Garage Support Newsletter 7 UK 2021

GARAGE SUPPORT Supporting you and your business

2021 Edition 7

What’s inside?

⊲ Big changes for Auto Education Academy ⊲ Find out why now is the perfect time to get your air con machine serviced ⊲ Take a look at our ‘In the news’ pages for the must know industry information ⊲ And loads more!

Call your local branch now!

Introducing L

BOOST YOUR BUSINESS with learning and development

AutoEducation Academy is going through some exciting changes! As of October it will become LKQ Academy.

WHAT’S DIFFERENT? Along with the name change, you will see a fresh look and feel from our new training management system as well as even more training courses, both face to face and online! The LKQ Academy platform will hold everything in one place, so you can keep track of your training progress and results. It even provides a free course entrance test to understand where your knowledge sits to find the best course to suit your needs.

WHAT DO YOU NEED TO DO? Nothing is changing overnight so for now you can continue to use the Auto Education Academy platform in the usual way, booking courses through their normal methods. You will receive an email when the new portal is up and running.

To find out more and register on to the new LKQ Academy email training@eurocarparts.com

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LKQ Academy

ARE YOU HYBRID AND EV READY? By 2030 new petrol and diesel vehicles will stop being sold in the UK under the government commitment to reduce emissions. Its is predicted that by then there will be 10million hybrid and electric vehicles on the roads in the UK and Ireland.

ARE YOU READY FOR THAT DEMAND? Only 5% of technicians across the UK and Ireland are trained to work on these types of vehicles safely, that leaves a huge opportunity for your business. The UK will need 7000+ hybrid and electric technicians each year for the next 10 years to keep up with the rise in sales, so why not upskill and be amongst the few technicians that have a hybrid qualification.

LEVEL 2 AND 3 HYBRID AND ELECTRIC VEHICLE ROUTINE MAINTENANCE ACTIVITIES, SYSTEM REPAIR AND REPLACEMENT 263773020 14 IMI CREDITS Our level 2 and 3 hybrid and EV course is a 2 day comprehensive training that is specifically designed to cover all aspects of hybrid and electric vehicle technology from basic procedures around safely handling high voltage systems through to content that looks in depth at how the propulsion and re-generation system is controlled. Other subjects covered include high voltage air-conditioning compressors, DC-DC converters, PTC heater assemblies along with high pressure hydraulic braking systems and the management between conventional braking and regeneration braking balance.

LEVEL 2: This course is specifically designed towards a person that maybe required to work on an electrically propelled/hybrid vehicle and in particular the safety procedures and requirements of these types of technologies. This course is suitable for technicians carrying out routine maintenance and repairs in or around electrical/hybrid propulsion systems and will enable the delegate to have an understanding of the Construction, function and layout of these types of vehicles along with the methods to ensure the systems are safe to work on the to minimise the risks to self and others.

LEVEL 3: This course is specifically designed to cover all aspects of hybrid/electrically propelled technology. Covering the basic procedures of safety in handling high voltage systems through to content that looks at in depth on how the propulsion and re-generation system is controlled. Along with the management of the inverter power unit, a thorough understanding of battery management and how information is used to maximize the efficiency of the system will be gained. Other subjects covered include high voltage air conditioning compressors, DC-DC converters, PTC heater assemblies along with high pressure hydraulic braking systems and the management between conventional braking and regeneration braking balance. Suitable for technicians carrying out repairs and replacement of hybrid/electrically propelled HV components.

BOOK NOW BY CALLING 01827 838632.

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How to promote

We have created a series of helpful support guides to use in your business to help you stand out from your competitors.

Are you struggling to retain your customers?

Are you advertising your business efficiently?

Do you want to attract new customers?

Having the perfect customer database is great, are you using it the right way? We’ve said it once and we’ll say it again; having an up-to- date customer database is crucial for keeping on top of work, helping you to keep track of customer’s historical visits and when they might next be due an MOT or even new brake pads and discs. If you don’t currently have a customer database our cloud based CarSys GMS, could be a helpful tool in keeping your data all in one place. Identifying the customers who have used you once, the top spenders and those who’ve only made a one-off purchase could be used to your advantage.

The importance of telephone contact

Aside from talking to someone face-to-face, a phone call is often the best way to get an instant response. Reaching out customers by phone, and remind them their MOT is due soon, ask them if they want to get booked in. Chances are their MOT hasn’t crossed their mind yet so the likelihood is they will book there and then.

Social media helps you connect with your customers, increase awareness about your brand and boost your leads and sales. Choosing the right platform for you

Facebook Has the highest number of UK users and one of the most widely used platforms. Facebook is great for users to create

Instagram For those who like to share more video and image content, that will engage their

business pages where customers can leave reviews, view a business’ opening hours, or get in contact. Facebook is also a great place to get recommendations, make sure you are a member of local groups where you can recommend your business to customers looking for things such as repairs or MOTs.

audience, or sell a certain product. If your garage likes to make cleaning videos or even before and after pictures of car restorations, Instagrammight be a good place for your garage to start. Just keep in mind that Instagram is generally targeted at a younger audience, so if you are targeting customers between 17 and 34, this could be for you.

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e your business

Twitter If you’re new to the social media world, we wouldn’t recommend starting on Twitter, but it can be a great place for your

YouTube A video sharing network, where you can upload videos that engage with your desired audience. Many YouTube users are now ‘vlogging’ (video blogging),

business to share short updates. Twitter is a micro- blogging platform where users can share short ‘tweets’ of information. It’s best used for live news, trending topics and interacting with brands. It’s also a very common platform for customers to complain, tweeting their bad experiences with brands.

their days which usually have some entertaining content throughout. For a garage, popular videos could include car cleaning demonstrational video, product review, or a process for repairing a certain part of a vehicle.

LinkedIn A professional social network that can be used to build brand awareness and reach out to industry professionals, also a great platform for recruitment.

OmniHub Head over to Omnihub https://omnipart.eurocarparts.com/omnihub/ garage-support/getting-the-cars-in/support-guides

And when you’ve chosen the right platform for you…

■ Try and focus on one or two social channels , to avoid getting bogged down. By focusing on just a couple you can really perfect your posts and ensure you’re responding quickly to any messages or interactions on your pages, and in turn keep customer satisfaction levels high. ■ Consider where your target audience will be spending the most time , for example if you are keen to target a younger audience through engaging pictures or videos, then Instagram would be the best to focus your own content. ■ What platforms do your competitors have? Do a competitor analysis and have a look at what your local garages are using, make that your starting point. ■ Use correct image sizes for each channel. Check the recommended image sizes for each platform and size your images appropriately. Make

sure your images are as clear as possible, without stretching or pixelating. This will help your brand look more professional and may help improve engagement of your content. ■ Clear and concise with call to action. The shorter and snappier your content, the better. On social media, you have no longer than 8 seconds of someone’s attention when they are scrolling through their newsfeed, so make it short and to the point. Always leave a call to action on your posts, so people can book in, view your website or buy a product you might have mentioned in your post. ■ Post at the best times. Look into the best times to post on each platform. Timing matters, and by posting at the suggested times, you have more chance of your content being seen, increasing your engagement rates and in turn increasing work for your garage!

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Prepare for the ne

With the colder months closing in, now is the perfect time to start preparing for 2022 air con season by getting your machines serviced and in tip top condition.

£ 150 .00 Additional Machine Service PER MACHINE Yearly Service and Calibration 263771300 £ 175 .00

+ PARTS

+ PARTS

Our Air Con Service Packages Buy one of our packages and don’t worry about your annual service for the next 2 or 4 years.

Air Con Machine 2 Year Service Package 263771330 £ 390 .00

Air Con Machine 4 Year Service Package 263771980 £ 700 .00

What is included in a service? ■ Oil level and performance of internal compressor checked to ensure fast recovery ■ Machine filters ■ Vacuum Pump performance and operation is checked. ■ Oil changed if due, to ensure machine can rapidly achieve a deep vacuum to fully de-hydrate the vehicles a/c system and help prevent internal corrosion

■ Charging accuracy is checked with calibration of tank scales ■ If applicable oil and dye scales calibrated to correct tolerances to avoid overcharging of a/c system ■ Additional checks during the service procedure ensure there is no refrigerant leakage at any stage of the machine’s operation ■ Any updates to latest software versions carried out and updated

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ext air con season

Included in Warranty Packages

3 Year Service and Warranty Package 263771335 £ 550 .00

5 Year Service and Warranty Package 263771985 £ 995 .00

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5

Offers apply to any new machine purchased or any machine purchased in the previous 12 months through LKQ Euro Car Parts

Included in Warranty:

■ All call out charges ■ All engineer labour rate charges ■ All mileage charges ■ All internal components of the machine (Machine, Vac Pump, Motherboard etc.)

Package Details: ■ Warranty begins from date of purchase of the machine and runs for three or five year (dependent on package purchased) ■ The price includes two or four annual services (dependent on package purchased) to be completed at or around each 12-month anniversary from date of purchase of the air conditioning machine ■ Service includes calibration of all scales,

Excluded from Warranty Package: ■ All wear and tear items (essentially external parts such as covers, wheels, hoses, couplers etc.) ■ Fair usage policy – if any evidence suggests a machine is damaged because of neglect or misuse then this will not be covered ■ Any service parts – filters / oils ■ Operator training and F-gas assessments ■ Any call outs in relation to operator errors will be chargeable (i.e. they have been selecting a wrong option) ■ Any additional servicing required before the annual due date due to heavy use will be subject to a further normal charge for service

software updates, diagnostic checks – including leak checks and performance testing of individual parts

■ Calibration certificates are available upon request to meet with any audit requirements ■ Parts used on a service are invoiced at the time of service

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Modern vehicles place highest performance requirements on the battery, which go far beyond simply starting the vehicle. Nowadays, numerous servomotors, safety elements and comfort consumers require a battery that is as powerful as it is safe. As more and more vehicle manufacturers produce vehicles with a Start Stop option, being able to offer an aftermarket solution to your customer base is vital. The market place is seeing a shift in battery sales from standard batteries to Start Stop and it’s predicted that by 2025 that 80% of all new vehicles will have Start Stop technology. We recommend finding out more about this technology and start to embrace the future creating new revenue streams for your workshop. ERA Start Stop Batteries

OE manufactured OE

START STOP

High Performance Grid

Start Stop

Large Car Parc Coverage

Highest Safety Features

Made in Europe

Why ERA Start Stop batteries It is therefore more than reassuring to know that ERA starter batteries offer maximum starting comfort in every situation. With sophisticated technology and innovative details, ERA offers tailormade solutions for individual mobility: ■ ERA AGM batteries, for maximum performance in modern vehicles with extended Start Stop systems and middle and upper class vehicles with highest energy requirements due to a large number of additional consumers ■ ERA EFB batteries, for strong performance in entry-level Start Stop systems and vehicles with high energy requirements due to additional consumers

The ERA Quality Promise ■ 3 years warranty ■ 100% OE-Quality ■ Made in Europe ■ In accordance with the European battery norm EN50342 ■ Latest Calcium Ca/Ca technology ■ Maintenance free, with leak protection

Green Power Initiative – our contribution for a more sustainable future ■ “Zero Waste Principle” – almost 100% recyclable

■ Modern production environment: High material & energy efficiency,

top priority on employee safety & protection ■ Lean ecological footprint: Made in Europe

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Optima body shop products

Pride. Performance. Passion… All packed into our products

From the biggest of jobs to the smallest – a range of crash repair products that you can trust

The Optima brand belongs to LKQ Coatings, part of the LKQ Euro Car Parts Group. Together we are the market-leading distributor of automotive and crash repair parts, paint, consumables and equipment in the UK. But, there is much more to us than that.

Our extensive range of automotive crash repair products have been built on the expertise and practical experience of a highly skilled technical team. They listen and deliver what our customers ask for: quality products that are fairly priced, without compromising on performance.

Our customers choose us not just because we deliver more, quicker than anyone and at the best price, they choose us because throughout our history, we’ve help them grow their business too. For decades, to partner with us has been to partner with a group who can help expand your services, grow your skills and build your reputation. The Optima range of crash repair products for professional use are stocked at LKQ Coatings branches throughout the UK.

We recognise that our people are our most valuable asset: they make the difference between good and great. Between them, our technical team has worked in the automotive industry for 700+ years:

90+ years working for paint companies

350+ years in various Bodyshop roles

230+ years in distribution

50+ years in manufacturing

They know what they are talking about and put their reputations behind this brand.

Find out more about our Coatings products, and get all the information you need at: www.optimasolution.co.uk

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In the

Though little known outside the motor industry, the EU’s Motor Vehicle Block Exemption Regulations (MVBER) perform a critical role in supporting the health of the independent automotive aftermarket and giving drivers choice, including in the UK as the legislation carried over post-Brexit. At their heart are various protections that enable independent parts manufacturers to provide alternatives to Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs), and for independent garages to compete with franchised dealerships. The current MVBER period expires in 2023 and while the European Commission is consulting the industry on what should replace it, the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority is yet to get going. But already, even though the current MVBER still stand, a lack of enforcement, combined with rapid technological progress in the automotive sector, is eroding the protection it provides.

Tricks of the trade There is a worrying increase of other anti-competitive practices, too. OEMs continue to withhold bulk Repair and Maintenance Information (RMI) from the independent sector, despite being legally obliged to do so since September last year. This impedes diagnostic tools manufacturers and automotive data publishers from creating products and solutions for new vehicles. And its knock-on effect is to restrict product choice to OEM branded parts alone. Independent garages are sometimes unable to update online service records, which are stored on OEMs’ private servers. This is clearly off-putting for car owners looking to keep a full history. Often, drivers are wrongly told that their warranties have been invalidated because a service wasn’t carried out by a franchised dealer, or because it used non-OEM brand parts. It’s also common for OEMs to strong-arm dealerships into only using their branded parts, despite MVBER guaranteeing choice. Sadly, most transgressions like this and the slow captive parts monopolies that have emerged in recent years have gone unpunished by European or national authorities. And the prospect of a legal battle between the UK’s army of SME independent businesses and the global automotive giants makes David and Goliath seem trivial.

Andy Hamilton, CEO, LKQ Euro Car Parts If you work in the independent aftermarket and have experience of the examples of anti-competitive behaviour mentioned above, then UKAFCAR wants to hear from you. And if your business wants to join this expanding coalition then the same applies. We hope that by presenting more and more compelling evidence of the abuse of MVBER to regulators today, we can safeguard it and improve it for tomorrow.

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News

Workshops, your industry needs you Unless MVBER is tightened and statutory bodies given the tools and teeth to enforce it, then the UK’s 30,000 independent workshops and their 350,000-strong workforce face an existential threat. Allowing MVBER to further dilute and fail would represent the advent of monopoly power in the aftermarket, reducing choice and driving up prices for consumers held to ransom. Independent garages consistently rank higher for customer satisfaction than the franchised dealers, offering a local ‘all-makes’ service at a competitive price – critically, which can be flexed depending on the parts the driver is comfortable paying for. We are working hard to lobby both the CMA and the European Commission over the future of MVBER, helping to establish the UK arm of AFCAR, the European- wide Association for the Freedom of Car Repair. This

is a federation of associations and commercial organisations formed to lobby on Block Exemption and other key issues such as telematics data access and cybersecurity. If you work in the independent aftermarket and have experience of the examples of anti- competitive behaviour I’ve mentioned here, then UKAFCAR wants to hear from you. And if your business wants to join this expanding coalition then the same applies. We hope that by presenting more and more compelling evidence of the abuse of MVBER to regulators today, we can safeguard it and improve it for tomorrow.

The growth of ‘captive’ parts This erosion is especially visible in the growth of so-called ‘captive’ parts, as more and more parts are removed from the competitive arenas created by MVBER. OEMs are designing systems and products that lock-out third parties, and this practice is especially prevalent in newer areas of technology, like electric vehicles and Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS). This includes practices such as developing codes or software integral to the functioning of a part, but only issued by the OEM - even if the part was developed and made by a major aftermarket supplier such as Bosch. The result is mini-monopolies – where independent garages are locked out of repairing and servicing vehicles, and where OEMs can effectively charge what they wish.

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Shining a light on performance this MOT season! Offering nothing short of the best, the Philips RacingVision GT200 headlight bulbs offer up to 200% brighter light and 80 meters more safety distance *. They are designed to provide you with the ultimate performance wherever you drive!

H4 RacingVision GT200: 48177019N H7 RacingVision GT200: 48177022N

* Brightness compares to the minimum legal standard. Additional safety distance compares beam length to derived minimum after ECE regulation, based on 1 Lux. Farthest distance from the car.

philips.com/racingvision

LKQ Euro Car Parts keep a wide range of Philips automotive parts in stock – for all kinds of makes and models. Whether you're looking to simply replace a customers damaged or worn bulbs this MOT season, or to upgrade them to something brighter and more efficient, we have a range of electrical and lighting parts for you to choose from and we will deliver them to your door or you can click and collect your Philips car parts from any of our 200+ branches across the UK.

We reserve the right to amend/withdraw any offer in any way and at any time without compensation. E & O prices exclude VAT. Trade only. Not to be used in conjunction with any other offers. Copyright © 2021 Euro Car Parts.

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