March 2021

MARCH 2021 AFTERMARKET 43 www.aftermarketonline.net According BookMyGarage.com, the price comparison site saw an 80% increase in MOT and service bookings compared to the same period in pre- pandemic 2020. MOT-only bookings were up by more than 50%, while 58% scheduled a full service alongside their MOT. Karen Rotberg, Co-Founder of BookMyGarage.com, commented: “The sector has come a long way since the first national lockdown, introducing new processes and improving existing ones to enable contactless vehicle collection and delivery, but the new restrictions will still hurt new car sales. While independent garages are again able to stay open, franchised dealers are looking to take workshop revenue, even as their showrooms are closed. Karen observed: “Revenue gained from aftersales divisions will again be key, and the need for the franchised sector to develop aftersales market share in the vital Segment 2 and 3 car parc versus the fast-fits is more prominent than ever.” 15 January: EAG reaffirms opening in Lockdown 3.0 Excel Automotive Group (EAG) was the latest supplier to confirm that it would remain open during the UK’s current lockdown. EAG Managing Director Adrian Lamb, said: “This is our third lockdown in the UK due to COVID-19 and most workshops have continued to operate the entire way through, so we have as well. Despite everything that’s happening, people still need to use their vehicles and if they break, they need them to be fixed promptly, safely and effectively.” He added: “To further assist our customers, we’ve done a lot of work to our website and ordering system so they can order through www.excelautomotivegroup.com or through TecCom. If they are not already connected, they should contact us to set up these facilities, it only takes a few minutes.” 20 January: Back to school; IMI-style The IMI collated free downloadable education lesson plans, resources and fun activities for parents dealing with Lockdown #3 home schooling. The content puts both careers and education resources in one place. For primary school pupils there is the opportunity to create a vehicle-related poster, as well as future-job-related Top Trumps. Meanwhile, secondary school age pupils get acrostic poetry, as well as a host of maths, literacy, business studies and ICT curriculum content using the retail automotive industry as a setting for tasks and activities. Lastly, for those leaving school this year, there is the opportunity to create a CV using modules from the IMI’s Employability Toolkit Joanna Hollingdale, Careers and Student Membership Manager at the IMI observed: “A large number of automotive workers are back working from home and trying to juggle the day job with home schooling. “It’s hard to keep young minds focused on school work for the full day in the home environment without the interaction of their teachers and friends. We have, therefore, collated a number of our resources into one easy to access place via a free portal giving them something else to keep them occupied.” Joanna added: “Automotive is a tremendously exciting sector in which to be involved and we really hope that our resources will appeal, not only to children of automotive workers, but the wider community. It’s great to be able to give young people the chance to see the wide range of jobs available in our sector and the skills needed for those roles.” To view the full range of content please go to: https://www.autocity.org.uk/index .php/2021/01/13/imi-parents- pack/ 21 January: Car crash rear ends down 27% Vehicle rear-end collisions fell by 27% in 2020, according to analysis by AX, while ‘Hit while parked’ became the most common type of collision, accounting for nearly a third of the total. Top five types of accident Hit while parked 30.3% Hit in rear 24.7% Third party pulled from side road 9.2% Third party reversed into client’s vehicle 7.6% Lane change 5.6% The pandemic also impacted when collisions have occurred. Usually, rush- hour between 5pm and 6pm sees the highest accident rate, but in 2020 the peak shifted to the school run between 3pm and 4pm. Scott Hamilton-Cooper, Director of Sales and Operations at AX, said “It’s fascinating to see how the pandemic has impacted how and when collisions occur. For instance, our data shows a definite shift of incidents to early and mid-afternoon from the