While his workshop was specific to the Australian market, there were some salient points that could translate back across to our shores.

The workshop was obviously designed to generate maximum shock value and while some of the statements made are very hard hitting, there are some that should be taken with a grain of salt.

The first of these was that "car makers don’t care about repairers when they are designing new cars. All they want is to make their cars lighter and stronger and of course – cheaper."

Gavin Wild of Wyatt machine tools is not entirely convinced that this is the case. As a supplier of the Car-O-Liner product range which works extensively with a variety of manufacturers to make repair knowledge easily accessible, he says that the second point is closer to the mark: "They use various strengths of steel and aluminium in the body of the car, but these are almost impossible to identify when they have to be cut or joined in a repair."

From the workshop it was determined that the only way a repairer can accurately succeed with a repair is to have the right equipment that can handle all the new materials and then find out by trial and error where the different metals are on each car.

Car-o-Tronic from Car-O-Liner is actually working to eliminate the hit and miss approach. Soon, this innovation will have a fully comprehensive vehicle listing which will highlight all relevant areas for vehicle repair.

To illustrate the variances of metal strengths within certain cars, the Porsche Cayenne was identified as having a body comprising 36 per cent ultra high strength steel.

To spot weld, this requires 8000 to 9000 amps and 350kg of pressure at the weld tips.

BMW’s 6 Series has 12 different steel grades and eight grades of aluminium which cannot be welded – it must be riveted and glued.

Mercedes new S Class in addition to various metal grades, has laminates and sandwich metal formations and the all-aluminium Jaguar XJ can only be repaired twice. Its panels are joined with self piercing rivets which cannot be replaced once removed, so a new rivet placement has to be made in the frame and space is limited to two positions after the original.

There is another issue with ultra high strength steels and that is the consideration that the metal transfers a collision shock to other parts of the car which you may not see with the naked eye.

A side impact for example, could distort roof or floor pans without any recognisable damage.

What this demonstrates is the necessity of repair equipment that offers correct electronic data for alignment which will accurately pinpoint any points on the car that may be out of alignment. It’s worth mentioning that some cars have asymmetric measuring points which you would only know via a comprehensive database.

The identified cars are certainly top end product and the larger part of the cars that appear in Aussie panel shops and to a degree Kiwi panel beating operations are still mostly Japanese which are behind the European market when it comes to varying steel types.

However, it is worth noticing that the European sector is growing here and New Zealand is actually following a trend towards European styles in terms of driving and environmental awareness – which ultimately leads to more Kiwi buyers buying European.

With the rapid expansion of China into the automotive market, Australasia can expect to see cars coming in from China with the very latest in metal technology. There are no old cars in China, so what do you think will be coming here?

In summary, repairers must be prepared to accept a necessary investment in equipment and training to accommodate the new generation of cars. l