Franchised dealers halt servicing visit decline

3 April 2014  

The latest Castrol Professional Car Servicing and Repair Trend Tracker suggest that the franchised dealer sector has halted a seven-year decline in servicing visits.

In 2013, 28.8% of motorists said they last had their car serviced at a workshop belonging to a franchised dealer, exactly the same number as in 2012. The market segment peaked at 30% in 2005 but since then numbers have declined as drivers look to the independent market.

The report indicates that 46.3% of motorists had their car serviced at an independent outlet in 2013, down from 47.3% in 2012, the first falter following years of constant growth.

Trend Tracker analyst, Chris Oakham, commented: “The data suggest that the independent sector’s run of growth could be coming to an end, and franchised dealers might well be at the start of an upturn in their fortunes.”

However, at the IAAF Conference in December 2013, Chris did point out that it could be some time before the independent market would need to worry about being caught up. The figures could be a response to the gorwing number of new car registrations. Castrol franchised workshop marketing manager, Jo Clayton, added: “Dealerships will benefit from growing numbers of servicing visits if we see a sustained recovery in the new car market.”