Stellantis North America has announced that I-CAR, the Inter-Industry Conference on Auto Collision Repair, will provide and manage a portfolio of new Vehicle and Technology Specific Training courses (VTST), six of which will be required for all FCA Certified Collision Care shops, along with two recommended optional courses. These courses ensure that professionals are trained to have the knowledge and skills required to perform complete, safe and quality repairs, and are required to obtain or maintain FCA certification.
“Stellantis’ Service Engineering group has worked closely with I-CAR’s curriculum development team to integrate the latest Stellantis procedures into all new courses,” said Lynn Rogers, body/collision serviceability lead, Stellantis Technical Service Operations for North America. “As the complexity of today’s vehicle repairs accelerates, we are raising the bar of our training requirements to ensure our entire collision network is at a `master class’ level in their knowledge and skills.”
As of June 1, all FCA Certified Collision Care facilities will be required to complete the following courses to obtain or maintain FCA certification:
- FCA wiTECH Scan Tool Fundamentals (a prerequisite for FCA Driver Assistance systems for Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, RAM, Alfa Romeo and FIAT Vehicles)
- FCA wiTECH ECU Flashing*
- FCA Driver Assistance Systems for Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, RAM, Alfa Romeo and FIAT Vehicles
- FCA Introduction to Service Library for Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge, RAM, FIAT, and Alfa Romeo Vehicles
- FCA Marketing Your Certification
- Jeep Grand Cherokee WL
These courses will be part of I-CAR’s Vehicle and Technology Specific portfolio and are linked to I-CAR’s Professional Development Program (PDP) counting toward fulfillment of role specific annual training, and can be completed by any individual at their FCA Certified Collision Care facility.
Prior course completions will not be affected.
In addition, the following are recommended optional courses for FCA Certified Collision Care facilities to consider:
- FCA Diagnostic Data Recording with wiTECH ("Flight Recording")
- FCA Creating a Compelling Message when Marketing your Certification
All eight courses will also be accessible on an optional basis to all students and businesses across the collision repair ecosystem.
“I-CAR looks forward to further building out our Vehicle and Technology Specific Training course portfolio and furthering our relationship with Stellantis and other OEMs in developing additional courses highlighting new vehicles as they come to market and/or new and specialized repair considerations,” said Bud Center, I-CAR’s director of technical products and curriculum.
For additional information on the FCA Certified Collision Repair Facility Program, please visit http://www.certifymyshop.com/chrysler.
