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50 AFTERMARKET SEPTEMBER 2020 BUSINESS www.aftermarketonline.net T he automotive sector has seen a number of changes over the last couple of months, with the loosening of COVID-19 restrictions and the return of normal MOT testing on Saturday 1 August. It’s been a bumpy ride for many though, and the road does not look like it will be smooth for some time yet. 23 June: 50% of garages operating well below capacity Over 50% of garages in the UK were still running at half their usual capacity by late June, according to a survey carried out by automotive aftermarket PR and marketing agency Impression. 56% of garages were also operating with a reduced workforce, with the remainder of staff on furlough. On the positive side, 87% of respondents said their garage successfully received financial support from government, according to the poll. 30% said they were buying more parts online and seeing motorists do the same, with some garages pointing to a breakdown in communication with their parts suppliers. On the subject of sales visits, 53% said they were not accepting a visit, while 31% were only doing so by appointment. 24 June: Media studies: UFI Filters making masks UFI Filters employed its new filter media for making masks and PPE to help in the fight against COVID-19 in the aftermarket and beyond. The company’s non-woven meltblown fabric was being used in the production of both surgical masks and FFP2 masks, the ‘UFI Mask Defender’, which qualify as PPE. Production is being coordinated from the UFI Filters plant in Marcaria, and will be partly designated for direct sales to supply other companies in the sector, and partly for the CORONAVIRUS ROUND-UP The ongoing impact of COVID-19 went on making waves across our sector, as well as the world at large production of UFI-branded surgical masks, in various industrial sites of the UFI Filters Group worldwide. The total capacity for this type of product is 10 million masks per year. Giorgio Girondi, Chairman of the UFI Filters Group, commented "We are proud to be able to make a contribution during this historic time.” 26 June: Lowest May for car production since 1946 May’s car production figures were released by the SMMT, and showed that you would have to go back to 1946 to find a May where UK car production was as low as in 2020. UK car manufacturing output fell 95.4% in May with just 5,314 vehicles rolling off production lines. This was still an improvement on April however, when only 197 units were built. 26 June: Government scratches Scrappage idea While the likelihood of a scrappage scheme to help boost Britain’s COVID- 19 impacted carmakers faded government insiders increasingly believed it would mainly help overseas manufacturers, the aftermarket continued campaigning against the introduction of such a stimulus programme. News of a potential scrappage scheme, echoing the programme run in 2009 to help the industry overcome the impact of the 2008 financial crisis, leaked earlier in June, with high-level communication between government ministers and the SMMT indicating interest in such a scheme. However, the Financial Times subsequently spoke to senior officials who said that while the idea had been discussed within the Treasury, it was not a definite prospect. “It was being considered at one point, in the same way Labour did something similar…but at the moment it is very unlikely,” the newspaper was told. Some manufacturers were running their own programme. Toyota is offering up to £4,000 off the price of a new car when a vehicle registered before 30 September 2012 is traded in, if the owner had the car for more than six months.