Following completion of the initial Top Technician 2014 online test, the two dozen highest scoring entrants have been announced and will go forward to the quarter final stage of the competition. Hailing from as far apart as Orkney in Scotland and Truro in Cornwall, they will now face a stricter online test of their fault-fixing knowledge to determine which of them will be among the twelve technicians to attend the half day practical semi-finals at the Delphi training centre in Warwick on April 4. In alphabetical order, the quarter finalists are:

The first stage online test for Top Techncian 2014 is now closed and judges are now in the process of marking the assessments in order to find the highest-scoring 24.

ACCESS to technical information for Euro V onwards vehicles should become easier in the future thanks to a meeting recently held in Europe.

The Key proposals announced by the Transport Minister are to:

INSURANCE body ABI is 'unaware' of an insurance premium rise of 5% cited in an MOT campaign report

NO START date has been set for the MOT review, despite having been announced some eighteen months previously.

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THE Advertising Standards Authority has ruled against a scrapyard that called itself 'End of Life breakers' ruling that using the name in the first line of an advert, the company could easily be confused with an official government body.

FRANCHISED dealerships will have to rethink their approach to aftersales in 2012, according to an industry expert.

MORE than a third of Renault dealerships are to shut their doors in the New Year as the car maker battens down the hatches for what it describes as a 'transition' year.

The technical team at Valeo look at some common winter queries

FIVE Rapid Car Parts branches in Watford, Norwich, Lowestoft, Great Yarmouth and Cheshunt are now in the hands of Unipart Automotive after the company went into administration on December 6, following a period of 'difficult trading conditions'.

IT'S A CASE of back to the drawing board for Motor Codes as the scenario of a vehicle retailer going into administration has highlighted problems in regards to how it protects customers.

ENGINE control manufacturer Standard Motor Products Europe Ltd (SMPE), has announced that it has acquired all of the capital stock of Fuelparts UK Ltd for an undisclosed sum.

GARAGE owners Derek and Matthew Pestridge of D&D Autos in Ashford, Kent collected an award for Garage of the Year at the IAAF awards.

BRIAN Spratt, chief of the IAAF, has called for the industry to introduce production standards for remanufactured parts.

BRAKE product manufacturer TMD Friction has been acquired by  Nisshinbo Holdings Incorporated, a Japanese aftermarket group listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange for an undisclosed amount.

GOT a thing for cheap Chinese cars? If so, then you'll be pleased to know that the Geely brand is heading to the UK soon.

A 2003 Mondeo found its way to us having already been to two different garages. The car was hard to start from cold and it was smoking, though when it did start, it ran without hesitation. The first garage replaced the knock sensor and the second garage had re-coded number 4 injector by using CYL 4 on the scan tool. When this didn't work it was replaced. CYL 4 was again chosen on the scan tool to recode the injector and once again, it failed.

TRANSPORT Secretary Justine Greening has promised to check all evidence before deciding on proposals to change the MOT test laws while pledging "to get rid of unnecessary red tape" surrounding regulations.

NOTTINGHAMSHIRE Trading Standards mounted an operation last week on part-worn tyre dealers, following a number of complaints from the public.

FOUR brothers have been sentenced for 'clocking' used cars and supplying them with false service history.

ACCORDING to a white paper commissioned by Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles UK, van fleet operators can do more to control and cut costs to ensure survival.

MOTOR Codes has received full OFT approval for its Service and Repair Code, meaning that subscribing garages can now display the OFT logo alongside the Motor Codes tick, to further reassure motorists.

A RECENT report from the OFT showed used cars were the number one topic of complaint by members of the public.

All three of the UK's largest motor factors opened new locations in October.

A man who illegally dumped more than a million used tyres across England was jailed on last week for a total of 15 months. The case against him was brought by the Environment Agency.

Are you a member of the IMI? If so, you might know that the institution recently held a number of research seminars to find out what skills and knowledge technicians should demonstrate to become ATA accredited.

A letter has emerged from the Chancellor, George Osbourne, expressing his dismay at the 'road safety and environmental costs' of reducing the frequency of the MOT test.

Sukhpal Singh, boss of component supplier Euro Car Parts has confirmed that the chain's expansion drive will continue through 2012 with the opening of 20 new branches.

Solihull-based Jaguar Land-Rover (JLR) has announced that it is to expand production facilities in the West Midlands, creating around 1,000 new jobs in the process.

The row about small waste oil burners (SWOB) rumbles on with both the Garage Equipment Association and the RMI wading in.

Recent discussions between IAAF and roads minister Mike Penning were confirmed this week when proposals to exempt classic cars and motorbikes from the MoT test were published for consultation.

October's new car market rose 2.6% on last year. This is considered by the industry to be 'positive result', given the uncertain economic climate.

The week in which the clocks go back really does see an increase in accidents - at least according to car rental firm Enterprise.

Workers at Honda's Swindon plant have been put on a three-day week due to a lack of supply of parts.

Road charity Brake is joining forces with other organisations to defend the annual MOT test in the face of a government review that could reduce the frequency.

Nat Lo Raso of Sinemaster is the winner of this year's third annual technical trainer of the year awards run by Iris, a distributor of auto paint. The final, which took place on 19 October at Newberry House Academy, MKPE's training facility in Milton Keynes, tested the four finalists' skills with a 'typical' bodyshop day.

THE designer of the G-wiz has been presented an award for innovation - eight years after the EV was first made.

THE revisions to the MOT test that are to be introduced in January have drawn criticism from a popular motoring magazine.

THE RMI has lobbied the Government today about what it sees as 'the serious consequences of the proposed Duty increases' at the next budget. In a letter to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Brian Madderson, RMI Petrol Chairman details concerns for the independent petrol retailing industry ahead of the Autumn Statement. Although the previous Government's "escalator" will be replaced by a "fair fuel stabiliser", the precise mechanics of this new scheme have yet to be announced.

INDUSTRY watchdog Motor Codes is set to allow independent workshops to advertise on the customer facing area of its site.

INDUSTRY watchdog Motor Codes is set to allow independent workshops to advertise on the customer facing area of its site.

Aftermarket trade show EquipAuto has entered its fourth day - and organisers suggest that there have been a record number of visitors so far.

The automotive industry is pioneering government's 'See Inside Manufacturing' initiative, will deliver a national programme of activities throughout October to inspire the next generation of budding engineers. The idea is that young people across the UK will get a 'behind the scenes' glimpse of what it's like to work in the nation's motor trade.

style="text-align: left;">The Alfa made it over the top of the Swiss Alps, the 'A-team' Espace didn't due to a cooling system fault.

The world's largest international skills competition took place in London last week and concluded at a closing ceremony at the O2 Arena