MoT SECTOR IN CRISIS
SERVICING INDUSTRY COULD BE WIPED OUT
The MoT servicing industry could be wiped
out according to Ray Holloway, director of the RMIF.
He
has warned that if the governments goes ahead with plans to
extend testing intervals it would change the retail motor industry
within a year.
Currently
an MoT test is required after a vehicle is three years old and
then takes place annually, however the government is considering
proposals to extend the first test period to four years and
then requesting an MoT test every 2 years.
The
proposals could leave thousands of qualified testers redundant,
perhaps half of all the testers in the UK.
“With less custom coming through their doors, we will
lose thousands of testing stations forced to shut down, and
many thousands of qualified testers made redundant…”
Around
12,000 of the 18,300 testing stations in the Uk are independent
garages that not only rely on income from the MoT test, but
also on the associated servicing repair work.
(Motortrader)
