enhance a range of operations, including vehicle tracking, route planning, real-time traffic detours, energy consumption analysis, and compliance with pollution regulations.
Rodio says the overall auto repair market in North America amounts to as much as $140 billion, with about $70 billion to $80 billion in the United States that could be served under the current range of repair jobs offered through YourMechanic. He says he hasn’t found data on the percentage of that market attainable by mobile repair services. In the future, the company might expand into new areas such as collision repair by forming partnerships with outside outfits, he says. The eventual aim could be to make YourMechanic “the Amazon of mobility car repair,” Rodio says.
In the meantime, YourMechanic is grappling with interesting marketplace challenges as it scales up its network of mechanics to match customer demand. The company has to keep mechanics busy enough that they don’t peel away in search of work elsewhere, Rodio says. Adding new mechanics to the network might sometimes defeat that goal, by diluting the work for current ones. But that means the company may be less able to meet a surge in demand, such as flurries of calls for vehicle air conditioner repairs during a heat wave, he says. YourMechanic can’t expand its workforce as quickly as Uber or Lyft can hire new drivers.
“I can’t just get 50 new skilled mechanics,” Rodio says.
Photo credit: Depositphotos
