August 2, 2013—According to the Mitchell International Third Quarter 2013 Industry Trends Report, the number of dealership body shops continues to drop. Citing research from the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA), Mitchell estimated that 34 percent of dealerships featured on-site body shops in 2012, a decline from the 36 percent estimated to have had shops in 2011.
NADA reported approximately 6,314 dealers operating on-site body shops in 2011. By those numbers, Mitchell estimates there were 5,996 operating in 2012. This is a sharp decline from the 8,692 shops NADA estimated to be in operation back in 2006.
Based on a preliminary estimate of independent repair facilities in the U.S., Mitchell pegged the total collision repair facility population at 40,448 facilities in 2012 with approximately 14.8 percent being on-site dealer facilities.
Despite the decreasing number of shops, the total amount of bodywork performed by all new-vehicle dealerships was up slightly from $6.78 billion in 2011 to $6.9 billion in 2012.
