer's suggested retail price (MSRP) of all SR5 models. The MSRP of the 4Runner SR5 4x2 has decreased from $26,355 to $26,335 while the MSRP of the SR5 4x4 has decreased from $28,895 to $28,875. However, on a comparably equipped basis, the price of the 4Runner SR5 has decreased by 8.3 percent, or $2,200, for the 4x2 and 7.6 percent, or $2,200, for the 4x4.

The price of the 4x2 Limited has decreased 4.3 percent from $34,955 to $33,455 while the price of the 4x4 Limited has decreased 4.0 percent from $37,605 to $36,105.

From: NA

- Rubrique Press Releases

2/2/2001

SCRS Charts Demonstrate Paint Costs Increases & Unfairness of Arbitrary Formulas Used to Calculate Charges

January 2001

The Society of Collision Repair Specialists (SCRS) continues its work to educate collision repair professionals, insurance company claims personnel, and state insurance departments on the true costs of paint and materials and to bring equity and fairness to the process of calculating these charges.

One of these efforts includes SCRS's work to identify which state insurance departments disallow the practice of placing an arbitrary cap or threshold on the charges for paint and materials. Another important SCRS project is to publish charts demonstrating the annual increases in the costs of refinish materials. Shops and insurers can then use this information to demonstrate the need to adjust the rates in order to cover the regular cost increases applied by the paint manufacturers.

SCRS's most recent charts compare the cost increases from 1999 to 2000 for refinish materials that are manufactured by five major suppliers: Akzo Sikkens, BASF, DuPont, ICI Autocolor, PPG Industries, and Sherwin Williams. There are two separate charts-one is for materials used in areas that comply with the Environmental Protection Agency's National Rule limiting the content of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and one for those areas (primarily in California) that are restricted to using products that have VOC limits lower than the National Rule.

"SCRS publishes these charts every year," explains SCRS Chairman Gene Hamilton, "because we understand how easy it is to lose sight of the hard costs for paint and materials. Paint suppliers don't issue itemized invoices for paint and materials for each vehicle as it is done for the other parts of the repair. This situation is compounded by the fact that historically, shops have been forced to calculate charges for paint and materials based on an arbitrary formula - the paint labor hours of the job multiplied by an arbitrary dollar figure. On top of that, the dollar figure can vary from region to region-$14 here or $22 there-in spite of the fact that the manufacturer costs are the same for each paint and material product throughout the country.

"There are several other factors that affect the cost of paint and materials," Hamilton continues. "For one, there are vehicles that require more expensive multi-stage coatings, special colors, iridescents or pearls. Repairers are also faced with the dilemma that the number of hours for refinish labor has been reduced over the last five years due to the technology improvements. At the same time, no adjustments were made to the 'formula' to reflect this in spite of the fact that the amount of materials used has remained the same and the costs of materials has increased. This system is inadequate and is responsible for not only eroding profits, but in many cases it does not allow for enough money to pay the repairer's costs."

"Another problem encountered by the shops is the arbitrary limitation placed by the insurance company on what they charge," states SCRS Executive Director John Loftus. "Call it a cap or call it a threshold, the result is often insufficient. Some of these caps were set in 1996 at anywhere from $175 to $350. The cost of paints and materials has increased an average of 8 percent each year, which means the $350 limit of 1996 should by $514 in 2001. But insurers still continue to use the old figures, which contribute to friction and cost shifting."

SCRS recommends that repairers document their costs for these materials. One way is with the help of the paint jobber or with computer systems provided by the paint manufacturers. The Mitchell Refinishing Materials Guide, the Mitchell Refinishing Materials Calculator, ComputerLogic's PaintLogic, and the PaintEX information systems are other reliable resources. These guides and systems are being used successfully throughout the country. The state insurance departments of New York and Nebraska say that a guide is an acceptable method to calculate paint and material charges. Members of SCRS and its affiliate associations can purchase the Mitchell Refinishing Materials Guide at a $30 saving and the Calculator at a $100 saving.

"SCRS is grateful to all of the participating paint manufacturers," says Loftus. "We could not accomplish a project of this scope and credibility without their cooperation."

The Paint & Material Cost Charts are attached to this press release. For more copies or further information, call SCRS at 509-547-0445 or fax 509-547-0446 or send email to scrs1@aol.com. Additional information about SCRS, including news releases, is available at the SCRS web site (http://www.scrs.com).

Through its direct members and 32 affiliate associations, SCRS is comprised of 8,900 collision repair businesses and 75,200 specialized professionals who work with consumers and insurance companies to repair collision-damaged vehicles.