Aftermarket July/August 2022 Issue

N othing succeeds like success, and with 3,538 business owners, along with many other industry professionals, attending the first ever UK Garage and Bodyshop Event, the inaugural show was lauded as a huge triumph. The event, held 8 – 9 June at the NEC Birmingham was created by the organisers of Automechanika Birmingham, and is intended to offer the aftermarket a highly focused show aimed at, as it says on the tin, garages and bodyshops. Attendees from garages, bodyshops and the whole automotive aftermarket from all over the UK were able to find out about the newest industry technology, tools and training, all in one hall. Big names at the show included Bosch Automotive Aftermarket UK, Bosch Car Service, Blue Print & febi bilstein, ZF [pro]Tech, Valeo Services UK, Dayco, Automotive Alliance Group (Group Auto), LIQUI MOLY UK, Snap-on Diagnostics UK, The Tool Connection, Thatcham Research, Autogem Invicta, LKQ Euro Car Parts, Castrol with their ambassador partner, The Race Group, Indasa Abrasives, Crosslink Solutions and many more. While kit and methods were a big draw, so were 100 hours of seminars across the Workshop Training Hub, Bodyshop Training Hub and the EV and Hybrid Training Hub. Topics covered included ADAS, sustainability and collision repair, and of course EVs and hybrids. The show began with a keynote address from LKQ Euro Car Parts CEO Andy Hamilton, held in the Workshop Training Hub. In front of a packed audience, Andy went through the challenges that face the sector as it moves beyond the pandemic and into the 2020s. Looking at the broad mobility trends, Andy said: “There are less miles being travelled, which means less demand in the market.” Then there is the impact of the pandemic on new car sales, which affects the whole market: “We normally see around 2.3 million or 2.4 million cars enter the UK market every year, but it has been down to 1.6 million for the last three years, and it is continuing to stay at that level. Since 2019, we have gone up a year in the average age of cars, from eight to nine years. It does not sound much, but it is a big difference. While we might have less miles being travelled, we have a much older car parc, and that is a good thing for the automotive aftermarket. However, those three years of less new cars coming into the aftermarket will come back and sting the aftermarket later.” He went on to cover the Motor Vehicle Block Exemption Regulation (MVBER), which was due to end in 2023 but has been extended in Europe to 2028. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) review of the MVBER in the UK is due next year. Access to data was covered via discussion of SERMI, and Andy then went on to cover the skewed thinking being applied in the proposed MOT frequency reduction that would supposedly help with the cost of living crisis: “It is a fallacy that this is a household saving. We need to make the government understand that over that two-year period, this will cost households 54 AFTERMARKET JULY/AUGUST 2022 UK GARAGE AND BODYSHOP EVENT REVIEW www.aftermarketonline.net NEW SENSATION! The UK Garage and Bodyshop Event was long-awaited, and a huge success too