The UK government has announced a new wave of Coronavirus restrictions in England, but garages will not be directly affected by the new Rule of Six.

Millers Oils have appointed Andy Savva – The Garage Inspector as Brand Ambassador.

Today (Wednesday 9 September) is World EV Day, and to coincide with it, the results of a three-year long project looking at how people will deal with electric vehicles have been released. They show that 90% of mainstream consumers would consider an EV as a main car if its real-world range was 300 miles or a Plug-in Hybrid if it could travel 100 miles on its battery alone.

12.5 million motorists may have delayed getting their car serviced as a result of lockdown, a survey has found.

Garages looking to decide when to take the plunge with EVs may want to consider the results of a new study from Castrol that has found that the tipping point for UK motorists to go over to an electric car come down to a price point of £24,000, a charge time of 30 minutes and a range of 282 miles.

MAHLE Aftermarket UK has launched a new guide for technicians on thermal management in EVs and hybrids. The document looks at the importance of hybrid and electric technologies in the workshop and an overview of hybrid systems and their differences.

GS Yuasa has named world Touring Car driver and British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) legend Gordon Shedden as an ambassador for its GS brand.

Ricardo has won provisional government funding for a new hydrogen engine test facility at its base in West Sussex.

The RAC has signed up with Groupe Renault to provide a customer service centre solution to its brands in the UK, including Renault, Dacia and Alpine.
 
The contract, which initially runs for three years with an option to extend for a further two, covers both retail and fleet segments, and will see the RAC support around one million customers. It includes everything from handling servicing and repair needs with dealers, managing vehicle downtime and the mobility needs of drivers, right through to managing ad-hoc requests such as providing vehicle-specific technical information and booking test drives.
 
As well as providing a traditional call centre, the contract also covers a range of digital services, including online webchat and social media.
 
RAC Business Roadside Managing Director Phil Ryan said: “While the demands and needs of customers differ significantly, our team recognises that every interaction – whether over the phone, online or in person – is an opportunity to build trust and loyalty and demonstrate to each customer just how committed to great service each brand really is. This matches the RAC’s approach to putting customers at the heart of everything we do.”
 
Renault UK Customer Experience Director Jean-Philippe Roubes added: “We are confident that our customers will benefit from not just the RAC’s strong automotive knowledge but also their unique ability to link roadside assistance services with overall customer services. The contact centre expertise, innovation, and flexibility of the RAC will help us to achieve our ambition to deliver industry leading customer services across all the Groupe Renault UK brands.”
 
The RAC has provided breakdown assistance to Groupe Renault brands since 2014.

Almost half of UK motorists don’t feel ready to make the switch to an electric vehicle by 2035, a new survey from the SMMT has suggested.

LIQUI MOLY is giving away a pair of exclusive tickets to MotoGP, and will be sending the two lucky prize-winners to an unforgettable week including a race weekend of the racing bike series.

New car sales were down by just 5.8% in August, as the market returned to something like normal post-lockdown, according to the latest figures published today (Friday 4 September) by the SMMT.

In Town Automotive, the garage business out of which GMS provider TechMan grew, has been voted Garage of the Year in its hometown of Northampton.

A guide to help independent garages develop a successful online identity that enables them to communicate with customers is being published by the IGA this month.

 NTK – the vehicle electronics brand of NGK Spark Plugs – is increasing the level of reward points for Lambda sensors from 100 to 1,000 points per sensor through its BoxClever garage reward programme during September, as part of its campaign to urge garages to be prepared for a surge in demand for MOTs.

The Parts Alliance is offering its garage customers with an abundance of must-have prizes every week during September through its Big Gadget Giveaway.

Ending years of concern over the status of the OBD port in a post-Brexit world, the Department for Transport (DfT) has confirmed that the OBD port will by law remain open for repair and maintenance information (RMI), and that this information will be made available in an electronically processable format.

Eurorepar Car Service centres have reported a positive reaction to the network’s Drive Now Pay Later initiative.

The IMI has launched a new three month membership trial.

The prospect of a vehicle scrappage scheme, which was mooted during the late spring as a potential way to boost the UK automotive sector, has been decisively quashed.

Castrol has launched an engine warranty scheme for members of their service network to offer their customers.

 DENSO Aftermarket has added more webinars to its free technical training platform.

LKQ Euro Car Parts is launching a new Garage Services programme with a view to helping independents increase their opportunity to generate revenue by offering a wider range of more lucrative servicing areas.

TRICO has announced its new name, First Brands Group, along with the addition of two new brands, Brake Parts Inc. (BPI) and Champion Laboratories (Champ Labs).  

Areas where demand for MOTs will be highest this autumn have been revealed by the DVSA. All but one postcode across the UK will see demand for tests rise by over 50% in October and November, as drivers given an MOT exemption look to get a test performed at the same time as those normally due MOTs during the period. 

From Tuesday (1 September), garages that have taken advantage of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme will  need to pay 10% of wages so so employees still receive 80% of their pay under furlough.

Automechanika Frankfurt is set to deliver a deluge of digital content to the garage sector from September in place of the actual show, which is now taking place 14-18 September 2021, a year later than originally planned.

Recorded candidate interviews and candidate profiling are among the new services automotive aftermarket recruitment specialist Glen Callum Associates (GCA) has launched  to help garages and other businesses in the automotive sector  with their recruitment processes.

 The National Body Repair Association (NBRA), has called on the government to extend the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS).

Warwickshire-based Cross Motor Engineering has become the 500th garage to sign up to garage network AA Prestige, which  has seen a 25% increase in membership over the past 18 months. The network intends to keep on growing too, and is aiming for 1,200 garages in the network by 2021.

A new REPEXPERT podcast covering practical Health & Safety issues around garages getting back to work, as well as increasingly pertinent technical matters has been issued by Schaeffler.

 Ahead of GCSE results day, the Institute of the Motor Industry (IMI) reported a significant uplift in Careers Advisors asking for insight into the career opportunities in the automotive sector.

With the backlog of MOT and repair work now surging into garages, the PSA-backed Eurorepar Car Service (ERCS) network is urging garages to look at updating their digital presence so they can make the best of the opportunity in a changed business landscape.

Self-employed mechanics recently saw more COVID-19 funding heading their way.

VARTA have joined The Original Equipment Suppliers Aftermarket Association (OESAA) in the UK, joining the likes of Schaeffler, ZF, Denso and HELLA.

Even used car sales have not been immune to COVID-19, as new figures from the SMMT showed that sales in the  UK’s second-hand car market fell by by 48.9% in the second quarter of 2020.

Due to the ongoing impact of Coronavirus, the running of Top Technician and Top Garage 2020 is being extended until October 2021, and Aftermarket is using this opportunity to make the competitions bigger and better than ever.

COVID-19 caused a 75% drop in overall apprentice recruitment across the automotive in June sector with take up in garages and dealerships seeing an even steeper 87% fall, and the IMI has warned this could mean that millions of pounds of Apprentice Levy funding disappears unused back into government coffers.

MOT demand during autumn expected to double following the return of normal testing last Saturday (1 August). To avoid a backlog at garages and take advantage of a summer lull at testing stations, the DVSA is encouraging motorists who took advantage of the MOT exemption to get their car tested as soon as possible.

The trend towards lower car sales resulting from COVID-19 lockdown restrictions seemed to go into reverse during July, with UK new car registations zooming up 11.3%, according to the latest figures from the SMMT.

 Garages that have taken advantage of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme now have to pay a small proportion of the cost of the furlough, with this share rising until the scheme winds up at the end of October.