CARSTAR Auto Body Repair Experts says its new partnership with Driven Brands is set to catapult it into its most successful year for network growth, operational efficiencies, and increased sales and profit.
The hallmark achievement for 2015 was CARSTAR’s acquisition by Driven Brands, which provides the company opportunities for accelerated growth of the CARSTAR brand across North America, while continuing the insurance relationships and reputation for quality repairs and industry-leading KPIs.
“CARSTAR now has the ability to share best-of-class business practices with other leading multi-unit franchise businesses, both inside and outside of the automotive aftermarket industry,” said Jose Costa, president, Driven Brands Paint & Collision Division. “With the full integration of CARSTAR’s U.S. and Canadian operations, we have a premier, powerful network upon which to build, and look forward to achieving new levels of success in the year ahead.”
For the year ahead, CARSTAR and Driven Brands are focused on growing the CARSTAR network across the U.S. and Canada, delivering continued operational improvements and providing purchasing efficiencies. Key initiatives include:
Driving unit growth across the U.S. and Canada through aggressive store development
Increasing organic growth at its current locations through the proprietary EDGE Performance Platform, operating efficiency, and new fleet and insurance programs
Continuing to execute against performance-based agreements with the major insurance carriers and secure more of these relationships
Delivering a refreshed consumer brand that showcases CARSTAR as the premier provider of collision repair services
Leveraging the Driven Brands synergies for efficiency and cost savings
CARSTAR states that the Driven Brands partnership is delivering new improvements in operations, purchasing and technology. With the back office resources of Driven Brands, CARSTAR has been able to take advantage of significant economies of scale that will help reduce CARSTAR expenses and move at least part of those savings over to support the franchise base.
On the purchasing front, with the combined purchasing power of CARSTAR (U.S. and Canada) and Driven Brands, CARSTAR now has the single largest purchasing force in the automotive aftermarket industry. The company also is implementing new technology across Driven Brands that helps it capture and manage data more effectively, which allows it to manage more efficiently. This will allow franchisees to manage their stores more efficiently and be able to measure and share the metrics insurance companies demand.
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