Light Hits February 2026

Romans Group Analyzes Collision Repair Industry Changes in 2024

The Romans Group, an international consulting firm, examined the evolving collision repair market in the U.S. and Canada in 2024 in its 19th annual white paper.

The U.S. and Canadian collision repair industries, respectively, had a $48.2 billion total available market and a TAM of CA $4.3 billion. Since Romans Group began tracking the data, this marks the first time, except for the pandemic year 2020, that industry TAM has decreased.

2024 was one of the slowest years in the last decade for multiple location operator – Romans Group's term for MSO  – acquisitions in the U.S. Larger consolidators such as Caliber and Gerber developed more brownfield and greenfield locations alongside their existing location buys.

Regarding physical growth, the benefits and risks to all consolidators continue to be the ability to quickly, efficiently, and effectively integrate expansion and acquisitions while avoiding opportunities that detract from prudent financial performance. Single locations and smaller MLOs that cannot expand and establish a reasonable degree of market scale will continue to find it increasingly difficult to compete with consolidators and larger MLOs that have scale and influence with market constituents like insurers and suppliers. 

Some highlights of the 2024-25 collision repair industry include:

• Average repair costs continue to increase, but with a decrease of velocity change due to greater repair complexity, increasing EV repairs with higher base severity, and higher inflation-based labor expenses.
• The aggressive premium increases by insurers have created a consumer mindset causing them to fear making a claim, known as "FOMAC." This psychology has contributed to a reduction of 7 to 10 percent in the number of repair claims throughout the U.S. in 2024 and 2025.
• The Romans Group expects that, by 2029, the top three consolidators will grow from their 2024 market share of more than 27 percent to a market share of up to 37 percent. 

The report can be purchased by contacting Mary Jane Kurowski of The Romans Group LLC at [email protected].

Revv's United ADAS Collective Provides a Community for ADAS Calibration

Revv launched the United ADAS Collective (UAC), the first professional organization exclusively for the ADAS calibration community, according to a news release. Designed as an industry-wide hub, the UAC provides a center for shared standards, education, events, and peer-to-peer collaboration. 

The UAC already includes more than 1,000 active members that include collision repair shop owners and managers, ADAS and calibration technicians, diagnostic professionals, and auto glass and windshield specialists. 

"ADAS calibration has quickly become a critical part of modern vehicle repair," said Adi Bathla, CEO and co-founder of Revv. "The United ADAS Collective is an important step forward for the industry, bringing calibration professionals together around shared standards, practical support, and a stronger sense of community as the category continues to grow."

The UAC's programming centers around education, events, and community, with tiered training and certification launching soon. Users can choose from a mix of free and paid membership options based on the level of involvement and resources they're seeking. Members gain access to industry news, a job board, original equipment-specific technical discussions, peer-to-peer collaboration, and hands-on learning opportunities. The UAC will also host its first ADAS Industry Event in May 2026.

UAC leadership includes Executive Director Joel Adcock — Revv's director of strategic partnerships — and an advisory board of industry leaders, including Will Johnston, Ron Racine, Brett Hass, Jason Bartanen, Erin Solis, Mark Bruno, Al Urban, Darrell Amberson, Michael Frangione, Paul Bostel, Mathew Pittman, Matthew Braam, and Stew Peregrine.

The UAC is also backed by a group of founding sponsors, including Accelerated Vehicle Technology, part of the Quality Collision Group, whose early contributions will help fund education, events, and programming while preserving the organization's independent, community-first mission.

Nissan Becomes First OEM to Join CCC OEM Link Network

Nissan will be the first automaker to participate in the CCC OEM Link Network, a newly launched offering from CCC designed to support OEM collision certification programs, according to a news release. 

As part of this new partnership, CCC will manage certified network operations for Nissan, which today includes about 2,000 collision repair facilities across the U.S. CCC will help facilitate the administration of shop audits, billing processes, and communications between the OEM and its certified repairers. Support will be delivered through CCC’s software platform and its full-time field operations employees, who have extensive experience working directly with collision repairers nationwide. 

“As vehicles become more advanced, achieving safe and proper repairs requires strong collaboration across the entire ecosystem,” said Andreas Hecht, senior vice president of OEM services at CCC. “With OEM Link, CCC is establishing a foundation for certified repair programs that enable automakers and repairers to work in lockstep, delivering repair quality and reinforcing customer confidence."

OEM Link can reduce administrative burden for repair shops while helping Nissan maintain network consistency, support technician readiness, and strengthen brand reputation through high-quality repairs.

Plasnomic Sets Sights on Establishing Plastic Repair Standards in 2026

Following the establishment of the Plastic Repair Council in 2025, Plasnomic shared its plans to move into best-practice definition and scaled industry deployment in 2026. 

Led by Mario Dimovski, the council has 15 industry leaders, repair specialists, and strategic partners from across global markets working together to create a universal standard for plastic repairs.

Central to Plasnomic’s digital strategy is PRISM — plastic repair intelligence, standards, and marketplace. Now in beta development, PRISM will serve as the digital backbone of plastic repair in the collision industry to support technician engagement, product grading, expert-led validation, knowledge sharing and the deployment of standardized training across global markets. 

This year, Plasnomic’s initial focus will be on publishing industry best practices for polypropylene bumper repairs because it’s the most common and highest-impact plastic repair category globally. 

In its article, Plasnomic said validation will concentrate on the five most prevalent damage types. The validation process will have three appraoches: 

• Laboratory-based Testing: Tests will be conducted through OEM-aligned and independent facilities. 

• Technical Feedback: Technical ambassadors assess laboratory outcomes against real-world repair conditions. 

• Real-world Validation with MSO Partners: Repair methods are applied at scale in live shop environments.

Based on the evaluation, solutions will be clearly graded and categorized, such as approved or preferred, reflecting their suitability, reliability, and alignment with verified repair processes. Progressive rollout of best practices will follow through founding MSO partners and global training bodies, supported by the launch of PRISM’s digital knowledge and repair certification tools.