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Press Releases
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Five-year warranty to benefit Toyota dealer workshops
Automotive retail sector research company Trend Tracker has analysed the potential effects of Toyota’s recent introduction of a five-year new car warranty and concluded that Toyota dealers will realise benefits in the workshop as well as the showroom.
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Latest Trend Tracker report shows which dealer networks keep most service/repair customers
The latest Car Service and Repair report for 2010 presents the latest dealer network retention research for car servicing and repairs in the UK
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Latest Trend Tracker report charts recession’s effect on UK market for retail servicing, maintenance and repairs
The Car Service and Repair Trend Tracker Update 2010 report from specialist UK research firm Trend Tracker Ltd published this month charts a declining trend in automotive retail servicing and repair demand from 1999 to 2009.
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Crash risk: new report assesses outlook for the collision repair sector
Trend Tracker’s new report - The Future of the Car Body Repair Market in the UK 2010-2015 - shows how the recession has hit bodyshops, accelerating the gradual shrinkage of the crash repair market. The winter freeze came just in time to save some of the survivors from going out of business, but the medium term promises no relief for a hard-pressed sector.
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Our latest report advocates a radical reshaping of the automotive industry
In the wake of the collapse of GM and Chrysler and many of their suppliers, Trend Tracker's latest report, published on 2 November 2009 - by auto industry academics Dr Paul Nieuwenhuis and Dr Peter Wells of Cardiff Business School - forecasts radical reshaping of the global car industry.
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New report shows resilience of £38.1 billion used car market
Information from Trend Tracker
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Extended service intervals far more significant than Block Exemption for franchised dealers
- Franchised workshops are still motorists' first choice for servicing new cars despite the Block Exemption Regulation
- Increasing service intervals, falling new car retail sales and increasing sales share of second hand cars, have all dramatically reduced size of the service market
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Franchised workshops gain market share; independents still dominate overall
- Franchised workshops marginally increased their market share of own marque servicing, MOT and repair work
- The independent sector still hold significantly larger market share than franchised dealerships
- Honda boasts highest customer retention for servicing, with Vauxhall suffering worst loyalty
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Retail collapse will have lasting impact on aftersales
- Castrol Professional Car Service & Repair Trend Tracker 2008 forecasts bleak five-year outlook
- Recession will hit franchised workshops reliant on cars within manufacturer warranty period
- Number of service and repair outlets in the UK will fall by 20 per cent
- Customer focus, process improvements and employee capability critical to survival
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New research shows dearth of direct loans hitting car sales
27 April 2009
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BMW dealer staff are highest paid
5 December 2008
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Franchised dealers freeze pay as recession bites
25 November 2008
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Crash repairs fall behind rise in car numbers
News from Trend Tracker Ltd.
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Global brand portfolios are key to Ford's survival, argues latest Trend Tracker White Paper
Immediate Release - In a new white paper entitled "Building brand portfolios and managing investors: The case of Ford", UK automotive research firm Trend Tracker's analyst Michael Wynn-Williams suggests that rumours of Ford selling off brands to survive is testament to Ford's short-sighted planning horizon, and argues that in order to survive the roller-coaster ride of its booms and busts, Ford should spread market risk amongst its brands as it looks to the longer term.
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Independent garages lose ground to fast-fits in car repair
The latest Castrol Business Services Car Repair Trend Tracker report published this week shows that independent garages account for 47% of all work carried out on cars in the UK, while franchised main dealers account for 25% and fast-fit outlets, 9%. But independent garages are revealed to be losing share to fast-fit outlets, with franchised dealers holding steady, when data from the report's 2005/06 survey is compared with the previous 2003/04 survey period.
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Car dealers losing share of lucrative service market
Industry research shows manufacturers' dealer networks are losing share of the lucrative new car service and repair market to independent garages.
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Falling insurance accident repair costs brings mixed blessing to car manufacturers
Immediate Release - A detailed research study of the accident repair market in the UK shows that the average cost of insurance repairs to motor vehicles fell last year by 8% last year, from £1,420 in 2003 to £1,310 in 2005. The research found that this has been due to the reduction in the cost of parts used in accident repairs which in 2003 amounted to £702 for an average insurance repair but which fell by 16% to £592 in 2005. Parts costs now account for 45.2% of the cost of insurance accident damage repairs compared with 49.4% in 2003. This has occurred largely as vehicle manufacturers have reduced the cost of the most commonly fitted parts used in accident repairs as a result of the 2002 Block Exemption Regulation which introduced more competition for the car manufacturers' original equipment (OE) replacement parts.
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New study reveals growing importance of used cars to dealer profits
Immediate Release - Highlights:
- Market volume has risen 25% and market value by 68% in last decade to reach 7.73m and £43.5bn in 1996, down 270,000 units/£2.4bn from the peak of 2004.
- Today's average used car price is estimated at £5,625, again down from 2004.
- Market growth is forecast to resume from 2008, to reach 8.33m units and a value of £55.4bn in 2011
- Average used car prices will rise by 18% to £6,650 by 2011
- Independent dealers' market share has risen since from 27% to 34% over the past decade; although on average franchise dealers sell 50% more used cars than 10 years ago, their share has stuck at 28%.
- The number of used car outlets is forecast to fall over the next five years - independent dealer numbers falling by 8% and franchise dealers by 7%.
- On average, independent dealers make bigger profits per used car sale than franchised dealers, despite selling lower-priced cars with lower operational efficiency - because they can control their purchasing and stock profiles.
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Fleets should take care when choosing collision repairers, says new MFBI report
Immediate Release
- A new report from research firm Trend Tracker Limited on the UK car body repair sector has uncovered a significant investment and skills gap in the body repair industry which could leave many accident-damaged cars repaired in ways that could compromise their crashworthiness.
- Making sure this doesn't happen with potentially fatal consequences to company car drivers could be an important element in fleet managers' risk management, whether or not the impending Corporate Manslaughter Bill proves tougher than the Health & Safety at Work Act when it is passed later this year.
- The warning applies particularly to self-insured fleets which take direct responsibility for vehicle repairs.
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Body repair: opportunities for franchised dealers
Immediate Release - Significant changes ahead in the car body repair market are threatening the already weak bodyshop sector, while also opening up new opportunities for businesses prepared to invest, according to the latest MFBI report on the sector published by Trend Tracker Limited.
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New report highlights dangers of repair cost saving by motor insurers
Immediate Release - As new cars become significantly more complex requiring new advanced repair equipment and manufacturer-specific repair methods, attempts to reduce repair costs by insurance companies could result in increased risk of injuries or fatalities if repaired cars are involved in any subsequent accidents, according to a new research study on the car repair industry. It says independent bodyshops need to invest in new equipment and techniques, but many are not making enough money to do so.
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Motor insurers face rising vehicle damage liabilities, says new report
Immediate Release - Vehicles will soon become too complex for general all-makes bodyshops to repair competently, which could result in insurance companies being liable for personal injuries or fatalities that arise from incorrectly repaired cars, according to a new research study on the car repair industry. Report co-author and Trend Tracker director Robert Macnab explains...
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Car body repair faces structural decline
Immediate Release - Car body repair is on the verge of long-term structural decline, according to the latest MFBI report published by Trend Tracker Limited which analyses current trends and future developments in the market. 2006 market volume at 5.6m repairs is more or less back to where it was in 1996, and MFBI expects repair market value in 2006 to be below its 1996 level in real terms, at £4.7bn. The company forecasts no increase in repair demand volume for the next five years, while in the longer term the market is expected to shrink markedly.
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New Trend Tracker white paper says Nanjing should have secured MG's expertise, not its aged roadster design
Immediate Release - In a new white paper entitled NAC-MG: losing heart, UK automotive research firm Trend Tracker's analyst Michael Wynn-Williams suggests that for Nanjing Automobile Corporation, MG Rover's engineering talent would have offered the only short cut to a future as an independent car maker. But with R&D to be undertaken in China, the spirit of MG that Nanjing Automobile hopes to revive won't spring forth from the physical assets lifted from Longbridge.
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Trend Tracker offers two new previews on MFBI Used Car and Car Body Repair studies
Immediate Release - In their latest automotive analysis newsletter, research specialists Trend Tracker are giving subscribers a sneak preview of two new MFBI automotive studies, due to be published in July.
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New white paper from Trend Tracker advocates vertical joint ventures to achieve scale in vehicle manufacturing
Immediate Release - 'Scale economy and vertical joint ventures: how MG Rover was strangled at birth' is the title of a new white paper on automotive manufacturing issues published this month by Trend Tracker. The UK automotive research firm's analyst Michael Wynn-Williams is the author of the paper, which is based on post-graduate research he was conducting into the history of
MG Rover and its forbears at Cardiff Business School's Centre for Automotive Industry Research. -
Trend Tracker Limited publishes two automotive sector white papers
Immediate Release - Automotive research company Trend Tracker's website, www.trendtracker.co.uk, now features two new white papers which can be downloaded free of charge. Intended to contribute fresh thinking on matters of strategic concern to all participants in the auto industry, from manufacturing, vehicle sales, the aftermarket and financial institutions, Trend Tracker's first two winter 2005 white papers cover two quite separate themes...
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Trend Tracker now tracking repairs and MOT tests
A new report within the Castrol Business Services Trend Tracker series has just been published by Trend Tracker Limited. It is called the Castrol Business Services 'Maintenance and Repair' Trend Tracker.
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Skills before smiles if you want to secure a future
The latest issue of the CAT Parts Distribution Trend Index report has just been published. This specially commissioned telephone
research questions 400 managers of businesses operating across four automotive sectors - retailing (accessory shops), wholesaling
parts from independent parts manufacturers (motor factors), wholesaling parts from vehicle assemblers (franchised dealers) and
installing parts (independent garages). -
Major international aftermarket seminars at Equip Auto 05
Europe's top aftermarket specialists will present the latest information on two of Europe's biggest automotive aftermarkets - the UK and Germany - in a series of free two-hour seminars at Equip Auto 05.
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Trend Tracker Wolk German Aftermarket report
Following the recent announcement of a new alliance between Trend Tracker Limited and the German-based research and consultancy company Wolk & Partner Car Consult GmbH, Trend Tracker is making an English-language version of Wolk & Partner's two-volume trend study of the German automotive aftermarket available in the UK.
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Trend Tracker Wolk alliance announcement
Trend Tracker Limited, the specialist UK automotive research, consultancy and training firm, has formed an exclusive alliance with German-based automotive aftermarket consultancy Wolk & Partner Car Consult GmbH.
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Fleet service market decline
Analysis in the new mfbi study of the 'UK Car Service and Mechanical Repair market - 2005', from Trend Tracker Limited, shows that between 1994 and 1998, the total number of services and mechanical repairs carried out to all cars (fleet and retail) in the UK rose by 9% to 57.9 million. At the same time, the value of the market increased by 21% to reach £7.50 billion. It then started on a decline, and the total number of services and mechanical repairs slid back by 13% to 50.4 million, with the market value falling by 2% to £7.38 billion in 2004.
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Finance and aftersales trends erode automotive industry's profits
Key automotive industry props are falling away and the traditional industry model is being challenged, show mfbi finance and aftermarket studies. If you asked most consumers, they would still guess that vehicle assemblers make their profits from selling vehicles. But for many, and particularly the volume marques, the largest elements of their profits come from selling vehicle finance and replacement parts. Retained profits on new car sales for these marques are at best marginal, so the vehicle assemblers concerned, and their dealer networks, have relied on a 'Rob Peter to pay Paul' system to maintain profitability.
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CAT Distribution Trend Index 8
The eighth issue of the CAT Distribution Trend Index has just been published and one of the worrying traits identified was a noticeable lack of awareness about the dynamics of change taking place in parts distribution. Some businesses appear to just see the 'status quo' as remaining forever. But unless they start thinking outside of this box they could find that they are sleep-walking to oblivion.
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Service and Repair Market in Great Britain - 2005
Until the introduction of the new Block Exemption Regulation (BER) in October 2002, and the recommendations by the OFT (Office of Fair Trading) that independent garages be allowed to service cars within the warranty period, franchised dealers had a virtual monopoly of the service market for younger cars - due principally to the restrictions contained in manufacturer new car warranties. These restrictions effectively prevented cars from being serviced outside of franchised dealer networks. But, in theory, the regulations now make it much easier for independent garages to compete with franchised dealers for service work within a new car's warranty period. So are we in for some changes?
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Castrol Business Services Trend Tracker January 2005
The latest issue of the Castrol Business Services Trend Tracker report has just been published by Trend Tracker Limited. It clearly shows the increased use of installers for service work and the continued demise of the DIY method of servicing, which now accounts for just 10 percent of total service demand according to the unique Trend Tracker 'last serviced by' measure.
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The Retail Car Finance Market in the UK
While Britain's new car market has grown by 32% over the past ten years, with record sales in recent years fuelled by low interest rates and lower car prices, the retail finance market for new and used cars has declined by 5% since 1999, from 2.18m transactions then to an estimated 2.06m for this year, says the latest, 2004 edition of market analyst MFBI's 'The Retail Car Finance Marketin the UK'
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Trend Tracker Ltd form
Five of the UK's most respected automotive analysts have announced that they have merged their separate businesses to form a single new entity called Trend Tracker Limited. The five businesses are Robert Macnab's mfbi Limited, Brian Taylor's pram.org, Chris Oakham's Probatum Limited, Toby Procter's MDA Limited and the training arm of John Genge's Business Clinic Limited. When combined, this team boasts a motor industry experience totalling over 120 years. And operating from a head office in Wiltshire, extra staff is being employed to enable the five key directors to take on much bigger projects and increase the service levels they can promise to new and current clients.