Delphi Technologies hosts UK garage competition
Delphi Technologies, a brand of BorgWarner Inc, will be a partner supporter of the 2023 Top Garage and Top Technician competitions. Top Technician, created by Aftermarket magazine in 2002, seeks to identify, develop and celebrate skills-excellence amongst the elite of UK garage technicians. Added in 2018, Top Garage seeks to shine a light on national examples of business best-practice.
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Petition opened to stop first MOT extension
A petition has been launched by automotive trade bodies to stop the Government’s plans to extend the period before a vehicle has its first MOT, in order to reduce preventable casualties and deaths caused by vehicle defects. The petition states: The Government has proposed extending the period before a vehicle has to have its first MOT from 3 years to 4. We believe this will be dangerous, expensive, damaging and unnecessary.
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Goodyear job cuts: Unanswered questions in the UK and EMEA tyre markets
Goodyear’s decision to cut 5 per cent of its global salaried employees is shocking enough for the firm’s 72,000-strong worldwide workforce. However, the fact that senior executives directly linked that decision to the company’s worse-than-expected performance in the EMEA region (Europe Middle East and Africa) is giving employees in those countries extra cause for concern.
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UK car production drops to three-quarter million mark
As is being reported around the world with varying levels of schadenfreude, last year UK car production reached its lowest level since 1956. A total of 775,014 cars were produced in the UK in 2022, 40.5 per cent below 2019 figures and way under half the record production of 1,971,311 achieved half a century ago. The SMMT strives to highlight the positive news within this result, and stresses that production of electric vehicles reached a new record during 2022.
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Oakmain ‘struck off’ from GEA membership
Following the news that Wales-based garage equipment firm Oakmain Ltd’s sales manager was prosecuted for providing fraudulent solicitors letters to some garages applying to become MOT test centres, it has emerged that the historically “long-time” Garage Equipment Association (GEA) member company have been “struck off” from membership.
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Kenda the official tyre of Mick Extance Off-Road Experience Centre
Announcing a second partnership in as many weeks, Kenda and official UK importer Cambrian Tyres are pleased to confirm the brand’s status as official tyre of the Mick Extance Off-Road Experience Centre. As part of the new arrangement, Cambrian will supply the centre with Kenda motocross and enduro tyres.
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Survey highlights poor understanding of tyre load ratings
A survey commissioned by Apollo Tyres has found that only six per cent of motorists in the UK are able to correctly identify a tyre’s load rating. Worse still, it turns out we’re only half as good at accomplishing this task as the Germans are. Thankfully, younger Brits give hope that this may change in future.
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Apollo Tyres (UK) awarded ‘Top Employer’ accolade
Apollo Tyres (UK) Holdings Ltd, a subsidiary of Apollo Tyres Ltd, has been recognised as one of the Top Employers in the UK. The certification, awarded by the Top Employer Institute, a global authority on HR excellence, was based on an in-depth survey of Apollo Tyres Ltd’s London staff. The firm has an annual revenue of $2.8 billion. Its London team work in areas such as finance, digital and US trade growth.
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Lincoln College named as IMI TechSafe Centre of Excellence
The latest automotive training centre to be named as a TechSafe Centre of Excellence by the Institute of the Motor Industry (IMI) is Lincoln College, which has just opened a brand-new automotive workshop and Apprentice Centre. The first Further Education College in the UK to offer specific qualifications for Electric Vehicles (EVs) and Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS), Lincoln College also trains teaching staff and trainers from institutions and businesses around the country.
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NFDA chief executive joins Automotive 30% Club
NFDA chief executive Sue Robinson has joined the Automotive 30% Club, a voluntary network of MDs and CEOs from UK based automotive sectors. The organisation sets out to achieve a better gender balance within the automotive industry. It takes its name from its target of at achieving at least 30 per cent of key leadership positions in member organisations with diverse women by 2030.
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Haulier marks gold anniversary on Michelin tyres
Banffshire-based haulage contractor, Ian S Roger, marked the company’s 50th anniversary in style with a new gold liveried Volvo FH 540 6x2 tractor unit, fitted with Michelin X Multi Z and X Works D tyres as original equipment. The eye-catching FH joins a mix of MAN, Renault, Scania and Volvo trucks as part of a 32-strong fleet of vehicles used for a variety of agricultural-based haulage work. Almost the entire fleet now runs on Michelin tyres.
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Extending first MOT deadline ‘will increase defective vehicles, tyres’ – TyreSafe
Road safety charity TyreSafe has joined a growing chorus of automotive industry opposition to the latest proposal to extend the intervals of the MOT test. The organisation, which has members from all spheres of the UK tyre business sector as well as councils and emergency services, said that plans to require a first MOT after four rather than three years would increase the number of defective tyres and vehicles on the country’s roads. It explained that while new vehicles are often safer than ever, the advanced safety systems they incorporate often rely on the roadworthiness of tyres. Research by TyreSafe and its members suggests that putting more responsibility for ensuring tyres’ roadworthiness on UK motorists could lead to illegal and unsafe tyres remaining fitted to vehicles for longer, as many motorists do not check their tyres frequently enough.
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IGA calls for Extension to MOT 4-1-1 Consultation
The Independent Garage Association (IGA) has written to the Department for Transport (DfT), urgently requesting an extension to their consultation proposing changes to the MOT frequency and other MOT enhancements.
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MOT fraud: Oakmain sales manager prosecuted over forged solicitors’ letters
The sales manager of Wales-based garage equipment supplier Oakmain Ltd received a suspended custodial sentence on 16 January 2023. Newport Crown Court found that Thomas Richard Woods “knowingly providing false information in the form of forged solicitors letters to secure MOT garage applications” following a Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) investigation. The company reportedly also completed the MOT Station application (VT01) form, which is required to set up an MOT test station on behalf of customers. The DVSA described the case as “the first-ever prosecution for providing fraudulent solicitors letters used as part of MOT garage applications.”
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Tyres behind 13% of MOT failures in 3Q 2022
New analysis of DVSA MOT test data shows that faulty tyres accounted for 13 per cent of failures between July and September 2022. Of all failures, 27 per cent are “dangerous”. Previous analyses of MOT failure data have found that tyres account for between 8 per cent and 22 of all MOT failures. And therefore the latest figures represent long-term median tyre-related failure rates. Since industry sources generally agree that MOTs generate around 20 per cent of total annual UK tyre replacement sales, however you count it, MOTs have a significant impact on tyre maintenance and therefore road safety.
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