Most of the automotive aftermarket deals with vehicles who have a few years under their belt. But one sector often has to deal with cars, and the technology in those cars, as soon as they’ve rolled off the dealer’s lot – brand new, and having just been slammed into by somebody else on the road. And that’s collision repair.

The collision repair sector may be an outlier in terms of the vehicles they repair, and the structure of their customer relationships, but it will be front and centre at AIA Canada in the coming year.

Ryan Bruno, who begins his term as Chair of AIA Canada, knows all too well the special challenges that this presents. As president and CEO of CSN Collision, one of the outstanding networks of collision repair facilities across Canada, he has an excellent view of the industry at large. Growing up in his family’s collision repair business has provided a strong ground-floor perspective that he draws on to this day.

“My family’s been in the in the collision repair business for about 50 years. And so, even as a child, through high school, I spent a lot of time at the family shop.

“I think if you’re in the collision repair business – and I think this is probably true even for those on the mechanical side – when you grow up in the business, it’s a big part of who you are.”

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