News

Details on the extra grants announced in the budget for businesses recruiting apprentices have been released. An extra £170 million is being made available for Apprenticeship Grants for Employers (AGE) in total, half for 2014-2015 and the remainder for the following year

Metropolitan Police figures on catalytic converter thefts indicate no vehicle is safe, have given the aftermarket an opportunity to target sales and boost its revenue. CatLoc has received a Freedom of Information report from the Met on thefts of cats over the last four years in London up to June 2013

California firm Green Automotive Company (GAC) has snapped up Transhock Ltd in a bid to increase its range of remanufactured parts for electric vehicles. The West Midlands based remanufacturer and distributor was acquired after recording revenues in excess of $7 million in the last financial year. GAC says the deal will extend and develop its remanufactured parts offering, especially as it is focussing on battery technology for electric vehicles

A group of bearing manufacturers including NTN, Schaeffler and SKF have been fined a total of nearly €1 billion for operating a cartel. The European Commission handed out the fines to the companies as they ‘colluded to secretly coordinate their pricing strategy vis-à-vis automotive customers for more than seven years, from April 2004 until July 2011, in the whole European Economic Area.’

John Genge on how get around a miserly bank manager and find finance. This is a question that I am asked a lot. It seems that when you don’t need money, banks are throwing it at you but when you are desperate, they don’t want to know. Is this a simplification of the real situation, and can we adopt other tactics to present a better case to our bank?

The Eyebox in Coventry has been selected as the third venue for the heats of the 2014 Institute of the Motor Industry’s SkillAuto competition. The Autobody preliminary competition will be hosted at the Eyebox training and conference facility, with Direct Automotive providing the body panels at the venue

The Independent Garage Association says the response it has received from garages for its pioneering Car Repair Plan has exceeded expectations. It has witnessed a number of its Trust My Garage members sign up to be involved with this scheme ahead of its imminent launch

Motorists are wasting almost £500,000 a year with simple MOT fails that workshops could help them avoid and encourage repeat business. Research carried out by WhatCar.com has shown that drivers are wasting upwards of £483,000 each year by failing to carry out basic checks ahead of the vehicles test

Bearing manufacturer NTN-SNR has become the latest company to join the Original Equipment Suppliers Aftermarket Association. NTN-SNR becomes the 14th member of OESAA after signing up to the group and its slogan ‘Our Quality, Your Reputation’.

Thatcham has extended its programme of certified alternative parts and opened up the approval process to distributors such as Euro Car Parts. The Thatcham programme is run in conjunction with TÜV and inspects parts to assure users of their quality and that they will take no longer to fit than an OE spare. The system also audits the manufacturing facilities of suppliers.