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Excel Automotive Group (EAG) will distribute RYMEC clutches to the aftermarket. RYMEC has been a prominent name in the automotive aftermarket for nearly 40 years, providing high quality clutch kits and transmission parts. Its components are accredited to ISO9001 and ISO14001, giving customers complete peace of mind when fitting them.
Electric car sales have reached their highest ever level in the used market, according to the online car supermarket BuyaCar.co.uk. After languishing for most of the year at around one in every hundred sales, December has seen them taking a 15 per cent share of the used market.
In 2018, Michelin introduced the RoadBib range of agricultural tyres, aimed at tractors of 200+hp that typically spend much of their working lives travelling on tarmac or hard soil roads. Michelin has now expanded the range, adding five new sizes – making nine in total. The new sizes are 540/65 R30, 650/60 R34, 650/65 R34, 650/65 R42 and 710/75 R42 and all tyres are available for the original equipment and replacement markets.
Magna Tyres Group has added to its material handling tyre line up with the introduction of the 18.00-25 Magna M-Stacker tyre. This is a tyre for use on reach stackers, empty container handlers and heavy-duty forklifts and is designed to improve the efficiency and productivity of cargo and port operations.
Test World has converted its ‘Indoor 3’ facility to pure ice, adding to the site’s capacity for indoor ice testing. With updates to the EU Tyre Label and the new ‘Ice Mark’ due next year, Test World has noted a significant increase in enquiries related to ice testing at the Ivalo-based tyre testing facility. Indoor 3 builds on Test World’s existing indoor ice offering, giving its customers unrivalled access to accurate and reliable tyre testing all year round.
Customers shopping in LKQ Euro Car Parts branches have collectively donated more than £10,000 to automotive industry charity, BEN, by adding £0.25 to their total when they check out. The funds have been raised via a new partnership with Pennies, an award-winning provider that gives people the option to make digital ‘micro-donations’ when paying by card, as a way of encouraging them to give to good causes.
VARTA brand ambassador Andy Savva explains the importance of replacing a car battery with the same type of technology (or upgrading) and advises never to downgrade technologies. When it comes to vehicles with a start/stop system, it’s essential that an Absorbent Glass Mat (AGM) or Enhanced Flooded Battery (EFB) is fitted, as a traditional, conventional flooded battery would not cope with the vastly increased number of engine starts – and not last very long.
As winter sets in, we are reminded that, not only is December the season to be jolly, but it is also the season to beware of potholes. Research by Opinium of more than 2,000 UK motorists, on behalf of InsuretheGap.com, has revealed that one in four (29 per cent) have damaged their car on speedhumps or potholes, rising to almost one in three (32 per cent) in rural areas. With standing water making it extremely difficult to distinguish between a mere surface puddle and a deep and potentially vehicle-damaging gaping hole in the road, these figures are sure to rise during the coming winter months.
The reactions to November’s UK car registration figures, which fell by 27.4 per cent year-on-year according to the SMMT, varied in tone; some were optimistic, others were worried about whether or not the industry could cope with the brought-forward target of 2030 for phasing out of sales of new petrol and diesel cars. And of course there was the uncertainty of whether a Trade Deal could be negotiated with the EU and of the effects of Brexit on the automotive industry, not to mention the effect on the automotive business of the pandemic.
The National Motorcycle Dealers Association (NMDA) has published details of its Autumn 2020 Dealer Attitude Survey (DAS). Paddy O’Connell, Head of the NMDA, revealed that the response rate was the highest ever, at 31 per cent; something that he describes as “very positive” and indicative that a growing number of dealers see the survey as an important and useful channel to provide feedback on the business relationship with their manufacturers.
The Independent Automotive Aftermarket Federation (IAAF) has welcomed its newest member, light vehicle (LV) and commercial vehicle (CV) braking specialist, Juratek, to its growing network of aftermarket businesses. With an emphasis on product quality, availability, and customer support, Juratek has been distributing high quality braking components to both the UK and international markets since 1995.
Analysis of the latest data from the Office of National Statistics by R&D tax relief specialists Catax shows that R&D spending in the UK motor industry has slumped 9 per cent annually. Total motor sector spending on R&D fell to £3.42bn last year, a decrease of £338m from a record high of £3.75bn registered a year earlier. The industry now employs 22,000 people directly involved in R&D, however, the latest spending figure is a dramatic turnaround from the 4.2 per cent increase seen in 2018.
Over the past weeks, the National Franchised Dealers Association (NFDA) has written to HMRC and a number of MPs to highlight that under post-Brexit EU VAT rules, the sale price of a significant proportion of used vehicles in Northern Ireland (NI) will be subject to a 20 per cent increase for stock purchased in Great Britain (GB). NFDA has urged HMRC to resolve the issue before the end of the year to avoid a major impact on NI and GB vehicle dealers as well as consumers.
The Petrol Retailers Association (PRA) has reacted with a mixture of horror and dismay to the suggestion that road pricing could be introduced to cover the loss of revenue from fuel taxation when petrol and diesel cars are phased out. PRA chairman Brian Madderson said: “We are deeply concerned about the government’s potential road pricing proposals. It is unfathomable that the government would introduce a measure that would only succeed in discriminating against the poorest in society.
Restore plc, the group that specialises in providing office support services, including records management and document destruction among others, has announced that it is joining EV100; a global initiative to accelerate the transition to electric vehicles (EVs).
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