Drivin' Through

Over the past two months, Standard & Poor’s published three reports that are of interest to anybody in the automotive industry.  »

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, it is said. This explains why one collector will lust after a Caravaggio, while another adorns his walls with the works of Joan Miró. »

Starting on page 39 in this issue, we report on the results of the 2019 In Bay Automatic Survey.  »

Today’s automobiles are technological marvels. Actually, to this layman’s mind, they have always been. But the technologies currently being baked into our vehicles are advancing at a pace that perhaps cannot be sustained... »

About a month ago, I passed by a car wash in suburban Phoenix I had visited five years ago. I recounted my experience in this column then (November 2014). »

It caused sudden pangs of nostalgia. A recent poll commissioned by Supersonic Car Wash in Utah sought to determine if Utah car owners still had that “loving feeling” for their cars. »

It comes to this every year: How do you measure the success of commercial car washing’s biggest annual event?  »

Like every other business, car washes face the challenges of keeping up with consumers’ changing habits, needs, and wants, not to mention advancing technology.  »

This month, its 15th day specifically, looms large on everybody’s calendar. It’s the day by which we all are obliged to account for our income and the portion we’ve shared with the rest of society. »

I have wanted to give a relatively new express exterior car wash a try for some time. It was under construction about three years ago, just as I was moving out of the neighborhood.  »

The National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA), the trade group representing U.S. franchised new-car dealerships, is forecasting sales of 16.8 million new cars and light trucks in 2019. Sales topped 17.3 million units in... »

he final column for 2018 held out the prospect of a changing fleet of vehicles making its way to the car wash in the coming years.  »

Developments in the auto manufacturing industry will impact the nature of the vehicles car wash operators can expect to frequent their facilities in the not too distant future. »

I keep having second thoughts about the title for this column, given that it is being written the day after the Dow shed more than 600 points and the tech-heavy NASDAQ found itself in correction territory. »

In mid-September, the International Carwash Association released a new study on Water Use, Evaporation, and Carryout in Professional Carwashes. »