The first Collision Industry Conference (CIC) of 2025 took place Jan. 22 in Palm Springs, CA, drawing hundreds of attendees from around the country.
Jeff Peevy of I-CAR, a past chairman of CIC, kicked off the meeting by reminding attendees of the meaning of the empty chair always on the stage at CIC, symbolizing the consumer whose safety should be at the forefront of all discussions in the industry.
“We need to remember those families who ride in the cars they’ve entrusted to our industry for complete and quality repairs,” Peevy said. “When the OEs do the research on the vehicle and say, ‘This is the proper way to repair it,’ how dare us question that unless we’ve done a lot more research.”
The Parts and Materials Committee presented information on new environmental regulations by the South Coast Air Quality Management District in California which will require the phase out of use of specific solvents in low-VOC paint manufacturing, and what the change may mean to the industry across the country.
The Estimating and Repair Planning Committee offered a look at the most recent changes to the estimating systems, and the new OEM Industry Relations Committee shared new requirements and other changes to the automaker shop certification programs, and highlighted what the programs are doing to help raise consumer awareness about OEM-certified shops.
Stay tuned to Autobody News for John Yoswick's full write-up on CIC.
John Yoswick