Aftermarket Will Preserve Competition
4/3/2009 10:26:56 AM
As executive director of the Quality Parts Coalition, an organization dedicated to curbing car companies’ misuse of the design patent system, I agree with Jeanne Silver of CARSTAR that limiting the use of alternative collision repair parts could have devastating consequences for the industry — and for the consumer [“Repairers Say Detroit Three’s Troubles Could Affect Parts Pricing, Availability,” Jan. 29, 2009 BodyShop News e-newsletter or
www.bodyshopbusiness.com search keyword: Detroit Three].
It’s true that the recent car company bailout is having a “trickle-down effect on everyone connected to the automakers, including collision repairers.” Allowing car companies like Ford to make “everything old new again” by obtaining design patents on parts on historically popular makes and models will hurt a number of stakeholders, including the manufacturers and distributors of independent parts, independent repair shops, insurers and eventually, American consumers.
Right now, the option to choose quality alternative parts saves consumers $1.5 billion a year, with those parts at times 50 percent less in cost than those manufactured by car companies. If car companies are successful at monopolizing the market, however, consumers will carry the added burden in
a $3 billion increase in insurance premiums.
Repairers could lose the 13 percent of the population that pays for repairs out-of-pocket and also lose business from insurers, which may be forced to classify more vehicles as “total losses” because of the soaring cost of parts.
Help keep competition and consumer choice a cornerstone of American business. Visit
www.qualitypartscoalition.com for more information on how you can help. –
Eileen A. Sottile, executive director
Quality Parts Coalition, Washington, D.C.