According to the Castrol Professional Car Service and Repair Trend Tracker, franchised workshops are losing servicing business to independent and fast-fit outlets. The independent sector now accounts for 45.7 per cent of servicing work, up from 42.1 per cent last year. A decade ago, the independents' share was just 30.2 per cent.
Plymouth HiQ franchisee Pilgrim Tyres Ltd claimed the inaugural Tyre Retailer of the Year TAFF Award at this year’s ceremony last week; an achievement the fast fit network is calling its “biggest success story of 2011”. The victory was the result of its performance in an assessment programme including a 30-point mystery telephone call, and a clandestine branch visit designed to observe how the branch operates in real-life conditions. The award was supported by Encircle Marketing. HiQ Plymouth’s franchisee Bob Saunders said: “I am absolutely over the moon. I am delighted to win this award and it is with great thanks to the team I have around me.
A fire involving around 500 tyres at Universal Tyre in Colchester occurred at around 23:00 on Tuesday, 18 October. The BBC reports that residents in the area were evacuated for the evening, but were allowed to return home this morning, after eight fire crews managed to extinguish the blaze overnight.
Hofmann has launched a scrappage allowance promotion, which enables workshops to gain up to £500 for their old wheel aligner, tyre changer or wheel balancer when purchasing a new Hofmann undercar product. The promotion runs until 31 December, and is exclusively available via Unipart Garage Equipment Services, Hofmann’s UK-wide distributor partner.
Jump starters are considered by many to be a necessary piece of in kit modern workshops, and Winntec Europe opines that any jump starter is only as good as the performance of its charger. By combining these two items in one unit, Winntec believes it has developed a ground-breaking product – its all-new HD Booster for cars, trucks, other heavy vehicles and machinery. In announcing the HD Booster’s launch, the company says it has taken the concept of professional jump starters to an “even higher level of efficient performance.”
Euro Car Parts, the UK’s largest car and van parts distributor, reports experiencing “phenomenal growth” across its car, commercial vehicle, motorcycle and leisure battery ranges. Bill Stimson, marketing director for the Bosch, Exide and Lion brand supplier, comments “we pride ourselves on offering an unbeatable choice of batteries and have recently made significant additions to all our ranges. Being prime battery supplier to the RAC has only enhanced our reputation as the fastest emerging force in the UK battery market.”
The latest edition of Tyres & Accessories is now available online, simply click more to see the September issue. This time round the magazine includes a feature on the winter market as well as all the latest news and analysis.
Halfords Autocentres has signed up to the 1link Service Network as a supplier of service and maintenance for light commercial vehicles up to 3.5 tonnes. The company, which has 246 centres across the UK, is a long time user of the e-commerce platform for company car servicing but this is the first time van and light truck servicing will be processed using 1link. The company currently looks after many thousands of commercial vehicles each year for private customers, SMEs through and large national fleets, while all 246 Halfords Autocentres in the network can look after all Car Derived Vans (CDVs) and over 150 centres have the access, lifting equipment and tools to look after LCVs up to 3.5tonnes GVW, according to a company representative.
Euro Car Parts has put together a range of products to enable independent garages to service tyre pressure monitoring systems. Euro Car Parts’ director of communications, Donna West, explains: “TPMS is going to be massive. The technology features on many models already on our roads but, thanks to European Regulation 6612209, it will be mandatory on all new models from 1 November 2011 and on all new cars from 2014.
The opposition to the UK Government’s proposed changes to the MOT test has acquired another voice, as fast fit network HiQ makes the argument that doubling the length of time between legally required tests will eventually cost motorists more: “The pockets of motorists will be hit harder than ever,” HiQ stated. Secretary of State for Transport Philip Hammond hopes to introduce the initial MOT test for new cars after four years instead of three, as it currently stands today.
UK distributor of Hunter’s wheel alignment and tyre balancing machinery Pro-Align celebrates 20 years in the business this October, and has been running a competition through its website to celebrate. Open for a few more weeks, the company is to give a Hunter Hawkeye ‘Special’ imaging aligner worth £9,000 to the winner. Paul Beaurain, founder and managing director, Pro-Align, said: “The response to the competition has been fantastic with almost 200 businesses entering so far.
CES (UK) representatives say the parts distributor has seen “a significant increase” in its braking business over the past 5 years, now accounting for over a fifth of its parts related sales. It offers a three tier range, comprising: original equipment, original equipment matching quality and a value range. The company says that brakes’ centrality to motoring safety means that motorists generally seek the reassurance of original equipment matching quality parts, which it says is reflected in its sales. Another factor that has become important to the distributor in driving sales is its emphasis on training, and information evenings.
Grouptyre reports that it is winning new business across the south coast and Kent thanks to investment by member EG Wholesale. The company has opened several new distribution points to improve its service to franchised dealer networks and independent tyre retailers and garages. During the last nine months EG Wholesale has invested £2.5 million in distribution hubs in Canterbury, Strood, Bournemouth, Southampton and Portsmouth and, most recently, opened a new centre in Worthing.
Independent garage network, Bosch Car Service, has today launched a new online booking service in the UK. The company says the system, which has been in development over the past year, was launched to provide customers with a simple-to-use facility through which to book their vehicles in for a number of different services. Customers can book their appointments through the boschcarservice.co.uk website.
Although TecDoc has historically focussed on replacement parts providers and garages, the system has now been adapted to serve the tyre industry. Whilst individual tyre manufacturers provide tyre centres with catalogues for their particular brands, the problem for the fitter is to efficiently identify the original equipment (OE) tyre fitment for a specific vehicle, irrespective of the brand that will ultimately be selected and fitted.
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