Garages will be able to continue to operate in Wales despite the new firebreak lockdown being enforced from Friday (23 October), although car use is likely to reduce significantly which could reduce levels of trade for workshops in the short-term.

The Motor Ombudsman’s Garage Finder recorded an 82% rise in searches in the third quarter of 2020 when compared to the preceding three-month period, with MOT demand being a major driver of interest.

The likelihood of a no-deal Brexit on 1 January 2021, which would have an impact on car parts imports from Europe, rose significantly today (Friday 16 October), following Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s statement on the outcome of trade talks with the EU.

The Garage Inspector Andy Savva and VARTA have teamed up for a new webinar, where the importance of the battery within the car is highlighted.

 The next Industry Briefing Bitesize session from the IAAF will take place virtually on Thursday 29 October, with Adrian Botham, founder and MD at Servispart Consulting, as guest speaker.

While garages continue to be busy as a result of the MOT backlog created by the exemption, they could see more and more customers forced to tighten their belts, as the UK unemployment rate rises to its highest level in three years, and redundancies rose to their highest level in more than a decade.

While many independent garages are still working on their EV capabilities, car dealers that are able to work on EVs are again receiving the Electric Vehicle Approved (EVA) accreditation.

Eurorepar is running a Halloween-themed offer of £99 service for customers of its network until the end of November. 

The British Motor Show is launching a series of portable ‘Pop-Up’ motor shows in the run-up to the big event in 2021, with the first launching next Friday in Hampshire.

Businesses that have been ordered to shut as part of Coronavirus-preventative measures will see two-thirds of their wages for staff paid by the government in a targeted successor to the Furlough, Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak has announced.

The IAAF Annual Conference is taking place in a Coronavirus-compliant virtual fashion on Thursday 3 December, with Sunday Times Economics Editor David Smith as keynote speaker, and a new Pride of the Aftermarket’ awards.

The IMI is launching a series of online resources to help those in the industry facing unemployment to be in a good position to look for a new job, under the banner of IMI Employability Week.

Schaeffler is teaming up with Robert Bosch Automotive Steering to expand its intelligent rear wheel steering (iRWS) portfolio.

Banner Batteries is encouraging  customers to enjoy a well-deserved break with its 2020 ‘Snack Attack’ winter sales promotion, through which the company is serving up a Banner Batteries branded mug, coffee and snack in the form of the one of the nation’s favourites – a McVitie’s Club biscuit.

Some mechanics may find themselves working for a little longer before they can retire, as the UK state pension age rises to 66.

NGK employee Stuart Bayne has succesfully completed the Virgin Money London Marathon, finishing the 26-2-mile coure in just over five hours.

Brembo Days, a virtual window into the world of the brake parts maker, is open for three days from tomorrow (Tuesday 6 October).

Ongoing uncertainty resulting from the pandemic helped push the new car market down 4.4% last month, according to figures published today (Monday 5 October) by the SMMT, in what was the weakest September since the dual number plate system in 1999.

 Hundreds of prizes are up for grabs via a new ‘Peel and Win’ consumer promotion from OSRAM, with garage customers having the chance to win a luxury spa weekend for two and an iPad Pro.

 Fund-raising NGK employee Stuart Bayne is once again competing in the Virgin Money London Marathon to raise money for charity, although this time he will be running outside of the capital.

Price comparison site BookMyGarage and parking space finder JustPark have teamed up offer JustPark’s five million users access to BookMyGarage’s garage comparison data. The partnership is expected to yield an additional 1,900 extra garage bookings a month.

TMD Friction has launched GaraShield, a new software platform designed to help garages document their work.

 Total has bought London’s largest electric vehicle charge points network.

A radical shake-up of the adult education system in England being promised by the Prime Minister could result in a wider pool of talent being able to train as mechanics for the garage sector post-Coronavirus.

The SMMT has today (Tuesday 29 September) launched a new scheme that allows multiple parts companies to come together to support critical suppliers without falling foul of anti-competition rules, which is a first for the UK sector,

TMD Friction has developed new corrugated cardboard packaging for its Textar passenger car brake discs, which will save 40 tonnes of plastic each year. The cardboard will replace the plastic film to separate passenger car discs so it will not stick to the brake disc coating.

The SMMT Charitable Trust Fund (SCTF) has today (Monday 28 September) launched the SMMT Apprentice Support Programme, a £100,000 investment designed to help safeguard the jobs of apprentices currently employed by small and medium-sized businesses within the UK automotive industry, but whose positions are at risk of redundancy due to COVID-19 related business pressures.

 UK car production was down 44.6% in August, as reduced demand for new cars resulting from Coronavirus fed back to production lines.

 Excel Automotive Group (EAG), has boosted its delivery fleet with the addition of two new vehicles, which is represents the vanguard of an ongoing expansion.

 Andrew Rowson, Co-founder and Head of Services at ecommotors is joining the panel at the next free-to-attend session of the Automotive Aftermarket Webinar Series. ‘Digitalisation; Accelerating the recovery of the aftermarket’ will take place from 11am next Tuesday (29 September).

DVSA has issued an update on MOT testing during the Coronavirus pandemic.

The furlough scheme is to be replaced with a Jobs Support Scheme which will see staff eligible to receive up to 77% of their salaries for the next six months, and businesses are being given more time to repay Coronavirus loans, Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak has announced today (Thursday 24 September).

Four Scania trucks have been added to Exol Lubricants’ growing fleet. The additions include two new trucks for its Rotherham site, which are 13-litre G450 low roof cabs, and two for its Wednesbury site, which are nine-litre, G320 rigid high roof cabs.

The sale of new petrol and diesel cars could be coming even sooner than expected, with the government looking to end the sale of internal combustion engine vehicles as early as 2030, 10 years earlier than the previously announced 2040 deadline.

The government’s beefed-up COVID-19 measures announced on Tuesday 22 September fell far short of a return to lockdown, and garages were largely unaffected, although the requirement for retail staff to wear masks is likely to apply to  staff where in garages  where they are not working remotely.

In order to help garages take advantage of the growth of GDi systems, Delphi Technologies Aftermarket is expanding its GDi full service solution for Hyundai and Kia vehicles. The programme consists of pumps and injectors fitted as OE to more than 3 million Korean cars. The company is also introducing an aftermarket solution for its Multec 14 (M14) 350-bar pressure injection system, as it begins to enter the aftermarket.

In place of Automechanika Frankfurt, which has been postponed until September 2021 due to Coronavirus, MEYLE has created MEYLExperience 2020, a digital tour of what would have been seen at the show in place of the trade fair stand.

While garages face the prospect of perhaps too much work going into the autumn thanks to the end of the MOT exemption, calls for the government to provide a replacement for the furlough scheme have continued.

Britain’s car parc is the oldest it has ever been new figures show, with the number of cars over 13 years old tripling in 25 years, a fact that is likely to keep independent garages busy well into the 2020s and beyond.

Hungry mechanics may be happy to learn that Yuasa have launched a free snack pack scheme. Technicians can now get their hands on a pack full of tasty treats every time they purchase Yuasa batteries from participating distributors.

In a week that saw the Rule of Six imposed in the UK, echoing the character of Number Six in the cult 1960s TV series THE PRISONER, it was announced that the MOKE, one of two British automotive icons associated with the programme, was going back into production in the Midlands.

Garages that find themselves in dispute with a customer may benefit from the publication of six golden rules for customers, defined by The Motor Ombudsman, that could help to de-escalate and conclude a dispute.

The IMI is teaming up with BEN to create the IMI 100 challenge, a new three-week long virtual sports event with one goal being the  fulfilment the organisation’s £100,000 Centenary target for the charity.

There are just 15 weeks left to save the UK and EU automotive sectors from is being called a “€110 billion ‘no deal’ Brexit disaster” by the SMMT and 23 other European industry organisations.

70% of drivers would prefer to lease an EV in order to get used to the technology before buying one outright, according to a new survey.

ECOBAT Battery Technologies has upgraded and added 11 new vehicles to its delivery fleet.

The next free-to-attend session of Automechanika Birmingham’s Automotive Aftermarket Webinar Series will be Digitalisation; Accelerating the recovery of the aftermarket, and it will take place from 11am on Tuesday 29 September.