May 2021

franchised dealers the opportunity to bridge the revenue gap between now and the summer by attracting MOT and service bookings from vehicles aged four to 10 years old. This is particularly important at a time when sales of new cars continue to underperform due to the current restrictions in place and dealers seek to optimise revenue streams elsewhere.” 22 March: Car scrapping up by a third Older cars have been leaving the road at an alarming rate last year, with new figures suggesting that a third more cars were scrapped in 2020 compared with the year before. The research was conducted by Scrap Car Network, and shows 10,000 more cars were scrapped in the past two years, with a record 37,000 cars scrapped last year. Birmingham led the way with 3,600 cars scrapped throughout 2020, followed by Manchester at 2,296, Liverpool on 1,964, Newcastle on 1,909 and in fifth place Glasgow with 1,812. The north west was the region of the country that scrapped the most cars last year with over 18,329 cars over the period accounting for 33% of all cars that were no longer needed. Scrap Car Network MD Tazamul Sarodia said: “As the pandemic took its grip last year and people were forced to work from home, or sadly, lost their jobs or were furloughed, a trend has emerged showing that people have rethought the use of their vehicles. We’ve been the busiest we have ever been with people scrapping their cars in droves. As working from home has become the norm, drivers are seeing less and less need for their vehicles, plus with more people moving away from cities to more rural villages, the car isn’t seen as essential as it once was. We also found that unfortunately, scrapping a car for some has been a source of income to tide them over as job losses hit.” 31 March: 63% of car owners delay servicing and repair work because of COVID-19 concerns Lockdown restrictions have prompted 63% of car owners to delay servicing and repair work over the last few months, even though 86% admitted they know dealer workshops and garages are open for business, according to research by Bumper. Bumper, the new name for Auto Service Finance, polled the views of 2,635 car owners in February to see whether decisions on having their vehicles maintained had been impacted by the pandemic. “Our research highlights a worrying trend with most car owners admitting to being concerned about taking their vehicles into garages and dealerships as a result of COVID-19 restrictions,” said James Jackson, Bumper’s CEO and co-founder. This raises safety concerns as service schedules are being stretched and repair work is being put off. Dealers and garages need to allay customer fears by reassuring them that COVID-19 secure guidelines are in place with timed appointments, contactless handovers, vehicle sanitation and social distancing.” 1 April: Pothole damage costs rise as average mileage falls While average mileage for most drivers has been down by 42% over the last year, according to new research the cost from pothole damage actually rose over the same period, reaching £1.267 billion compared to £1.249bn for the year to March 2020. This year’s Kwik Fit’s PIT (Pothole Impact Tracker) Report shows that drivers have hit an average of 11 potholes per month, with 10.2 million suffering damage to their car as a result. Tyres are the most commonly damaged component, suffered by 4.2 million drivers. This is followed by 3 million suspension damage incidents, 2.8 million bashed wheels and 2 million bouts of broken steering. Repairs have cost £127.20 on average, up 11% on the previous year. Although fewer drivers have experienced damage, the rise in average repair costs has pushed up the national repair bill. 48% of drivers said that the condition of the road surfaces in their area are worse than the year before, with just 12% saying they are better. 48 AFTERMARKET MAY 2021 BUSINESS www.aftermarketonline.net Garages need to alay customer fears by reassuring them that COVID-19 guidelines are in place... ”