2024 is set to be another year of change as more people in the UK embrace electric cars. Nor is that trend centred only on new BEVs; used models have seen an increase in demand, and residual values...

The ripple effect of 2020’s lockdown is set to strike the MOT sector once again in 2021, with last year’s postponements potentially set to play havoc with the retail industry’s diaries. The...

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about how dealer groups seemed to be split between those that had fully shut down, including aftersales, and those that had kept their service departments open, either...

Aftersales more than pulls its weight in profit generation but doesn’t get treated to the website love it deserves in return We all recognise that aftersales is the most profitable part of the auto...

Vehicle owners will be granted a six-month exemption from MOT testing, enabling them to continue to travel to work where this absolutely cannot be done from home, or shop for necessities, the...

Stricter emissions standards under WLTP regulations mean some manufacturers have had to shorted service intervals in order to make sure their vehicles are compliant. The changes could mean increased...

As the first month of the year, it is always tempting to try to draw conclusions over the remainder of the year from the performance delivered in January. This is normally a challenge in the retail...

Changing consumer demands are raising the bar for today’s automotive retailers. High expectations of a connected digital experience mean dealers should look to ensure their businesses are in step...

Franchised dealers have made huge efforts to be compliant with consumer credit rules; they are highly regulated and can only offer car finance under strict conditions. So says NFDA director Sue...

Van manufacturers and their representative bodies have issued a clarion call against attempts to demonise diesel. They point out that almost all light commercials sold in the UK are diesel-powered and...

Last year, 2016, might go down as a record-breaker for the retail car business. An all-time high 2.69 million new cars were registered. Used car sales could also be a record. And although the service...

Last month a German consultancy asked us for a detailed breakdown of the suppliers to the UK market for servicing and repairs. They wanted to know about independent garage workshops, fast-fits, tyre...

Over the past decade, the non-franchised workshop sector – predominantly independent garage workshops – carried out the largest volume of servicing, maintenance and repairs (SMR), including MOT...

The forces driving the retail market for servicing and repairs are complex, but the most recent prime mover was the 2008/2009 recession and how this impacted on new and used car sales and the car parc...

To prepare our annual Car Servicing & Repair Trend Tracker report, we collect lots of data. Our motorists’ survey provides a breakdown of the work completed, but pricing this work – to arrive at...

In last month’s Bulletin, I read Mike Jones’ (ASE plc) sound advice to refocus on used cars to avoid problems should the market soften in 2016. He also noted the strong performance of dealer service...

By Jeremy Evans The importance of data is increasingly growing – in terms of permission and quality – as consumers show their willingness to engage with companies who send them personalised,...

By Alisdair Suttie  It would be easy to sit back on your laurels when you run the most profitable Audi dealership in the UK network, but that’s not the way they think at John Clark Motor Group....

By Huw Evans  We hear it all the time. Sales margins are decreasing, meaning that retailers are often having to do more for less. A recent statistic from ASE yielded a 12.4% decline in...

Providing vehicles that offer outstanding quality, value and reliability, and combining this with a rigorous preparation process, and supplying the vehicles with a comprehensive standard or extended...