A picture of the service and repair industry
AutoInc.
The Automotive Service Association's "How's Your Business?" (HYB?) survey is in its 17th year of exploring the overall success and business practices of ASA member businesses. The annual survey provides an analysis of the independent mechanical and collision repair industries. The purpose of the survey is to provide an accurate benchmark for business owners and those interested in the industry, based on feedback from ASA's membership base.More

Pollution: Does it have to be a dirty word?
Zurich North America
Pollution sounds like such a dirty word, and it can cost your business millions of dollars without good risk management and insurance coverage. Is your business exposed to pollution liability risks? Are you covered? Can you sleep comfortably at night knowing you have taken all the necessary steps to control this exposure?More

U.S. House passes Omnibus Appropriations bill
Automotive Service Association
The U.S. House of Representatives has passed, in a vote of 222-202, the Fiscal Year 2010 Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Bill as part of the Omnibus Appropriations Conference Agreement. The Financial Services portion of this $446.8 billion omnibus spending bill, H.R. 3288, is $24 billion. More

D.C. junks car safety inspections: Will others, too?
USA Today
While budget-strapped governments are hunting down any expendable "fat" in their budgets, some car-safety experts worry that one local government's cutback could trigger a trend that leaves cars with faulty brakes and worn-out wipers on the road. The District of Columbia recently decided that its periodic motor vehicle safety inspections were flab.More

Study says big impact of the plug-in hybrid will be decades away
The New York Times
Despite recent excitement about a type of electric car called a plug-in hybrid, such vehicles are unlikely to arrive in meaningful numbers for a few more decades, according to new analysis by the National Research Council. The study also found that the next generation of plug-in hybrids could require hundreds of billions of dollars in government subsidies to take off.More

Time for health insurers to compete
The Washington Post
Sens. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), author and co-sponsor respectively of the Health Insurance Industry Antitrust Enforcement Act, state their case for the repeal of the federal antitrust exemption from the insurance industry in this opinion piece recently published in The Washington Post.More

GM auctioning historic Flint, Mich., complex
USA Today
A Flint manufacturing and office complex that includes a building constructed in the 1920s by the founder of General Motors and that still houses his one-time office will be auctioned off. The Great Lakes Technology Centre, as it's now known, will be auctioned off in four parts. No reserve prices have been set.More

Hyundai goes to war
Forbes
Who says there are no big car markets any more? True, with so many competitors in each class, the sales numbers aren't what they used to be. No one sells a million of a single model any more. But there are large car markets, and the largest is for the family-sized sedan. But today's challenger is the new Hyundai Sonata, which goes into production this month. It's built in Alabama and comes only with a four-cylinder engine. The other family-size cars are mostly fours but offer sixes, too.More

Progressive Insurance will be tracking how you drive — if you want
The Cleveland Plain Dealer
A new program from Progressive Insurance Co. gives discounts to drivers who let the Mayfield auto insurer track some of their driving habits with a wireless device. By plugging a cartridge into your on-board diagnostic system, information on how many miles you travel, how fast you accelerate, whether you slam on the brakes, and what time of day you drive is sent to the company in real-time.More

GM to repay bailout loan early
CNN Money
General Motors will pay off a $6.7 billion federal loan by June, well ahead of the deadline for the repayment under terms of the bailout, company CEO Ed Whitacre said this week. Whitacre had said a week ago that GM was looking at making an early payment. The company announced in November that it would make a first payment of $1 billion to the Treasury in December but it could have taken two years to repay the rest of the money.More