AA Insurance has teamed up with Drive Group to establish a new motor vehicle collision repair centre in East Tamaki, Auckland.
Scheduled to open in August, this facility aims to meet the rising demand for vehicle repairs, especially with the increasing complexity of modern vehicles.
Drive Group Australia, a significant player in the motor vehicle repair industry, brings its expertise in sustainability, quality, employment, and training to New Zealand.
Simon Hobbs, chief operating officer of AA Insurance, emphasised the importance of adapting to market changes and maintaining service standards.
“An important part of our job is to assess and understand the lifecycle of our repairers so we can plan for changes in the market and take steps as needed to ensure we can continue providing the service our customers expect of us. Supporting Drive Group’s entrance into the New Zealand market is also a step forward in futureproofing our Quality Repairer Network,” he said.
AA Insurance has seen a 17% rise in repair volumes over the past two years, with an additional 7,000 vehicles referred to its repair network.
The new East Tamaki centre is expected to reduce customer wait times and streamline repair processes.
Hobbs noted that smaller repair shops would benefit from decreased backlogs and increased efficiency, ensuring continuous work flow and quicker service for customers.
“We anticipate that the main impact on our smaller repair providers will be to reduce their backlog and boost throughput. This will ensure there is plenty of work in the system and we can continue to utilise their repair shops and get our customers sorted faster,” he said.
Currently, East Tamaki is the only site partnered with Drive Group, but there may be future expansions.
“AA Insurance is committed to getting ahead of these issues and finding solutions before a capacity crunch hits. Working with new providers such as Drive Group is one such solution. At this stage, East Tamaki is the only Drive Group site we are partnered with, but we anticipate more may be needed in the future, and not just in Auckland. We are confident that this partnership will deliver real benefits for our customers and providers both now and in the long-term,” Hobbs said.
The partnership with Drive Group comes on the back of AA Insurance’s sponsorship deal with TVNZ for the New Zealand version of the British reality property series “Location, Location, Location.”
