SAN DIEGO, CA--(Marketwire - February 2, 2011) - Mitchell International, Inc., a leading provider of information, workflow and performance management solutions to the Property & Casualty claims and Collision Repair industries, today released the first quarter 2011 edition of its Industry Trends Report (ITR) -- the company's quarterly publication that highlights industry-related trends, news items and statistics.
This edition's Quarterly Feature, "Paint by Numbers: A Deep Dive Into Refinish Data," by Mitchell's Vice President of Industry Relations Greg Horn, explores whether all vehicles are treated equally in the refinish process by comprehensively examining refinish data for one year of appraisals, comparing vehicle age, type and origin.
The aim of this analysis of paint refinish data is to identify significant differences in average paint blend and masking for overspray hours in estimates, rather than to advocate or refute any OEM refinish procedure or recommendation. Every damaged vehicle is unique, and the proper repair procedure must be done on an individual basis.
"Contrary to what you might think, recent Mitchell data shows that older vehicles -- surprisingly including larger trucks and SUVs -- may receive lower hourly additional paint operations compared to newer cars, newer being one-year-old or less in this case. In contrast, these new vehicles, again those one-year-old and less, may require more blend time than a two-year-old vehicle," said Horn.
Horn added, "There is a good reason behind these differences in paint refinish estimate hours. Larger vehicles like SUVs and trucks feature ample panels with enough area to allow shops to effectively blend the base color within the damaged panel."
"Our study also took country of origin vehicle mix into account to determine paint refinish hours. In estimates where blending was specified, we found that when we compared blend times by vehicle country of origin, age and type, we saw higher blend hours for European and Asian nameplates compared to U.S. manufactured vehicles -- including estimates where masking for overspray was specified."
Other valuable points of interest in the current issue of Mitchell's ITR include:
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Mitchell's Q4-2010 data reflect an average gross initial Collision appraisal value of $2,864 -- $137 less than this same period last year. Applying the indicated development factor suggests a final Q4-2010 average gross collision appraisal value of $2,935 -- a value $66 less than the same quarter in 2009. At $13,567, the average Actual Cash Value (ACV) of vehicles appraised for Collision losses during Q4-2010 reflects strong recovery in used car values.
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In Q4-2010, the initial comprehensive average severity was $2,536 -- $22 less than the same quarter in the previous year. Applying the prescribed development factor for this data sets an anticipated final value of $2,591 -- $33 higher than the Q4-2009 performance.
Complete content is available in the latest Industry Trends Report, which may be downloaded in PDF format by visiting www.mitchell.com. First published in April 2001, Mitchell's Trends Report has grown in both content and circulation, now reaching more than 23,000 collision and casualty industry professionals.
About Mitchell International, Inc.
Mitchell International (www.mitchell.com) is a leading provider of information and workflow solutions to the Property & Casualty claims and Automotive Collision Repair industries. The company's comprehensive solution portfolio streamlines the entire auto physical damage, bodily injury and workers' compensation claims processes. Mitchell enables millions of electronic transactions between more than 30,000 business partners each month to enhance partner productivity, profitability, and customer satisfaction.