• Mavis Tire Express Services Corp. has completed its $700-million purchase of Pep Boys from Icahn Enterprises. Pep Boys will retain its brand identity as a part of Mavis. With the addition of nearly 800 Pep Boys locations, Mavis’ network now exceeds 4,400 service centers across the United States and Canada.
• Icahn has retained the owned real estate previously transferred from Pep Boys as well as AAMCO Transmissions and Precision Tune Auto Care.
• Quality Automotive Services has opened its 250th Valvoline Instant Oil Change location: a shop in Burlington, NC.
• Take 5 Oil Change has entered the New York metro market with a shop in Midland Park, NJ. The facility is locally-owned and -operated by Quick Lube of Carolina – EB Partners.
• Midas has rolled out the next phase of its year-long “Midas is the Best” national brand campaign, again starring William Zabka of The Karate Kid and Cobra Kai. This chapter shifts the spotlight to tires, highlighting Midas’ expertise and value, especially its Limited Lifetime Tire Guarantee. The new tire-focused ad started running Aug. 15 in the United States and Canada.
• Kim Hickey is now vice president of brand at the Automotive Training Institute (ATI). A former shop owner, Hickey has spent the last 14 years as a management consultant and coach. This has included work as a peer group facilitator, podcast host and webinar host.
• UVeye has hired Meghan Killian as a product marketing manager. Killian joins the AI-driven vehicle inspection systems company from TruVideo, where she most recently was director of marketing and product marketing lead.
• 1stMILE, a financial platform for the automotive aftermarket, has partnered with Splitit, a provider of card-linked installment payments, on the launch of 1stMILE Buy Now, Pay Later. The initiative allows service providers to offer flexible POS installment payments, giving customers the ability to split eligible repair and maintenance purchases into monthly installments using a credit card they already have. According to Splitit, this allows customers to complete repairs immediately while shops receive full payment upfront.
• U.S. Venture has promoted Ashley Pearce to director of strategy for U.S. AutoForce. Pearce, who has been with U.S. Venture for three and a half years, had been a corporate strategy manager.
• The Tire Industry Association (TIA) has elected Josephine Foley — manager of safety and fleet for Sullivan Tire and Automotive Service and a current board member — to its executive committee as secretary. This places her in the TIA officer rotation, positioning her to serve as president for the 2028-‘29 term. Foley will begin her term as secretary Nov. 2 during the board of directors meeting in Las Vegas ahead of the 2026 Global Tire Expo/SEMA Show.
• The U.S. Tire Manufacturers Association (USTMA) projects 2026 replacement passenger tire shipments to decrease 1.6%, replacement light truck tire shipments to decrease 1.6% and replacement truck tire shipments to decline 7.1%.
• For the second quarter of 2026, Lithia & Driveway’s same-store aftersales revenue increased 1.0% to $1.01 billion. Same-store aftersales gross profit grew 3.1% to $599.70 million, primarily due to increased volumes of customer-pay and warranty transactions. Same-store aftersales gross margin expanded from 58.0% to 59.2% on a year-over-year basis.
• Precision Diagnostics has hired Scott Stoko as its East Coast business development manager, responsible for leading the company’s expansion and supporting partners across the region. Stoko was an outside sales representative for John Bean.
• The Wesco Group has tapped President Josh Cox as its CEO, succeeding co-founder Lloyd White, who is retiring as chief executive. White will continue to support Wesco as a member of the board. Wesco is a paint and equipment supplier.
• Autoshop Solutions has launched a new website and new logo at autoshopsolutions.com.
• BendPak has launched a new website.
