Repairer News
Activate Group has announced its acquisition of two well-established Motorcare bodyshops in Tunbridge Wells (Kent) and Bristol, supported by further investment from Elysian Capital.
Fix Auto Hereford has celebrated a successful Stage Two BSI audit just 10 weeks after opening. The achievement completes the programme of investment that commenced in March earlier this year. Full story
Solus Washington has been officially opened by Aviva Claims Director for Commercial Lines, Ryan Birbeck, along with local councillor, Kevin Johnston.
Family-run Bedfordshire repairer Dynamic-R Limited has joined the NBRA.
Fix Auto Slough & Uxbridge has underlined it focus on future-proofing the business by committing to Apprenticeship Central’s Recruit & Retain programme. Full story
Revive! has announced it has now received more than 40,000 Trustpilot reviews.
Rotherham-based Treeton Auto Services has doubled the size of its workshop and introduced EV repair capabilities by moving to a new site.
Artura has become one the first outsourced estimating firms in the UK to achieve BSi Kitemark certification.
VM News
BMW diesels – tanked with HVO
The BMW Group is now sending out a clear environmental message by switching to HVO 100 for the initial filling of all diesels made in Germany. ‘HVO’ stands for hydrotreated vegetable oil, and ‘100’ indicates its 100% purity. HVO 100 has the potential to reduce CO2e emissions by around 90% compared with fossil-based diesel. Full story
Green NCAP announces latest releases
Green NCAP has announced the results of its last release of the year, covering the Mazda MX-30, the Mercedes-Benz GLA, the Opel/Vauxhall Corsa, the Tesla Model 3, the Hyundai KONA, the Dacia Duster, the BYD ATTO 2, and the Chery OMODA 5. Full story
Stellantis and CATL to invest up to £3.4bn in joint venture
Stellantis and CATL today announced they have reached an agreement to invest up to €4.1 billion to form a joint venture that will build a large-scale European lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery plant in Zaragoza, Spain. Designed to be completely carbon neutral, the battery plant will be implemented in several phases and investment plans. Full story
GM to refocus autonomous driving development on personal vehicles
General Motors (NYSE: GM) plans to realign its autonomous driving strategy and prioritize development of advanced driver assistance systems on a path to fully autonomous personal vehicles. GM will build on the progress of Super Cruise, the company’s hands-off, eyes-on driving feature, now offered on more than 20 GM vehicle models and currently logging over 10 million miles per month. Full story
China’s Tesla Model Y rival set to arrive in the UK
Chinese car maker Xpeng has confirmed its entry into the UK market. Xpeng’s first cars will go on sale in time for the new 25 registration plate in March next year. Full story
ACEA president unveils input for EU automotive industrial plan; including a simplified regulatory framework
An efficient EU policy framework is key to enabling a dynamic and competitive transition to zero-emission mobility, creating the right conditions to allow the European automotive industry to thrive and compete globally. Full story
Industry News
Trend Tracker report reveals potential repair challenges
Trend Tracker’s UK Motor Claims and Body Repair Report 2024/25 has revealed that the average age of the UK car parc has moved out to nine years old. It found that car ownership still averages 3.7 years, meaning that 16% of car owners are considering buying a new car in the next 12 months. Full story
Bristol sees surge in ‘crash for cash’ scams involving mopeds
Ageas, one of the UK’s largest motor insurers, has identified a worrying increase in so-called ‘Crash for Cash’ scams involving cars and mopeds, with a significant rise in suspected incidents in the Bristol area, specifically Bishopston. This type of fraud sees moped riders deliberately manoeuvring their vehicles into the path of reversing vehicles, often vans, to induce an impact and then claim for damage and injuries. Full story
NEXUS to offer Solera’s dynamic routing solution to all members
Solera, the global leader in vehicle lifecycle management, has announced a new strategic partnership with NEXUS Automotive International. The new global partnership will give NEXUS members access to Solera’s cutting-edge Roadnet Anywhere dynamic routing solution, designed to optimise operations, reduce costs, and lower carbon emissions. Full story
BASF and RBTS sign automotive refinish Memorandum of Understanding
BASF (China) and Bosch Automotive Technology Service (RBTS) have jointly signed a memorandum of understanding at Automechanika Shanghai to collaborate on the automotive aftermarket business.
This partnership aims to create an innovative platform that enhances the automotive refinish sector, delivering higher quality and more sustainable solutions. Full story
UK’s Close Bros granted permission to appeal motor finance ruling
British lender Close Brothers was granted permission to appeal a ruling that motor finance brokers must fully inform customers about commissions on car loans, amid a looming multi-billion-pound consumer redress scheme. The Supreme Court said it had granted Close Bros and South African lender FirstRand permission to appeal against October’s landmark ruling by the Court of Appeal. Full story
Motor trade vacancy rate at lowest point since October 2021
Motor trade vacancies are at their lowest level since October 2021, according to the latest IMI Automotive Vacancies Report. The vacancy rate has fallen month on month for the past four months. The data shows there are 19,000 vacancies, with 3.3 vacancies for ever 100 employees, down from 3.5 in September. Full story
Home premiums rise while motor policies continue downward trajectory
The latest General Insurance Pricing Index from Pearson Ham Group has revealed that home insurance premiums rose by 0.4% in November while motor premiums dropped by 2.2%. November’s dip in motor premiums meant policy prices have now decreased eight months in a row with year-on-year decreases recorded at 15%. Full story
Used electric cars are selling faster than petrol and diesel models
Motorists are snapping up used electric vehicles faster than any other type of car as rock-bottom second-hand prices make them more appealing than petrol and diesel alternatives. In the month of November, dealers were, on average, selling an EV in just 33 days, says cap hpi. Full story
2.6 million people don’t drive as they can’t afford car insurance cost
New research by Citizens Advice has revealed that 2.6 million people don’t drive because they’re unable to afford the accelerating cost of car insurance. This includes almost 900,000 people who have had to cancel their cover in the last 12 months, in addition to 1.7m people who have already been priced out of the market for longer than a year. Full story
Van theft hotspots revealed by new police data
London is the UK’s van theft capital, with October being a peak month for van-related theft, new research suggests. A Freedom of Information (FOI) request sent to police forces across the country revealed 14,529 incidents were recorded in London last year alone, equating to 40 vans a day being targeted in the capital. Full story
eSure celebrates tech partnership
eSure Group has highlighted the benefits to policyholders of its partnership with HERE Technologies. It harnesses HERE’s telematics data to inform motor insurance pricing models, while its dynamic map content and high-quality traffic data enables it to react at pace to emerging trends and build richer, data-driven insights. Full story
It is becoming more important that repair shops get paid for total loss process as claims rise, RDE panelists say
Proper contracts and documentation are needed to ensure collision repair shops get paid for total loss claims, Tony Adams, AkzoNobel services consultant, and Tim Ronak, AkzoNobel senior services consultant, said during a 2024 Society of Collision Repair Specialists (SCRS) Repairer Driven Education session at the SEMA Show. Full story
People
Fix Auto UK has appointed Cheryl Chung to spearhead the development and implementation of its ESG framework.
Catrin Morgan has been promoted to Sales and Marketing Director for the UK & Ireland at Kamoo.
Sarah Hirst has been appointed Commercial Director at SYNETIQ.
Fiona Morrison, Operations Director at AGM Services, has celebrated 10 years with the company.
Matthew Wright has been re-elected to the Board of Directors for Automotive Data Publishers Association, as Vice President.
Turkish dealer group Çetaş Otomotiv has appointed Steve Young, Managing Director of ICDP, to manage its entry into the UK market with an Omoda and Jaecoo dealership in West London.
Marshall Motor Group has appointed David Tyler as Estates and Facilities Management Director.
