NTDA appoints first ever chairman from the aftermarket
Roger Griggs hands over to Prashant Chopra
Published: 26 June, 2017
The National Tyre Distributors Association (NTDA) has appointed the first ever national chairman to come from the aftermarket since the organisation’s inception in 1930.
Prashant Chopra, Managing Director of Autogem Invicta Ltd was named as the new national chairman at the NTDA AGM, held on 7 June at Automechanika Birmingham.
NTDA chief executive Stefan Hay believes the appointment illustrates the changing make-up of the organisation: “Prashant adds a whole new dimension as his company is an aftermarket supplier member of the Association, which in itself is an indication of how the NTDA is rapidly becoming an association for both tyre professionals and the associated autocare aftermarket, where, over the past three years, we have experienced incredible membership growth.”
Prashant takes over from Roger Griggs, communications director of European Tyre Enterprises Ltd, who has served for an extended period of three years in order to support the implementation and execution of the three year strategic plan introduced by Stefan Hay in 2014.
- Mot-ivating basic checks
The one thing you can guarantee in life is that you will have to wait nervously for your car to go through its MOT, unless you are lucky enough to get a new car every three years.
I am not a qualified MOT tester but I know what I am looking for on a check-over. After I have checked my car over with a fine-tooth comb, there is always that nail-biting wait to see if it has passed.
The Driving and Vehicles Standards Agency (DVSA) recently released figures that went through the main causes of cars failing their MOTs. In 2017 alone, 7.3 million cars failed their MOT. Going through the top 10 there certainly aren’t major faults with the cars. What is there looks more like the result of poor maintenance by the owner.
From the top 10 reasons to refuse a MOT certificate, four were to do with bulbs or headlight aim, two were to do with defective wipers and there was also a common reason of no washer fluid present and insufficient tyre tread depth. The only reasons in the top 10 that customers wouldn’t really be able to identify would be poor brake performance and a broken coil spring.
Simple maintenance
As much as I don’t want to do myself out of a job, it’s shocking how many people don’t do simple maintenance checks on their cars. Blown bulbs are a big one. When I tell a customer that their bulb is gone they often had no idea, even if it was a dipped beam headlight bulb. With modern cars there is now often a message that pops up to alert the driver to a blown bulb, which should help people realise.
With modern car technology progressing at rampant speed I think people are unsure as to whether they can lift the bonnet up, unsure as to where the washer fluid goes or how they change a bulb with all that plastic covering the engine bay. Maybe as a nation we have got lazy with simple and basic checks of our vehicles. Instead we are relying on a yearly test to check that the car we are transporting family and friends in is going to remain road legal in that time. This is a dangerous approach.
Reminder
It is obviously great to tie in a service and MOT together and does make sense as the owner normally only has to be without the car for a day. I aim to keep both six months apart. I inform customers when the MOT is due with a gentle reminder then get a service booked in six months down the line to make sure that the car is still roadworthy and free from trouble.
It is so important a yearly schedule is kept to MOT cars. On the other hand, in May 2018 the government brought in the rule that cars over 40 years old don’t require an MOT. The less I say about that the better…
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The impact of technology on the garage sector and the changing face of training were just some of the topics covered at the first Independent Automotive Aftermarket Federation (IAAF) Industry Briefing of 2019.
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MAHLE Aftermarket has added more references to its growing filtration range, including three new fuel filters, four cabin filters, two oil filters and six air filters. The fifteen new part numbers cover applications from vehicle manufacturers including Audi, Mercedes, Hyundai, Kia, Citroën, Mitsubishi and Peugeot. MAHLE uses a wide range of filter mediums that feature its unique profile to ensure the media pleats cannot bond together and reduce the surface area, as well as benefiting from its exclusive hardening process preventing filter ‘collapse’. They also features the latest CareMetix technology.
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Pagid has added 20 new product lines to its range so far in 2018, further extending its aftermarket coverage. The update sees additions for the front brake pads on the VW Arteon (2017 -) and the BMW i8 plug-in hybrid (2014 -). It also has new brake disc applications for the Nissan Navarra (NP300 2015) and the Renault Megane (2016 -). The Pagid aftermarket brake range covers passenger cars, light commercial vehicles and EVs and caters for 99% of the UK’s vehicle parc. It is exclusively available through Euro Car Parts.
www.pagid.com/brakebook
