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.

 The long-awaited requirements for the safe repair of ADAS-equipped vehicles have been published today (Friday 31 July) by Thatcham Research.

Comline’s brake pads have received an Automotive Aftermarket Suppliers Association (AASA) ‘N’ rating, confirming that the brand’s pads contain less than 0.5% of copper by weight.The rating permits the brand to use the AASA LeafMark ‘N’ icon in promoting its range of all makes brake pads.The AASA LeafMark will be included on Comline promotional material in going forward.

As part of its ongoing efforts to future-proof the independent aftermarket, LKQ Euro Car Parts has introduced a new, cloud-based version of its garage management software (GMS), CarSys.

With the wearing of face masks mandatory in all retail shops from today (Friday 24 July), WAIglobal UK is offering three types of mask, including the KN95, which has a 95% particle filtration, is CE marked and is recommended to be used for up to 12 hours.

With the end of the MOT extension in sight, and the easing of lockdown meaning more custom coming through the door, you would expect business confidence to rise in the aftermarket. Now, new figures have shown that the proportion of all UK small businesses predicting growth has almost doubled in just three months – from 14% to 27%.

Personalised customer video provider VIEWMECH, which is provided by LKQ Euro Car Parts, has announced a new integration with finance provider Payment Assist that will enable workshops to provide an entirely contact-free customer journey all the way through to payment.

6,000 automotive businesses on the brink, but vast majority demonstrating resilience 6,000 automotive businesses could be at risk of closing within the next few weeks, according to the IMI’s analysis of the latest Office for National Statistics (ONS) data.

Ben is launching its first ever series of virtual challenges, as part of Bring It On 4 Ben. The first to run this year, Formula Ben Silverstone VGP, starts on Sunday 2 August and is inspired by the Formula 1 British Grand Prix at Silverstone.

 Independent garages were actively sought out by motorists left unsupported by the mass closure of franchised dealers during lockdown, with garage lead generator site autoadviser.co.uk seeing an 88% increase in traffic over the period.

Snap-on has added an online vehicle coverage guide to its website that functions as a reference tool, allowing users to look up Snap-on software coverage.

Government advice on working from home is shifting towards encouraging remote workers back into the office, and with public transport still being shunned and millions of Brits looking to holiday in the UK this summer, garages could see a massive surge in work to complement the expected increase resulting from the end of the MOT extension.

One in three used cars looked at as part of an investigation into second-hand car sales across the South West were faulty or unsafe, Trading Standards has found.

The Original Equipment Suppliers Aftermarket Association (OESAA) is offering garages the chance to get one of  3,000 free ‘Back on Track’ packs of workshop essentials to UK independent garages, on a first-come, first-served basis.