Second-hand battery and electric cars are being sought by drivers, says the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders in their latest report on the used car market. The UK’s used car market increased by 4.4% in Q3 after two consecutive quarters of decline, according to the latest figures published today by the SMMT. During the busiest quarter since the end of 2016, some 2,168,599 transactions … [Read more...]
Retail News
Dearer electricity is powering garage price rises
The average independent garage charges £47.47 per hour and it’s risen less than the rate of inflation over the last eight years. A survey of 3,338 repair shops which are members of the Independent Garage Association found that this year the typical labour cost in England was £47.90, in Scotland it was £45.52, Wales worked out at £40.61 and Northern Ireland was £40.55. Inside the M25 … [Read more...]
Time for a new approach to selling EVs, says report
A new approach to the likely success of electric vehicles is needed say analysts, who question the claims of the car makers' body in Britain. Tesla became the most valuable car manufacturer for many reasons, from glamour to having the longest-range vehicles. The IDTechEx report, "Electric Vehicles: Land, Sea and Air 2021-2041" gives the big picture. A … [Read more...]
Parents paying more to keep youngsters on the road
Nearly two thirds of (63%) drivers between the ages of 17-24 say they have relied on financial support from their parents to cover the cost of running a car in the last 12 months – receiving up to £750 a year – according to comparethemarket.com. The Tank of Mum and Dad Report highlights just how reliant young drivers are on their parents to help them pay for insurance, petrol, repairs and … [Read more...]
Welsh lockdown badly hits car dealers
The firebreak lockdown has wiped 25% off new car sales in Wales, revealed figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders. It is a warning to England which has just gone into a month's lockdown as opposed to the fortnight shutdown in Wales which ends on monday after 3,677 new cars were sold by Welsh dealers in the three weeks they could open last month. October new car … [Read more...]
Transit Connect now better than before
Ford’s enhanced the Transit Connect, offering customers best-in-class fuel efficiency and introducing a 1.0-tonne payload for the first time. Class-leading fuel efficiency and low CO2 emissions will help minimise fuel costs for operators and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The Transit Connect light commercial vehicle now offers up to 2,501kg gross vehicle mass (GVM) on selected variants, … [Read more...]
Essential skills affected by coronavirus changes
Company reorganisations taking place in the wake of the coronavirus crisis are leading to a new shortage in essential fleet skills, reports FleetCheck. The fleet software specialist says that it is seeing growing instances of managers with fleet expertise being made redundant or moved into new roles, often leaving responsibility for cars and vans in the hands of people who have relatively … [Read more...]
No MoT test waiver with next lockdown
MoT tests will still be required on vehicles when the next England lockdown begins this week. In the spring, the annual safety check requirement was suspended until August but it has been reinstated and will not be waived this time. Millions of vehicles are now being dealt with and a backlog of tests has built up, so the Government didn’t want this to be repeated and has kept testing centres … [Read more...]
Drivers in line for fuel price cut
Virtually static petrol prices in October should give way to pump price cuts of up to 5p per litre within the next two weeks, according to RAC Fuel Watch, with Asda already leading the charge with a fuel price cut this morning. Although the price of a litre of petrol was practically unchanged for a second month running at a little over 114p on average last month (114.53p at the start of the … [Read more...]
Newslines 3 November
Demand for used cars is 15% higher than it was at this time last year, coinciding with a decline in sales of new cars, says AA Cars. Drivers’ interest in used cars spiked to 9.1%above pre-pandemic levels when forecourts re-opened in June, but the new analysis shows that demand has continued to pick up since then with searches on the AA Cars platform in September an average4% higher than they were … [Read more...]