Repairers urged to broaden customer base

Franchised workshops face a loss of up to £300m over the next 12 months as a result of the continued slowdown in new car sales.

This is according to MOT and servicing booking site, BookMyGarage, which found the market has already recorded over 620,000 fewer sales than last year.

Karen Rotberg, co-founder, said: “Those sales are gone, but it’s the workshops that are now going to be hit as annual servicing and warranty work disappears too. Yes, new cars make the headlines today, but the knock-on will be felt for the next three in aftersales unless action is taken.”

The market has been encouraged to offset those losses by proactively attracting lapsed and new customers from the Segment 2 and even Segment 3 car parc.

SecretService ambassador, Gavin Ruddick, said: “Segment 1 customer visits are predicted to be down 35% by the end of 2021. That represents a significant reduction for AM100 dealership groups delivering an operating margin of above 40%.

“A lack of action to replace these transactions is not an option as this will come at a cost for authorised repairers, who must now access and unlock the potential from three-plus vehicles currently dominated by fast-fits and independents.”