ARC360 conference draws leading sector wide interest
More than 20 major insurance brands and over 50 of the sectors leading repairers have already confirmed their support of ARC360’s 2025 conference which takes place on Thursday 22 May at the British Motor Museum, Gaydon.
Set to deliver the most engaging and interactive automotive incident repair/motor insurance claims focused event of the year, ARC360 will discuss the business-critical areas to impact the industry bringing together industry leaders to share experience, insight and knowledge. Full story
The NBRA is working with the administrators of the EDAM Group, Interpath, to support any bodyshops impacted by the announcement on 6 January that the business is closing.
Komoo has opened its latest site located in Stansted. This is the first opening of 2025 and the 17th in total.
Mustoe’s Specialist Vehicle Body Repairs has unveiled Fix Auto Bristol Central, which will be Stellantis and Suzuki approved. Meanwhile, the business has also secured Renault/Dacia approval for the Caldicot, Monmouthshire area.
Activate Group has announced its Hampton site passed its initial stage 2 BS 10125:2022 audit last week.
ECF Accident Repair Group has retained BS10125 2022 structural aluminium approval coupled with another successful ISO 9001 audit.
Steer Automotive Group has made donations to six incredible initiatives through our Steer Community Fund. They include the St Mary in the Marsh Project Fund, The Association of the Veteran’s Hub Newport, and the Honeypot Children’s Charity.
FMG Repair Services has introduced cutting edge ADAS recalibration equipment from Repairify at all of its UK-wide bodyshops.
The Independent Garage Association (IGA) is urging independent garage owners to prioritise succession planning after noticing an increasing number considering closing because no one is in place to manage the company in the future.
The Department for Infrastructure (DfI) in Northern Ireland is launching a consultation to seek views on changing the frequency of MOT testing from one year to two years (Biennial) for some private cars, motorcycles and light goods vehicles.
Volvo Cars takes full ownership of Novo Energy
Volvo Cars and Northvolt AB have signed a share purchase agreement relating to Northvolt’s shares in NOVO Energy AB, leading to Volvo Cars taking full ownership of NOVO Energy AB, subject to approval by relevant authorities. Full story
JLR invests £65m in sustainable expansion of luxury paint operations for bespoke vehicle personalisation
JLR is investing £65m in sustainably expanding its special paint facilities globally to meet growing demand for personalised luxury vehicles and reduce the environmental impact of its most carbon intensive manufacturing processes. The company has seen demand for personalised colour options, where clients can choose from hundreds of Bespoke Paint and elevated palette options across its Range Rover and Range Rover Sport models, more than double since FY22. Full story
Mitsubishi Motors opts out of Honda-Nissan merger
Mitsubishi Motors has decided not to participate in a proposed merger between Honda Motor and Nissan Motor. Instead, the company will focus on increasing collaboration with both firms in technology development, particularly in software, EVs, and other advanced technologies. Full story
BYD UK continues rapid growth in 2024
BYD is celebrating another year of phenomenal growth in the UK. The company, which officially launched in the UK in March 2023, increased its volume by 658% to over 8,700 cars in 2024 – making it the UK’s fastest growing car brand. Full story
European new car market growth in 2024 driven by hybrids and Chinese brands
Europe’s new passenger car market grew by 0.9% last year. This is according to new data from JATO Dynamics, which found that 12,909,741 new passenger cars were registered across Europe-28 in 2024. Despite the slight uptick in registrations, 2024 was the fifth year of muted registrations figures when compared to pre-pandemic levels. Europe’s car market has shrunk by almost 2.9 million units since the arrival of the pandemic in 2020. Full story
Secure Gateways: Unlocking their role and impact on the automotive industry
In the automotive industry, a secure gateway is a system designed by the vehicle manufacturer to protect a car’s internal systems from unauthorised external access. It also prevents aftermarket tools from gaining entry to sensitive data and software within the vehicle. From a technology standpoint, secure gateways are becoming commonplace in vehicles and access to them is being made harder by the manufacturer. Full story
Copart UK becomes a Silver Partner of The Carbon Literacy Project
Global leader in online vehicle remarketing and recycling Copart UK has announced that it has become a Silver Partner under The Carbon Literacy Project’s Partner Scheme. By becoming a Silver Partner, Copart has demonstrated its commitment to tackling climate change through supporting the vital education and action delivered by The Carbon Literacy Project. Full story
Apprenticeship Central gears us for National Apprenticeship Week
Apprenticeship Central is urging bodyshops to tackle the skills crisis in the industry by tapping into the apprenticeship talent pipeline. The industry recruitment specialists focuses on helping repairers fill the skills gaps in key roles, from Paint Technicians, Panel Technicians, MET Technicians, Multi-Skilled Technicians, Vehicle Damage Assessors, and Business Support Administrators. Full story
Minister rules out graduated driving licence for young drivers
The Government has again ruled out introducing a graduated driving licence for young drivers. Speaking in a debate in Parliament, Future of Roads Minister Lilian Greenwood told MPs she is “determined” to take action to cut the number of young drivers, aged between 17-24, killed or seriously injured. “Improving road safety is one of my department’s highest priorities,” she said. Full story
FISITA welcomes Thatcham Research as a Corporate Member
Thatcham Research has joined FISITA as a Corporate Member. FISITA iscommitted to promoting excellence in mobility engineering by cultivating international engagement and peer group collaboration within a pre-competitive environment, bringing businesses together to ensure mobility remains sustainable and accessible to all. Full story
Somerset Bridge extends alliance with AX as exclusive outsourced claims handling and repair management partner
Somerset Bridge Group has extended its partnership with AX Automotive three years after the accident management specialist gained exclusivity for its entire non-fault outsourced requirements. Delivering an innovative insurance provision focused on underwriting, broker and claims handling services, the partnership now incorporates its seamless provision of claims handling, vehicle rental, repair management and total loss expertise. Full story
New Generation in Claims survey – the story so far
ILC’s New Generation in Claims programme in collaboration with Consumer Intelligence and UCAS is ready to ‘go live’ with one of the largest surveys of its kind, focusing on early career perceptions of the insurance claims industry, in the coming weeks. Full story
Public warned misleading claims adverts could cost them thousands
The public must be vigilant when searching for their insurer online, warns the Insurance Fraud Bureau (IFB), as it’s revealed that victims of paid ad spoofing scams could be facing up to £13,000 in unsolicited fees. Paid ad spoofing scams involve unscrupulous firms paying for search engine ads that mimic those of genuine insurers. Full story
Ten plead guilty to £320,000 ‘crash for cash’ fraud
An organised crime group that pocketed over £320,000 through a ‘crash for cash’ scheme have pleaded guilty to fraud charges. Raju Patel and Kamlesh Vadukul, the ringleaders of the group, submitted claims on insurance and to a vehicle repair finance service, for road traffic collisions that were deliberately induced or had never taken place. Full story
A study on real-world effectiveness of model year 2015–2023 ADAS
Automatic emergency braking (AEB) continues to improve as it cuts rear-end crashes in half. The latest study by the Partnership for Analytics Research in Traffic Safety (PARTS), pairing auto manufacturer equipment with police crash report data covering 98 million vehicles and 21.2 million crashes, is the largest and most comprehensive study of advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) to date. Full story
Car owners can save more than £300 with one Aldi product
Whether it’s from a parking error or a roadside bump, denting a car can be a stressful and costly mistake with repairs costing drivers £335 on average. To help shoppers save on costly repairs, Aldi has announced it is launching its latest range of must-haves for motor repairs.
Among the new products, its £6.99 Dent Repair Kit has been developed to help drivers fix dents themselves. Full story
Cogent Hire has appointed Darren Entwistle as Business Development Director.
Harps Joseph has been named Head of Product at cinch.
Lookers has appointed former VW Group UK boss Alex Smith as new Chair.
