The IGA has won the Crisis Management – Covid Member Support award at the Trade Association Forum Best Practice Awards 2022, for their work to help the UK independent garage sector during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Blue Print & febi bilstein has thrown its weight behind Top Technician and Top Garage 2022, and has become a sponsor for the competitions.

A 67% rise in apprenticeship starts during the 2020/21 academic year, an increase that is also 16% higher than was seen prior to the pandemic, will still not be enough to fill the widening skills gap according to the IMI’s recent Automotive Education Report.

The IGA is set to launch an online portal later this year that will establish and maintain access to security level vehicle information for independent garages.

Used electrifed vehicle sales lept up in 2021, but the vast majority of second hand cars sold during the year still had an internal combustion engine, according to the full-year used car sales figures from the SMMT.

The new UK Garage and Bodyshop Event, presented by Automechanika is taking place from 8-9 June at the NEC Birmingham, and the list of companies supporting the event continues to grow.

HELLA has been bought by FAURECIA, and the move has made the combined companies the seventh-largest automotive supplier in the world

The shift to EVs is going to make road pricing a necessity, the House of Commons Transport Select Committee has said, in order to prevent a £35 billion black hole in finances resulting from the loss of fuel duty and road tax intake.

One in three new cars sold in January were electrified, and overall sales up 27.5% compared with the same month in 2021, according to the latest figures from the SMMT. However, with 115,087 units sold still representing a 22.9% reduction on pre-pandemic January 2020, the overall market is still underperforming, with ongoing chip shortages affecting supply.
Battery electric (BEV), plug-in hybrid (PHEV) and hybrid (HEV) cars made up 71.5% of the increase in registrations. 14,433 BEVs and 9,047 PHEVs were registered, equating 20.4% of the total. 13,492 were HEVs also registered,

Autogem is looking to crown the UK’s TPMS Expert, via a competition to see who is the best at diagnosing TPMS issues using the company’s i-sensor kit.

A £1.3 billion shortfall in aftersales revenue for franchised dealers is being predicted over the next four years, resulting from lower new car sales and the rise of EVs, and a knock-on effect for the independent sector is also expected.

An EV chargepoint comparison site says it has seen a 100% increase in the number of requests for installations as the window for a grant closes.

The Office for Zero Emission Vehicles (OZEV) Grant provides up to £350 off the cost of a home charging point for a EV, but is being wound up on 31 March.

Rightcharge has cited this as the most likely reason it has seen a 100% rise in in the number of requests for charge point installs over the last month.

Commenting on the demand surge, Rightcharge founder Charlie Cook said: “We work with over 50 of the best charge point manufacturers and installers in the UK, and we’ve seen a 100% rise in in the number of requests for charge point installs between December and January, which indicates that Brits are moving fast to take advantage of the OZEV grant before it’s too late.

A more-than 20% increase in the price of stainless-steel tube since the start of 2022, and an ongoing shortage of skilled workers, have been highlighted by BM Catalysts as a stark example of the impact of rising raw material prices and supply chain issues on the sector.

UFI Filters has increased its anti-counterfeit online surveillance activity worldwide.

UK car production in 2021 was the lowest since 1956 according to the latest figures from the SMMT, eclipsing even 2020 as the effect off the worldwide semiconductor shortage, staff shortages and the ongoing aftershocks of the Coronavirus lockdowns continued to impact on the sector.

Garage endorsement scheme Which? Trusted Traders has teamed up with online work aggregator WhoCanFixMyCar.com in a new partnership.

The driver of a self-driving car, when the car’s systems is doing the driving, will not be legally responsible for its actions, the Law Commission of England and Wales and the Scottish Law Commission have concluded in a joint report, with a whole new legal system needed as a result.

Nissan has launched a new fixed price serving programme intended to capture the three-to-ten year old car market, with a view to keeping the make’s models in franchised dealer workshops for longer.

With away-from-home EV charging seemingly on the rise, CTEK is looking to help businesses generate revenue from their EV chargers more easily by integrating the CTEK Chargestorm Connected 2 (CC2) EV charger with Fuuse Billing payment management software.

Coventry is the best place in the UK to own an EV, according to new research that took into account the cost of charging an EV at home, number of standard and rapid EV charging points per 100,000 people, and the number of rapid charging points per registered EV in the area.

The Motor Vehicle Block Exemption Regulations (MVBER) could be extended to 2028, following proposals from the European Commission.

A free-of-charge bonus programme, that includes discounts on well-known brands to those using the platform, is now being offered by In-House HR to business using its online platform.

VARTA has returned as a sponsor of Top Technician and Top Garage 2020.
Clarios is the global battery manufacturer behind the VARTA brand. John Rawlins, Marketing Manager at Clarios commented: “The VARTA team are delighted to be working with Top Technician and Top Garage again for 2022.

A mechanic crashed a £2.5m Ferrari Enzo into a roadside tree stump earlier this week, just over a mile from the dealership where it was being serviced.

The most scrapped car in 2021 was the Ford Focus, with 29,525 taken off the road last year according to data from Scrap Car Comparison, which also showed the average age of scrapped cars was 14 years old.

Snap-on has signed up with Top Technician and Top Garage 2022, becoming the first sponsor to put its full support behind the two competitions for 2022.

Ben has unveiled a new website for 2022. The launch comes as demand for support from Ben has reached an all-time high, with the organisation recording a 184% increase in site visitors from October 2021 compared to October 2016.

A Pontefract-based MOT tester who claimed to have performed a MOT test on a van in West Yorkshire when it was actually in Spain has been sentenced to a 12-month community order and banned from testing.

Ongoing demand for BM Catalysts’ output of catalytic converters, DPFs and front pipes across Europe has led the manufacturer to increase its production capacity.

The IGA recently made a of £20,000 donation to Ben on behalf of its members.
IGA Chief Executive Stuart James observed: “As we continue to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, Ben has seen a huge increase in demand for their life-saving support and services. There has never been a more important time for our industry to come together to help those in need.”

LIQUI MOLY produced 105,000 tonnes of lubricant in 2021, 27% more than during 2020, and it was also the first time the company had passed the 100,000 tonne production milestone in a single year.

Ben has launched a new Iron Man-like event for summer 2022; Beast of Ben. This will see four-person teams from different automotive companies going head-to-head in a series of challenges that include abseiling, water crossing, navigation and problem solving and more.

COVID-19 and the ongoing skills shortage has caused a cascade of problems for garages during 2021, a new survey has shown. Being able to hire enough mechanics and MOT testers was the biggest worry for 67% of garages, a situation compounded by ongoing Coronavirus-related absences, the research from The Motor Ombudsman found.

Dayco UK has teamed up with Partbusters with the company now supplying the full Dayco steering and suspension range. The deal will also potentially ensure that Partbusters is the first to market for Dayco steering and suspension in Europe.

Kalimex, UK distributors of JLM Lubricants was won two awards at the second JLM Lubricants Distributor awards’ ceremony, held recently as a combined digital/live event at the Circuit Zandvoort, home of the Formula 1 Dutch Grand Prix.

The lack of diversity in the sector, a factor seen as exacerbating the ongoing skills crisis, is being addressed in the first interim report from the IMI Diversity Task Force, which has been published today (Thursday 6 January).

New car sales in 2021 were up 1% on 2020, but still 28.7% down on 2019 showing the ongoing impact of the pandemic on new car sales, in what was the second worst year for new car sales since 1992.

In what is an early Christmas present for mechanics all over the UK, Top Technician 2022 is open from today (Tuesday 14 December).

London has been urged to fast-track its expansion of rapid charge points in the city. According to Zipcar UK’s 2021 Sustainability Report, a major acceleration is vital so London can reach the target set in the Mayor’s 2019 Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Delivery Plan. This estimated that the city needs 4,000 rapid chargers by 2025. At present there are only 500.

In addition, the Report stresses the role car clubs can play in delivering zero emission driving in city centres, and also calls for more policy changes including discounts for car clubs in areas such as the congestion charge, and for parking permit incentives for EV car clubs.

James Taylor, General Manager at Zipcar UK said: “The UK government has set clear targets for stopping the sales of fossil fuelled vehicles by 2030, with a focus on switching to electric vehicles, but there is more that can and needs to be done. We are at a pivotal moment to make urban mobility more responsible, equitable and sustainable.

“Whilst charging infrastructure has improved in the past three years and it is encouraging to see the government set out a commitment to support car clubs to go fully electric, significant further investment is needed in the infrastructure if we are to achieve our vision.”

Gulf Lubricants has a new distributor in the UK and Ireland, Rossmore Lubricants, and the company is looking to get the ball rolling with its new partner before the end of 2021.

With winter upon us, garages and bodyshops are likely to see cars coming through the door that have been in accidents caused by ice, but it might come as a surprise to find out that the area where drivers are most likely to be in such an incident is actually Kent.

Plug-in cars made up 28.1% of the total sold during November according to the latest figures from the SMMT, which saw overall registrations up 1.7% on the same month in 2020, which also brought four months of continuously falling sales to an end.

The ratio of vehicle chargepoints to plug-in cars dropped by 31% during 2020, according to a new study from the SMMT, and the organisation is calling for charging infrastructure targets to match the growth in the sales of these vehicles, which now account for one in six new cars sold.

NGK’s top sales performers of 2019 and 2020 saw their achievements recognised at the company’s recent mid-year conference.

TPS is set to offer Vehicle Vision’s Aftersales service camera software to its 2,000 independent garage customers.

An efficiency ranking standard for EVs available in the UK has been launched by Electrifying.com: The E-Rating.

Legislating for the Installation EV charge-points on all new homes and other buildings is only half-a-step, EV battery warranty provider Altelium has warned, as drivers need to be taught how to charge them properly to avoid damaging the batteries too.

A collaboration between Castrol and Bosch Automotive Aftermarket, where they recommend each other’s products and services in their respective garage networks, has been brought to the UK .

TRICO is running a Christmas-themed scratchcard competition through seven of its UK distributors, with every single TRICO wiper blade purchased providing a chance to win.

Recently launched booking platform GaragesNear.me is waiving its 10% commission fee until at least the beginning of 2022, making it free to use for garages for the foreseeable future.