Car Care Comeback Sign of Spain’s Economic Recovery

MADRID – The end of Spain’s economic crisis seems to be confirmed by an uptick in business at auto-repair and -maintenance shops.

A recent survey by the Spanish Federation of Auto Workshops (CONEPA) shows activity in the sector increased 5% year-over-year from January through July.

The result indicates business has picked up since a CONEPA survey conducted in late March that showed a 1.1% increase in activity in the first quarter compared with like-2014.

Ramon Marcos, president of CONEPA, says good performances in April and June preceded increased demand during July, the traditional month of preparation for the summer holidays.

“Electromechanical was the front that presented the best results, but mainly due to the motorists’ demand of periodic maintenance, not due to breakdowns,” he says.

Marcos notes, however, that activity at repair shops belonging to the federation is 15% below the 2010 level. He also says business has been affected by auto insurers that have continuously lowered their estimates of repair costs in recent years.

Some insurers have begun requiring motorists to use repair shops with which they have made special arrangements.

The problem specially arises in the body repairs and painting front and it is due, according to CONEPA, to the price war that insurance companies maintain between them since the beginning of the crisis, trying to save their respective financial results.

“It is a pity that the recent positive evolution of the auto workshops economic environment is clouded by our concern about the drift that relations between workshops and certain insurers are taking,” Marcos says in a statement.