Retiring Car-O-Liner CEO Larry Carter optimistic about collision industry as Jeff Kern takes over

Jeff Kern

Despite issues that some believe are holding the collision repair industry back, Car-O-Liner North American Operations President and CEO Larry Carter sees a different future for the industry. After 17 years at the Wixom, Mich.-based company and more than 45 years in the collision repair industry, Carter has seen firsthand how the industry has evolved and continues to evolve.

“I think the future, in my opinion, is very bright for this industry,” he says. “It is an excellent and exciting industry to be involved in. I see far more sophistication in our industry than ever and growing at a tremendous rate.”

Many may know the Car-O-Liner name and even use the company’s products, but they may not know Carter, who has led the company since 1990. Those that know him are familiar with his positive views on the industry. After a career that spans back to 1960, Carter, 65, is retiring at the end of June.

Carter began his career in the collision repair industry as an apprentice at his father’s body shop in Ontario, Canada, where he worked on weekends. He became a full-time body shop employee in 1960 and was a licensed body man. In the late 1967 he started selling collision repair equipment for Applied Power Canada Ltd. He later became the territory manager for the Enerpac Division of that company eventually becoming sales manager. In 1980 he was asked to return to the Automotive Division and became general manager. Before becoming president and CEO of Car-O-Liner, he also held sales and executive level positions with Applied Power Inc., Hein-Werner Canada Ltd. and Kansas Jack.

He also has served on the board of I-CAR and is past chairman and emeritus of the I-CAR Education Foundation. In addition, he was a board member for the Equipment & Tool Institute (ETI) as well as a past chairman of the NACE Exhibitor Advisory Board.

When Carter took the helm at Car-O-Liner, the company’s products were well known to be expensive because each system included a 3-D measuring system as part of the package and most shops thought they didn’t need a Car-O-Liner to make repairs, he said. Being “pretty low on the totem pole” wasn’t what Carter had envisioned, so he began working to turn things around.

Because vehicles were becoming more complicated, one of his first steps was to work with the automotive manufacturers as much as possible. Then, because of the value of the equipment, he decided to market to those that could afford the complete system and to those who wanted to afford it in order to repair cars and light trucks more efficiently. He also saw additional benefits and set out to make the industry aware of them.

“When I came here, measuring was not something that everyone in the industry did,” he says. “Car-O-Liner had a philosophy of repairs that was different from most people. We wanted technicians to measure vehicles in order to diagnose the damage correctly and make the proper repair. We also wanted people to stand up while working because you get more productivity out of a person standing than you do with a person down on the floor crawling around on their back.”

By doing those things and others, it helped thrust Car-O-Liner’s measuring and repair equipment to the top.

“I’m pretty pleased and proud of what we’ve accomplished,” Carter says.

Although he is officially retiring, Carter will still be around for at least the next year as an employee working as much as seven days a month. He will remain as director of the board and work on projects for the Car-O-Liner Company and Car-O-Liner AB in Sweden. “I will do whatever they want me to do here or anywhere in the world,” he says.

Industry outlook

As Carter readied to depart Car-O-Liner on a full-time basis he reflected on the industry and where it’s going.

He’s concerned about the view the industry gets because of improperly repaired vehicles. “You can have 1,000 cars done right and only two cars done wrong and you’ll hear about the two cars done wrong and not about the ones done right,” he says.

On top of that, he has a different view about the number of new people needed in the industry. Shops are learning how to make more repairs with less people using more sophisticated frame repair, measuring and holding equipment, which is creating more efficiency and productivity. He questions just how many more people are really needed each year.

“I’m not sure that we’re not blowing that out of proportion to some degree because of the way new shops are refining their internal systems,” he says. “You look at many of these shops, they’re 10,000 to 12,000 square feet and they’re putting through tremendous numbers of vehicles each month. This is great for the industry because now they’re very well run, very well equipped, clean and desirable places to work.”

All in all, he likes what he sees and noted that opportunities abound for many in the industry and for those who are looking to get into it.

“There are many career paths within the industry. There are certainly more career paths in this industry today than when I started in it. That’s very, very good,” he says.

Carter quickly admits that he’s enjoyed his career in the collision repair industry. He said he’s logged about three million air miles traveling around the world, often to Sweden where Alignment Systems AB, Car-O-Liner’s parent company, is located. While traveling, he usually didn’t get a chance to see those places from a tourist point of view. In retirement, he plans to travel back to Europe and elsewhere to see those places in a more relaxed way.

“I like this industry. It’s been good to me. I like the people. I’ve made many, many friends here in the United States, Canada and many parts of the world,” he says.

As he contemplated his own future, Carter decided that it was time to move on and let others take over.

“I just think that sometimes you can hang on too long and that’s not good either,” he says. “You’ve got to have new people coming up through the ranks. I’ve done what I feel I should and could for Car-O-Liner and just want to see somebody else take it to the next level.”

That somebody is Jeff Kern, who was named managing director and president of the North American operations.

When Kern was in high school he worked at a service station gaining some experience in the automotive service segment. After attending college, Kern wanted to get back into the automotive industry. He left college, attended a technical school and worked for two collision shops. While working in the collision industry an opportunity opened with Hunter Engineering Company. Kern worked for more than 25 years with Hunter. Hunter Engineering Company designs, manufactures and sells service equipment such as wheel alignment systems, suspension and brake testing systems, wheel balancers, tire changers and vehicle lifts.

Beginning at Hunter Engineering in the late 1970s, Kern moved from the technical side to the sales and management sides of the company. Through that experience, he often sold wheel alignment systems to collision repair shops and vehicle manufacturer dealerships. With a supportive wife and three children, Kern completed his bachelor’s degree in business. His specialties in management and marketing have added to his personal experience and enjoyment of the equipment industry, he said.

In 1993, he transferred to Detroit and was responsible for OE account programs with several automotive manufacturers. He also served on the board of ETI, where he met Carter. They quickly became friends.

Carter eventually approached Kern and asked if he’d be interested in taking over at Car-O-liner when Carter decided to retire. Kern wasn’t interested at the time, but years later decided to make the move. Now, just a few months in his new role, Kern has learned a lot about Car-O-Liner and the industry.

“It’s very challenging. It’s extremely exciting and I’m back in the collision business,” he says.

He spent two weeks at Alignment Systems AB in Sweden and Carter has been working with him to ensure a smooth transition. In the short term, Kern is focusing on improving training and support methods that Car-O-Liner’s distributors can give to shops with the company’s equipment.

“One of the challenges of the industry from the technician standpoint is having the data to repair the vehicle in an efficient, profitable manner. If that data is not at their fingertips, the process slows down pretty quickly. Our goal is to make sure our distributors are equipped with the training materials to show the industry how fast and easily accessible our data and our modules are through the Web,” Kern says.

Long term, Kern says he will look at helping to improve distribution methods in order to benefit their existing and future customer base. In addition, he hopes to integrate the service segment of Car-O-Liner and Josam, another subsidiary that specializes in wheel alignment and straightening equipment for trucks and other commercial heavy-duty vehicles.

Like Carter, Kern will be involved with I-CAR and other industry associations. He recently attended the International Bodyshop Industry Symposium (IBIS) in Cannes, France, with Carter, which helped add another perspective on the industry.

“As you listen to presentations and exchange notes and talk about strategies on how you’re going to move the collision business forward, you learn quite a bit,” Kern says.

Although he moved from one automotive equipment manufacturer to another, it’s been a slight adjustment for him, but he’s enjoyed it so far.

“There are a lot of new players to meet and learn their business model and try to help,” he says. “I enjoy meeting individuals and learning different facets about the business. That’s extremely exciting from my perspective.”