The workshops of Cordoba They are predicting an increase of between 1 and 2% in workshop entries for this year, which represents a certain stability “since there is a lot of activity in the workshop”, indicates the workshop manager. Provincial Association of Workshops and Automobiles of Córdoba (Atradeco), José Manuel Rodríguez-Carretero. The manager clarifies that workshops can be assessed based on the nominal value of the repair, hours worked or the above-mentioned entries.
Worry
The director of the entity, however, is concerned about the case of independent after-sales service, “an area in which this year inflation has reached the workshop.” In the world of car workshops, the independent secondary market refers to repair, maintenance and parts supply services offered by stores and suppliers that are not affiliated with a specific car brand or manufacturer. These workshops operate autonomously, outside the dealership network and official services of car brands. In the specific case of the province of Córdoba, there are 800 workshops, of which only 40 belong to dealers. The rest are independent.
“Profitability has decreased significantly as the cost of energy, inputs and raw materials used in the workshop has increased; insurance companies have pushed their limits in financing the operation of the workshop,” he says. Rodriguez-Carretero. “This has not been reflected 100% in the price of labor that the workshop charges,” he emphasizes. The director recalls that workshops do not charge for spare parts, “since, by law, the workshop cannot add even one euro to the retail price, so the workshop’s profit lies in its labor.” Therefore, he concluded, “if production costs increase and this is not reflected in the price of labor, profitability decreases.”
For the director of Atradeco, the workshops are working, many of them “are full of cars, motorcycles and agricultural machinery, but the prices established on what is called a tablet have not really reflected this”. Atradeco hopes that this increase in costs will be gradually integrated “so as not to harm a sector on which many people in Cordoba depend”. families“.
