The NFDA has urged dealers to ensure their compliance with new regulations governing the way in which Guaranteed Asset Protection (GAP) insurance is sold to consumers. Set out by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the new rules are due to come into effect on 1 September 2015. Dealers will be required to explain that customers must return to the dealership four days after purchasing their car if they want GAP insurance.
Only 40 per cent of motorists visiting fast-fit centres get new tyres fitted on the first visit, according to new research from e-commerce firm epyx. Instead, 60 per cent of drivers had to make a second visit.
The figures, which were released on 19 June, show that fast-fit centres are now only half as fast as they were 10 years ago.
Trend Tracker, formed in 2003 to provide accurate and informed automotive industry research, calculates the retail service, maintenance and repair market’s worth has risen by almost £1 billion since the 2008 recession. This is inevitably resulting in greater interest in the segment, which is increasing the desire of vehicle manufacturers (VMs) to compete for this business. AMOnline has recently reported on the efforts of some car manufacturers to take a bigger slice of that market, giving a synopsis of what measures various VMs are taking.
Car owners prefer the independent sector to franchised dealers for servicing and MoTs according to new research from GForces. The results of the study, which sought the opinion of 2,000 car owners on a variety of aftersales topics, found over half of the respondents (50.3 per cent) used independent garages, compared with 34.1 per cent who use main dealers.
It may be that taste is the sole inutile sense to a car salesman. The power of seeing, touching, hearing and smelling a new vehicle are well documented, and the latter’s popularity has been heralded once again by Yorkshire dealer, ColinAppleyard.com. The famous appeal of the “new car smell” has trumped bacon, cut grass and even baking bread in a new poll conducted by the site.
A dealership describing itself as “London’s most beautiful Volkswagen garage”, Monaco VW has announced the offer of a comprehensive Winter Vehicle Check. From 15 September, the Kensington garage will offer the service at £29.99. The check offers a technical inspection of tyres, battery, brakes, lights and fluid levels, giving a detailed report to customers on the status of their vehicle ahead of the winter period. Winter checks, both complementary and charged, are an increasingly popular product offered by garages seeking ways to increase the quality of their service, the engagement of motorists, and a way to generate increased revenue streams. Winter checks in particular could help to support growth in seasonal tyre products, which has been palpable, if also rather timid.
Three and a half years after Hyundai began selling tyres through its dealerships in the US, seven-digit sales have been achieved. Hyundai Motor America has announced that more than a million tyres have been sold through the re-launched Hyundai Authorized Tire Center Program that began on 1 April 2011. And the company says its tyre sales are increasing at an above industry-average rate.
The European Commission says it will initiate a “legally binding solution” to improve relations between car dealers and manufacturers unless an acceptable industry code of good conduct can be agreed between the two parties.
The warning comes after what has been referred to as 18 months of reluctance and resistance from manufacturers and its European trade body ACEA in the face of consistent lobbying on the part of dealer representative bodies.
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