www.abrn.com/abrn/article/articleDetail.jsp?id=438184 -
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Published on: 6/28/2007
Last Visited: 6/28/2007
Larry Carter
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Despite issues that some believe are holding the collision repair industry back, Car-O-Liner North American Operations President and CEO Larry Carter sees a different future for the industry.After 17 years at the Wixom, Mich.-based company and more than 45 years in the collision repair industry, Carter has seen firsthand how the industry has evolved and continues to evolve.
"I think the future, in my opinion, is very bright for this industry," he says."It is an excellent and exciting industry to be involved in.I see far more sophistication in our industry than ever and growing at a tremendous rate."
Many may know the Car-O-Liner name and even use the company's products, but they may not know Carter, who has led the company since 1990.Those that know him are familiar with his positive views on the industry.After a career that spans back to 1960, Carter, 65, is retiring at the end of June.
Carter began his career in the collision repair industry as an apprentice at his father's body shop in Ontario, Canada, where he worked on weekends.He became a full-time body shop employee in 1960 and was a licensed body man. In the late 1967 he started selling collision repair equipment for Applied Power Canada Ltd.He later became the territory manager for the Enerpac Division of that company eventually becoming sales manager.In 1980 he was asked to return to the Automotive Division and became general manager.Before becoming president and CEO of Car-O-Liner, he also held sales and executive level positions with Applied Power Inc., Hein-Werner Canada Ltd. and Kansas Jack.
He also has served on the board of I-CAR and is past chairman and emeritus of the I-CAR Education Foundation.In addition, he was a board member for the Equipment & Tool Institute (ETI) as well as a past chairman of the NACE Exhibitor Advisory Board.
When Carter took the helm at Car-O-Liner, the company's products were well known to be expensive because each system included a 3-D measuring system as part of the package and most shops thought they didn't need a Car-O-Liner to make repairs, he said.Being "pretty low on the totem pole" wasn't what Carter had envisioned, so he began working to turn things around.
Because vehicles were becoming more complicated, one of his first steps was to work with the automotive manufacturers as much as possible.Then, because of the value of the equipment, he decided to market to those that could afford the complete system and to those who wanted to afford it in order to repair cars and light trucks more efficiently.He also saw additional benefits and set out to make the industry aware of them.
"When I came here, measuring was not something that everyone in the industry did," he says.
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"I'm pretty pleased and proud of what we've accomplished," Carter says.
Although he is officially retiring, Carter will still be around for at least the next year as an employee working as much as seven days a month.He will remain as director of the board and work on projects for the Car-O-Liner Company and Car-O-Liner AB in Sweden."I will do whatever they want me to do here or anywhere in the world," he says.
Industry outlook
As Carter readied to depart Car-O-Liner on a full-time basis he reflected on the industry and where it's going.
He's concerned about the view the industry gets because of improperly repaired vehicles."You can have 1,000 cars done right and only two cars done wrong and you'll hear about the two cars done wrong and not about the ones done right," he says.
On top of that, he has a different view about the number of new people needed in the industry.Shops are learning how to make more repairs with less people using more sophisticated frame repair, measuring and holding equipment, which is creating more efficiency and productivity.He questions just how many more people are really needed each year.
"I'm not sure that we're not blowing that out of proportion to some degree because of the way new shops are refining their internal systems," he says.
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Carter quickly admits that he's enjoyed his career in the collision repair industry.He said he's logged about three million air miles traveling around the world, often to Sweden where Alignment Systems AB, Car-O-Liner's parent company, is located.While traveling, he usually didn't get a chance to see those places from a tourist point of view.In retirement, he plans to travel back to Europe and elsewhere to see those places in a more relaxed way.
"I like this industry.It's been good to me.I like the people.I've made many, many friends here in the United States, Canada and many parts of the world," he says.
As he contemplated his own future, Carter decided that it was time to move on and let others take over.
"I just think that sometimes you can hang on too long and that's not good either," he says.
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Carter eventually approached Kern and asked if he'd be interested in taking over at Car-O-liner when Carter decided to retire.
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Carter eventually approached Kern and asked if he'd be interested in taking over at Car-O-liner when Carter decided to retire.
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Despite issues that some believe are holding the collision repair industry back, Car-O-Liner North American Operations President and CEO Larry Carter sees a different future for the industry.After 17 years at the Wixom, Mich.-based company and more than 45 years in the collision repair industry, Carter has seen firsthand how the industry has evolved and continues to evolve.
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