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GERMANY: Auto Windscreens acquired by Arques 

German holding company Arques Industries AG has agreed the purchase of Auto Windscreens.

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10 Dec 2008
by Article comment

RE: GERMANY: Auto Windscreens acquired by Arques 

Auto Windscreens has been bought and sold so many times. Its like a hot potato that nobody wants. Aviva have managed to destroy Auto Windscreens, lets hope Arques can pull it from the ashes, good luck!!

10 Dec 2008
by Joe 90

RE: GERMANY: Auto Windscreens acquired by Arques 

Based on my experience they have an interesting business model for a company owned (or were owned) by an insurance company.

Needed a new windscreen due to a crack which was too big to repair. Rang and obtained a quote as an insurance job then rang again and obtained a quote as a private sale. The insurance company quote was 3 times that of the one if I paid for it myself.

Of course some of this will be due to the need to cover the costs associated with meeting the standards and tendering process required by the insurance company which are then passed back in the price of the item. The insurance company then passes all these costs on the premium holder.

12 Dec 2008
by Andrewj

RE: GERMANY: Auto Windscreens acquired by Arques 

RE:German Intervention for Auto Windscreens.
All they need to do is employ the best fitters with integrity and a passion for getting the job done right 1st time ,not 2nd or 3rd.
The independant sector holds the key to this as all self employed people strive for a 100% sucess rate something the big players all boast about but few deliver.
Big investment is always good but a skillfull ,courteous ,professional workforce only comes from decent pay and investment in people .
In Germany Engineers and Craftsman are reveered lets see if they can make a Workforce feel that valued?
Only time will tell.

8 Jan 2009
by windyman

RE: GERMANY: Auto Windscreens acquired by Arques 

yeah auto windscreens... what agreat company, 10 years of dedicated service, and now there picking 1 person from a hat to be made redundant, could be anyone with years of experiance, i know the down turn affects things, but i have seen it quiet in the past, very disapointed seem's like there jumping the gun!
Training school...banning certain items for the job (tremshield)and bonding perspex to side glass with windscreen adhisive while waiting for glass IMO and others this is not good,
also having the training school police out on patrol, its job's for the boys and not an asset to the real back bone of the business (the fitter),

SO let hope Arques realise what a mistake there making, and think further into the future, when things pick up again. every one needs a car, and a car with a broken screen soon fails it's MOT, and the harder things get the more theifs will continue to use cars as easy target's... sorry to say but its true,

7 Feb 2009
by angryfitter

RE: GERMANY: Auto Windscreens acquired by Arques 

Quote:Needed a new windscreen due to a crack which was too big to repair. Rang and obtained a quote as an insurance job then rang again and obtained a quote as a private sale. The insurance company quote was 3 times that of the one if I paid for it myself...
Sounds like the very same business model we see in the states. The customer pays a deductible they agreed to, and the balance is on the insurer. Insurers pay over market price, audit nothing, and pass the costs along to the policy holder. I'll bet that angry installer never saw a bigger paycheck for an insurance paid job.

Now consider this: The business model we are talking about here is a fair approximation for healthcare insurance and delivery of services in the U.S. Any wonder why healthcare expense per capita is twice that of other well developed economies?

10 Feb 2009
by billyjoejimbob
Forum moderator

RE: GERMANY: Auto Windscreens acquired by Arques 

just an update Autowindscreens are like everybody else suffering from the current climate, this is due to the knock on affect of the banking system as we deal directly with insurence companies who are underwritten by banks. AW currently loose 1mill a month and it has to stop, based on this they have annonced job losses of about 200 as part of a resizing to proctect the 1600 employees that are left and the prevent the closure of the company altoghether.
the problem being is it does not have enough customers comming through the door and you only have to look at Woolworths to see what happened with there customer base.I do feel sorry for the victims of the this downturn we are all sufering but the company has not closed and it will continue to serve there customer the best they can with the manpower and commit that is left but if Arques get this right we will be here next year and beyond.... and in better shape than it has been under blue chip company AVIVA,RAC who to an have manage to damage a once very good name in the market place.

24 Feb 2009
by Drifter

RE: GERMANY: Auto Windscreens acquired by Arques 

customers do not just stay with 1 company,even if the service was good,they vote with their feet ,and price and service is key to repeat buisness.All said and done if the customers coming through the door are serviced badly then they will never return.Confidence is only obtained in a company when a good reputation is maintained.A reputation damaged by false promises.

24 Feb 2009
by windyman

RE: GERMANY: Auto Windscreens acquired by Arques 

some of my friend at Auto Windscreens are ex fitters.. and they are taking legal action against the company, because according to the Aviva redundancy policy.. Volanteers should have been sought first and this was not the case in the December redundancies..
Looks like the Union messed it up!!!
If there is anyone eless out there you've got till the end of March 09 to take action ..

You've got a good case ... so look into it !!!

26 Feb 2009
by auto phil

RE: GERMANY: Auto Windscreens acquired by Arques 

What a can of worms.You would have thought they would have all the legal stuff in place.GOOD LUCK lads.

26 Feb 2009
by windyman

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