Using a main dealer for servicing is almost a necessity with a new car, but as models age the tendency to move to cheaper independent garages increases.
It might come as a surprise that one in six owners of ten year old cars still uses a main dealer for servicing and maintenance then, despite the extra cost and the lack of manufacturer warranty protection.
Global automakers must look beyond China, India, Russia and Brazil to other clusters of emerging countries if they want to get their share of growth worldwide, a consulting firm said.
The countries beyond the four large markets known collectively as the BRICs, a name derived from the first letters of each nation, will account for one-fifth of global new-vehicle sales by 2020, according to a report released by Boston Consulting Group.
A new study by the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University finds that when it comes to auto repairs, women who don’t appear knowledgeable about cost may end up paying more than men. However, gender differences disappear when customers mention an expected price for the repair.
The study, “Repairing the Damage: The Effect of Price Expectations on Auto-Repair Price Quotes,” was conducted by Kellogg professors Meghan Busse and Florian Zettelmeyer and Northwestern University Ph.D. student Ayelet Israeli in collaboration with AutoMD.com, an online automotive repair information site.
The National Safety Council released findings from a recent analysis of national statistics on fatal motor vehicle crashes, in a report entitled, “Crashes Involving Cell Phones: Challenges of Collecting and Reporting Reliable Crash Data,” funded in part by Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company.
The report reviewed 180 fatal crashes from 2009 to 2011, where evidence indicated driver cell phone use. Of these fatal crashes, in 2011 only 52 percent were coded in the national data as involving cell phone use.
