Volkswagen of America, Inc., has announced a VW-Certified Collision Repair Facility program for U.S. dealer-affiliated and independent body shops. This program will provide VW-certification for collision repair facilities performing repairs in accordance with Volkswagen’s safety standards and specifications.
Volkswagen will allow dealers to either nominate their own collision
repair facilities to be certified by Volkswagen or independent collision repair facilities that meet Volkswagen standards.
"Volkswagen is excited to partner with both dealer-affiliated and independent collision repair facilities to increase repair quality and customer satisfaction with the Volkswagen brand," said Matthew McCauley, collision program manager for Volkswagen of America. "This program benefits Volkswagen owners by providing the peace of mind that comes from knowing that when a vehicle is involved in a collision, VW-Certified Collision Repair Facilities will maintain the brand’s safety standards and specifications."
Volkswagen says it conducted a pilot with a group of 15 repair facilities to maximize program benefits for body shops before launching the program nationally.
Technicians at Volkswagen Certified Collision Repair Facilities must undergo training in the proper use of factory-approved repair equipment, tools and technologies to meet Volkswagen’s safety standards and specifications. Repair facilities must also use Volkswagen-approved tools. Volkswagen will visit repair facilities to provide annual program certification and will list VW-Certified Collision Repair Facilities as they become certified on www.vw.com.
Volkswagen says that dealer-affiliated and independent collision repair facilities will benefit from the prestige, marketing and increased customer retention benefits of being a VW-Certified Collision Repair Facility.
Volkswagen will provide collision repair facilities access to marketing materials to promote their certified status, in addition to vehicle-specific training, structural material training and collision industry training on a dedicated program website.
Volkswagen will also provide customers with free 24-hour towing of vehicles under warranty exclusively to VW-Certified Collision Repair Facilities as part of the Roadside Assistance program. The company says this program benefits Volkswagen dealers by providing them with full service capabilities for customers.
In addition, Volkswagen says dealers will benefit from additional genuine Volkswagen Collision Parts sales to their sponsored collision repair facilities.
More information:
Repair facilities interested in participating in this program should contact Volkswagen of America at [email protected].
Volkswagen dealerships should nominate collision repair facilities by contacting [email protected].
