Mitchell Releases Latest Edition of Industry Trends Report

Feature article reveals unexpected results of most recent Crash Parts Index Analysis—A decrease in parts prices for top selling vehicles

San Diego, CA—April 27, 2009—Mitchell International, Inc., a leading provider of information, workflow and performance management solutions to the Property & Casualty claims and Collision Repair industries, today released the second quarter 2009 edition of its Industry Trends Report (ITR)—the company's quarterly publication that highlights industry-related trends, news items and statistics.

This edition's Quarterly Feature, "A Deeper Dive into the Latest Crash Parts Index Analysis Yields Unexpected Results," by Mitchell's Vice President of Industry Relations, Greg Horn, discusses the latest findings of Mitchell's Crash Parts Index Analysis. This in-depth, ongoing analysis conducted by Mitchell organizes crash parts data into a general "collision parts market basket" and tracks changes in the average prices over time. The Mitchell Crash Parts Index Analysis methodology examines data from 2003-2008, creating a weighted average price for parts in the aggregate in order to compare inflationary trends by part type over time. In order to provide the industry with the most relevant and up-to-date data and analysis, Mitchell will continue to track crash parts data, releasing a final Crash Parts Index in a subsequent ITR issue.

Examining collision repair data in this way—isolating the parts price index according to top selling vehicles by part type—helps Mitchell customers understand where pricing trends are going and how part type pricing is interrelated for vehicles that are commonly insured and repaired. Mitchell's analysis reveals that decreasing new OEM prices and recycled/used prices are actually driving the overall decrease in the parts price in the case of the most popular vehicles. In contrast, the overall collision parts price index is increasing as a whole.

"The first installment of the Mitchell Crash Parts Index Analysis was enthusiastically received by the collision repair industry, and we received many requests to examine the data in more depth and detail," said Horn. "This time, we analyzed some of the most popular cars (the most often insured and repaired) and their collision parts. The data showed, surprisingly, that in contrast to earlier findings, today's composite crash parts price market basket is lower than it was in 2003."

Other valuable points of interest in the current issue of Mitchell's ITR include:

• In Q1-2009, the average initial gross appraisal value for Comprehensive coverage estimates processed through Mitchell servers was $2,302, compared to $2,242 in Q1-2008. Applying the prescribed development factor of 3% for this data set produces an adjusted value of $2,359—a $117 increase from this same period last year.
• On the average, Actual Cash Value (ACV) of vehicles appraised for Collision losses during Q1-2009 was $12,253—$1,171 less than in Q1-2008, reflecting the lowered value of today's older vehicle mix.

Complete content is available in the latest Industry Trends Report, which may be downloaded in PDF format by visiting www.mitchell.com. First published in April 2001, Mitchell's Trends Report has grown in both content and circulation, now reaching more than 23,000 collision and casualty industry professionals.

About Mitchell International, Inc.
Mitchell International (www.mitchell.com) is a leading provider of information and workflow solutions to the Property & Casualty claims and Automotive Collision Repair industries. The company's comprehensive solution portfolio streamlines the entire auto physical damage, bodily injury and workers' compensation claims processes. Mitchell enables millions of electronic transactions between more than 30,000 business partners each month to enhance partner productivity, profitability, and customer satisfaction.