Cat features

The IAAF has warned the sector it is at risk of unravelling. Chief Executive Brian Spratt expressed his concern that the fighting in the sector over the matching quality debate, and now with the storm brewing over Unipart’s comparative brake test, will be to the detriment of the aftermarket

Just like the ‘find the lady’ card trick where sleight of hand defeats the eye, in the background of my mind there has always been a nagging question about registration statistics. I’ve always considered that bumper vehicle registrations, year on year must expand the service market downstream – but it didn’t appear to happen.

CAT Council member Ed Savage draws some interesting comparisons between the aftermarket and the meat industry.

The British public has woken up in recent weeks to find the media informing it that everything was not exactly what it seemed to be, with regards to the “beef” it had been eating.

The British public was, naturally, outraged. It was not that horsemeat was dangerous, – because of course it isn’t – the strong reaction came because the public felt it had been conned and by names that it has trusted for a long time.

Motaquip General Manager Peter Cox leads the CAT Council in setting his New Year resolutions. When compared to motor factors is there any other industry offering a more efficient supply chain to technicians and service points in the UK? The answer is almost certainly no, so we should congratulate ourselves on what we’ve achieved. Or should we?

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In a guest appearance on the CAT Council, Chris Small challenges the convenience of online catalogues.

In a special guest CAT Council appearance Adrian Hill of Morris Lubricants and Ken Clark of Rozone warn that when it comes to battery and oil products, some items in the market just don't stack up.

This month the CAT Council has been debating oil and lubricants giant Shell's decision to launch its own online garage finder tool, which excludes independent garages. Shell's marketing material for the new tool has made a number of claims against independent garages, and the CAT Council is only too happy to set Shell straight.

Politicians tell us the Games will bring in billions, but Richard Shortis of the Shortis Group wonders who will actually see the benefit. Here he wonders whether the effect of the games will actually damage business.

"A car is a technical piece of engineering, requiring in-depth knowledge and skill to service and maintain it, this cannot possible be done at rock bottom prices." That's what Mill Autoquip's Damian Milling thinks, do you agree?

Codes and licensing is the subject of much debate in the aftermarket. Some argue the industry is mature enough to regulate itself, while others maintain that mandatory garage licensing is the only way forward. This month we ask the CAT Council for their view.