Passenger car registrations in the European Union (excluding Malta) rose for the 16th consecutive month in December 2014, with the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA) reporting sales of 951,329 units, which pushed the monthly tally up 4.7 per cent year-on-year. Looking at the largest markets, the demand increase was mainly led by the significant growth recorded in Spain (+21.4%), followed by the UK (+8.7%), Germany (+6.7%), and Italy (+2.4%), while the French market (-6.7%) displayed less activity than in December 2013. Substantial growth also posted by the new EU member states (+9.6%) and by the EFTA countries (+9.8%) contribute to explain last month’s positive outcome.
The Parts Alliance extends support to Bucks young motor mechanics
The Parts Alliance has added its support to a charity that provides training in motor mechanics to young people of all abilities to increase their employment prospects in Buckinghamshire. Allparts Automotive, a Buckinghamshire based member of The Parts Alliance’s Eastern Alliance, helped to deliver the equipment. Another Parts Alliance member CES UK also supports a classic car restoration charity in the north of England.
Due to the recent announcement of United Aftermarket Networks five-year partnership deal with Unipart Autoparts (which allows the buying group the opportunity to supply Unipart Car Care Centres), and together with the continuing growth of the companys membership base, UAN has decided to strengthen its sales team.
ATS Euromaster appoints Michael Young as group operations director
Michael Young, 41, has joined ATS Euromaster as Group Operations Director. He will have responsibility for 180 comprehensive centres – the company’s national network of dedicated truck locations, or retail sites which can also support heavier and specialist vehicle types. He joins Peter Tye who continues to act as group operations director for all retail centres.
Elite Garages join Pirelli Performance Centre network
Elite Garages Eastbourne and Elite Garages Horsham have become part of the Pirelli Performance Centre (PPC) network.
There are just 100 Pirelli Performance Centres in the UK, making it something of a premium club. Network members are audited and must be “high-quality, high-performance tyre dealerships from across the UK” in order to join. According to Pirelli, only the very top tyre dealers are considered to join the network and a strict set of criteria applies.
Transport Research and Innovation Portal (TRIP) to be run by Ricardo-AEA
Ricardo-AEA has been awarded a major three-year contract to run the European Commission’s Transport Research and Innovation Portal (TRIP) – a public, online platform that shares up-to-date information on transport research projects and activities across Europe.
Over the next three years, Ricardo-AEA, together with its partners TRT Trasporti e Territorio, the Czech Transport Research Centre (CDV), Fraunhofer ISI, the University of the Aegean and TEPR, will update and verify TRIP’s existing content, adding in new findings from the latest transport research programmes.
TyreSafe: significant increase in cracked wheel rims
Retail members of road safety organisation TyreSafe are reporting “significant increases” in the number of cracked wheel rims as a result of driving on potholed roads. Therefore TyreSafe encourages motorists to increase the frequency of their tyre pressure checks in a bid to identify and prevent potentially dangerous tyre failures resulting from pothole-damaged wheel rims.
Preston is notable for being the birthplace of cricketer Andrew Flintoff and Wallace and Gromit creator, Nick Park, but new research suggests that the city is also the classic car capital of the UK.
Pro-Align appoints Hickey head of new commercial vehicle division
Pro-Align has appointed Brett Hickey to head its recently announced commercial vehicle division. Hickey has more than a dozen years in the commercial vehicle industry, including his most recent role managing the PDI department of one of the largest DAF dealerships in Europe.
ETRMA reports “positive stability” in members’ 2014 sales
The European Tyre and Rubber Manufacturers’ Association reports that its members’ car, truck and two-wheel tyre sales increased year-on-year in 2014, while agricultural tyre sales were down. Results for the fourth quarter alone were less positive, and the ETRMA comments they “further confirmed the downturn in sales registered in the third quarter of the year.” The exception to this was sales of motorcycle tyres, which remained positive all the way through 2014. The association opines that the lower results towards the end of the year may be linked to lacklustre winter tyre sales due to the mild winters experienced on the continent for the last couple of years.
ECP commits to ‘super hubs’ roll out, creation of ‘1,000 new jobs’ in 2015
Euro Car Parts has announced its commitment of capital into developing a network of UK “super hubs” in 2015. ECP claims the new super hubs will create “over 1,000 new jobs, build in excess of one million square feet of new warehousing and achieve 100 per cent availability of an expanded choice of stock to customers.” The latter would be achieved by “increasing the frequency of, and speeding up delivery schedules to workshops by local hubs and branches,” ECP adds.
The annual Top Technician competition, which promotes and rewards the best repairers and workshops in the UK, invites fault-finders with at least three years’ practical experience to try out the initial online quiz. The multiple choice quiz is open until March 2nd and covers theory as well as repair scenarios. It has been devised by Chief Judge Ian Gillgrass of the Institute of the Motor Industry (IMI) alongside his expert team of judges which this year includes previous winner Steve Smith and James Dillon.
“Make traffic education part of National Curriculum” – IAM
Leading road safety charity the Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM) has called for traffic education to become an integral part of the National Curriculum, in an effort to cut the numbers of young people killed and injured on UK roads. The call ties in with a survey by the FIA (Fédération Internationale de lAutomobile) which found only eight of 15 European countries had mandatory traffic education in schools.
“It is extremely positive to see that motorcycle registrations in 2014 were at their highest since 2009, suggesting that the improving economic recovery is finally having a positive effect on bike sales”, said Stephen Latham, Head of the National Motorcycle Dealers Association (NMDA) which represents motorcycle retailers across the UK.
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