A time-bomb in safety and environmental issues is on our roads.
With a shortage of new cars and cost of switching to electric vehicles holding back sales, the average age of the UK car park has risen to 8.7 years.
That’s a rise of 12 months in the last decade and with the brakes on new business and models coming through it is believed the average age might soon exceed 10 years, the oldest it has for a very long time.
The fact that newer cars have steadily been improving reliability and reducing the need for servicing has contributed to the ageing process, said Graham Stapleton, Halfords’s chief executive.
But there is a downside as he pointed out, “Vehicle reliability has improved in recent years but there is no getting away from the fact that older cars are more likely to develop faults, are more costly to maintain, and are more polluting.
“This represents a risk to road safety, yet another squeeze on motorists’ wallets, and a threat to the UK’s emissions reduction goals.”
The rising cost of main dealer franchise repairs has provided Halfords with a boost to business in terms of jobs completed and the average cost of each has risen 9.2% in the last quarter.
