Mitchell International, Inc. released the second quarter 2009 edition of its Industry Trends Report (ITR), the company’s quarterly publication highlighting industry-related trends, news items and statistics.
This edition’s Quarterly Feature, “A Deeper Dive into the Latest Crash Parts Index Analysis Yields Unexpected Results,” by Mitchell’s Vice President of Industry Relations Greg Horn discusses the latest findings of Mitchell’s Crash Parts Index Analysis. This ongoing analysis conducted by Mitchell organizes crash parts data into a general “collision parts market basket” and tracks changes in the average prices over time.
The Mitchell Crash Parts Index Analysis methodology examines data from 2003-2008, creating a weighted average price to compare inflationary trends by part type over time. Mitchell will continue to track crash parts data, releasing a final Crash Parts Index in a subsequent ITR issue.
Mitchell says its analysis reveals that decreasing new OEM prices and recycled/used prices are actually driving the overall decrease in the parts price in the case of the most popular vehicles. In contrast, the overall collision parts price index is increasing as a whole.
"The first installment of the Mitchell Crash Parts Index Analysis was enthusiastically received by the collision repair industry, and we received many requests to examine the data in more depth and detail," said Horn. "This time, we analyzed some of the most popular cars (the most often insured and repaired) and their collision parts. The data showed, surprisingly, that in contrast to earlier findings, today’s composite crash parts price market basket is lower than it was in 2003."
Other points of interest in the ITR include:
• In Q1-2009, the average initial gross appraisal value for comprehensive coverage estimates processed through Mitchell servers was $2,302, compared to $2,242 in Q1-2008. Applying the prescribed development factor of 3 percent for this data set produces an adjusted value of $2,359 – a $117 increase from this same period last year.
• On the average, Actual Cash Value (ACV) of vehicles appraised for collision losses during Q1-2009 was $12,253 – $1,171 less than in Q1-2008, reflecting the lowered value of today’s older vehicle mix.
Complete content is available in the latest Industry Trends Report, which may be downloaded in PDF format by visiting www.mitchell.com.
