Month: July 2021

Survey set to reveal EV readiness

6 July 2021
Bodyshop, Environment, Insurance, Mobility, People, Technology, Vehicle Repair and Words

ARC360 has once again teamed up with Trend Tracker and NBRA to survey the sector about its readiness for electric vehicles (EVs).

The survey aims to reveal just how the industry is gearing up to manage the rapidly increasing electrification of the UK car parc.

Click here to complete the survey.

In September 2020, EVs outsold diesel cars for the first time ever – 18.5% marketshare compared to 18.4% – and that trend has repeated every month since then, with EVs increasing their margin incrementally all the time.

A further injection for EV uptake came in November, when UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced that the ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel vehicles would be brought forward to 2030. The ban had originally been earmarked for 2040.

As such, it is now predicting that EV sales could overtake both petrol and diesel by 2025, while alternatively fuelled vehicles (AFV) could reach that landmark even earlier, in 2024.

To find out more about the current trends in EVs see the ARC360 special feature from March 2021:

DM Keith acquires Ringways

6 July 2021
Bodyshop, Mobility, People, Supplier, Vehicle Repair and Words

DM Keith Ltd has increased its representation across Yorkshire with the acquisition of Ringways Motor Group.

Family owned, DM Keith now represents six brands, with 13 showrooms and two accident repair centres – DM Keith Leeds and Ringways Leeds – across 10 Yorkshire and Lincolnshire locations. 

The company is a franchised partner for ŠKODA, SEAT, CUPRA, Honda and now adds Ford and Kia to its brand portfolio.

Dougal Keith, Managing Director of DM Keith said, “The acquisition of Ringways; a well-known and respected business in the Yorkshire area, enables us to continue to invest in our business for future and sustainable growth.  We have a long-term desire to increase our portfolio and the addition of two fantastic brands is a huge step in the right direction.”

All Ringways employees have been transferred to DM Keith Ltd taking it from 290 staff members to 445 employees.

The combined annual turnover of £250m moves the Leeds based business into a top 60 position within the AM100 motor groups within the UK.

AW rolls out Thatcham methods and support

6 July 2021
Bodyshop, People, Supplier, Technology, Training, Vehicle Repair and Words

In a reinvigorated relationship, AW Repair Group has chosen Thatcham Research as its preferred supplier of choice for methods repair data and technical support.

Following a short trial, AW has returned to the Thatcham Research ‘escribe’ platform, an online repair methods solution designed to help the industry return crash damaged vehicles safely and efficiently to pre-accident condition.

Steve Hoe, Technical Development and VM Executive at AW Repair Group explained, “We’re really pleased to return to the escribe platform. The speed that new technologies and materials are introduced can be challenging for repair, but escribe presents the latest information easily and accurately.”

Technicians and support staff at AW are also using Thatcham Research’s online learning programme, ecademy, with a business-wide roll out programme in place.

Dean Lander, Head of Repair Sector Services, Thatcham Research says: “It’s great to have AW back on board. This is more than a supplier and customer transaction, it’s a two-way street of feedback and insights, spanning ADAS fitment, safe Electric Vehicle repair and a skills programme. We look forward to continuing to work closely with AW, a business that remains at the forefront of repair.”

CAPS reports big leap in claims exchanges

5 July 2021
Bodyshop, Covid 19, Insurance, Mobility, Supplier, Technology, Vehicle Repair and Words

CAPS has reported a big leap in unique claims exchange volumes with a 13% month-on-month increase from May to June 2021.

The data highlights how June saw a return of claims volumes to 82% of pre-pandemic levels, increasing from 69% in May.

Supply chain transmissions also rose by 14% month-on-month, reaching 87% in June compared to 73% in May.

The rise in claims exchanges was evidenced across all regions.

In June 2020, CAPS reported claims exchange volumes of 59%.

CAPS-claims-analysis-COVID-report-Mnth-end-June-2021Download

News Round Up: Week Ending Friday 2 July 2021

2 July 2021
Bodyshop, Insurance, Mobility, People, Salvage, Supplier, Technology, Vehicle Repair and Words

Listen up…

In this episode of the ARC360 Podcast we talk with Donna Scully, director/owner of Carpenters Group about whole host of subject matters – from how she started out within the legal profession to how she has helped propel Carpenters Group to where they are today.

She shares her thoughts on the evolution of the sector and provides her ideas on how claims could be positively impacted for the future.

Road use back to pre-pandemic levels

Road vehicle usage for June stood at an average of 98% on weekdays and 109% at weekends compared to pre-pandemic levels according to Department of Transport statistics.

Specifically, car use stood at an average of 94% during weekdays and 105% for weekends over the month period.

Meanwhile, research by Kwik-Fit highlighted 5.1m drivers are spending more on weekend trips as they don’t think they will be having a big summer holiday this year, with the same number making up for lost time with weekend trips to see family and friends. Some 4.3m drivers say the risk of catching Covid on public transport is leading them to opt for the car at weekends more often than they did previously.

Repair volumes back to 93% of 2019 levels

Vehicle repair volumes were at 93% of 2019 levels for June, finishing with 137,000 repairs for the month, according to Trend Tracker.

Based on Audatex data, the insight shows a 20% month-on-month (May 2021 Vs June 2021) uplift in repair volumes.

Register now…

ARC360 on demand – Wednesday 14 July – takes a closer look at the challenges currently faced across the supply chain and provides an indepth insight into what it might mean for the claims sector.

The impact of EVs – share your thoughts

Trend Tracker, in conjunction with ARC360 and NBRA, has released a survey on the readiness of the industry to manage the rapidly increasing electrification of the UK’s car parc.

Click here to complete the survey.

Those participating will receive 20% off Trend Tracker’s latest ‘Emerging from Covid-19’ report and the forthcoming EV report.

Repairers reveal Tesla approvals

iRG (Pontypridd) and The Vella Group (Skelmersdale) have both announced securing Tesla approval.

Meanwhile, iRG has also opened iRG Wolverhampton, a 6,000sqft facility focusing on express repair.

Copart backs AutoRaise efforts

Copart is the latest company to partner with vehicle repair industry charity – AutoRaise.

As a Bronze Partner Copart will help support the vital work the charity carries out on behalf of the vehicle repair sector, with a specific focus on helping Copart’s own approved repair network to invest in apprenticeships.

Volvo focuses on real time data

Volvo Cars is looking to process data from cars in real time, if customers choose to share data, to help make its cars safer.

By allowing customers to choose and be a part of improving safety levels and traffic safety in this way, Volvo Cars can make continuous and much faster improvements to its cars, constantly improving safety levels. This data would include continuous inputs on the car’s environment from sensors such as the high-resolution LiDAR delivered by technology company Luminar.

Thanks to the data generated from Volvo drivers around the globe, engineers would be able to validate autonomous drive (AD) features for specific geographic locations much quicker with updates to existing systems and new features rolled out via over-the-air-updates.

To process the real-time traffic data, Volvo Cars and Zenseact are investing in a data factory that will contain more than 200 PebiBytes (225 million gigabytes) of data within the next few years.

Ford teams up with By Miles

Ford has partnered with pay-per-mile car insurance provider By Miles, making use of connected data direct from the vehicles embedded modem – FordPass Connect.

“The way we travel has undergone a huge shift that could well have a long-lasting impact. We want to champion the changing needs of drivers who continue to work from home,” said Mark Harvey, director, Enterprise Connectivity, Ford of Europe. “Working with By Miles, we aim to use connected vehicle data to help deliver a full suite of innovative new products and services for our customers.”

The collaboration with By Miles, which fully launches later this year, is one of the first of several partnerships to be announced across Europe that will be enabled by Ford’s connected vehicle technology.

SMMT goes ‘Full Throttle’

The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) has launched a new, ambitious plan, ‘Full Throttle: Driving UK Automotive Competitiveness’, to secure the future of one of Britain’s most important industries.

The plan explains how government can deliver manufacturing competitiveness in the transition to net-zero, calling for a ‘Build Back Better Fund’; 60 GWh of gigafactory capacity; and 2.3 million charge points by 2030.

Mike Hawes, SMMT Chief Executive, said, “The next few years represent a critical period for the sector. The pace of technological change is accelerating and the competition more ferocious. If we are to secure vehicle manufacturing in this country, with all the benefits to society that it brings, decisions need to be made today.”

Watch now…

The ARC360 on demand ‘Mobility Special’ will lift the lid on the changing landscape for mobility – from modern technologies and human behaviours, to connectivity and future concepts – exploring just what it all means to those involved in the insurance claims sector.

Volumes back to 93% of 2019 levels

1 July 2021
Bodyshop, Covid 19, Insurance, Mobility, Supplier, Technology, Vehicle Repair and Words

Vehicle repair volumes were at 93% of 2019 levels for June, finishing with 137,000 repairs for the month, according to Trend Tracker.

Based on Audatex data, the insight shows a 20% month-on-month (May 2021 Vs June 2021) uplift in repair volumes.

Trend Tracker had predicted an increase in repair volumes, reflecting the tracked information about traffic levels being almost back to pre-pandemic levels.

Paul Sell, Associate Director of Industry Insights, new owners of Trend Tracker, said, “With traffic patterns being different it was hard to accurately forecast and 93% of June 2019 was at optimistic levels.

“Could June be the start of the bounce-back the industry needs, a summer spike or the start of the new normal?”

Trend Tracker is producing a brand-new series of quarterly detailed industry reports, the first of which entitled ‘Emerging from COVID-19’ is now out.

Copart backs AutoRaise efforts

1 July 2021
Bodyshop, People, Salvage, Supplier, Training, Vehicle Repair and Words

Copart is the latest company to partner with vehicle repair industry charity – AutoRaise.

As a Bronze Partner Copart will help support the vital work the charity carries out on behalf of the vehicle repair sector, with a specific focus on helping Copart’s own approved repair network to invest in apprenticeships.

Steve Thompson, Vice-Chair of AutoRaise said: “Securing Copart’s support as a partner is a fantastic achievement for us and hopefully sends out a strong signal to the industry about the importance of working together as a whole industry to solve our skills crisis.”

Jane Pocock, Managing Director of Copart UK & Ireland, added: “We are absolutely thrilled to be part of the AutoRaise family and play our part in helping to close the skills gap in the repair industry. Partnering with good causes like AutoRaise is an integral part of our ongoing Copart Cares CSR strategy, which includes having a positive impact on the communities we work in.”

Jane continued, “In addition to the partnership agreement, Copart and AutoRaise have already been discussing some great initiatives and opportunities which will make a real difference. We’re excited about bringing these ideas to life over the coming months and sharing them with the automotive community.”