ARC360 News – Friday 12 September 2025

Facing forward: strategies for a sustainable, profitable future 

The final session of the ARC360 Conference 2025 brought together six industry leaders to tackle one of the sector’s most pressing questions: how do we future-proof the repair and claims industry amidst soaring costs, evolving technologies, and uncertain volumes? Read more

​Fix Auto UK’s Regional Business Manager, Carl Norton, has raised £7,500 for suicide prevention charity If U Care Share after completing the Great North Run in memory of his son, Thomas. Read more

A B Crush Panelcraft, in partnership with Barretts of Canterbury, is now officially approved by BMW & MINI.

iRG Repair Group has strengthened its environmental credentials by partnering with non-profit organisation JUST ONE Tree, pledging to support global reforestation and carbon reduction initiatives as part of its sustainability strategy. Read more

Drive Motor Retail’s Hartlepool site has achieved Structural Aluminium BSI Standard.

Smart Auto Spraying Ltd has passed its latest CARSQA BS10125 audit.

US:The Caliber family of automotive repair and service brands, including Caliber Collision and Caliber Auto Glass, has announced its acquisition of Car Body Lab, a mobile auto body repair company currently servicing 20 cities across seven states. The Caliber portfolio of brands has more than 1,800 centers nationwide. 

Jaguar Land Rover shutdown extended to next week

Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has said its UK factories will remain closed until next week after the carmaker was hit by a cyber attack at the end of last month. Production halted at the plants in Solihull, Halewood and Wolverhampton with workers sent home following the hack, which came to light on 1 September. Read more

New names set high standards for safety: Togg and firefly shake up the EV market 

The chances are you won’t have heard of it and will never have seen one of its cars on the road, but the first two European models from Togg, Turkey’s newest car company, have achieved outstanding results in Euro NCAP safety tests. Read more

MG 3 receives four stars – but suffers rare and serious seat failure in Euro NCAP crash test 

For decades, MG’s catchy slogan was ‘Safety Fast’ as the British marque traded on sporty cars that took good care of drivers. However, during Euro NCAP testing, the latest MG 3MG 3 from the now-Chinese-owned company suffered a critical safety failure. Read more

Residual value: the strategic advantage for OEMs.

I’m Matthew Freeman, Managing Consultant at Solera Consulting. Part of my role is to analyse the true cost of vehicle ownership, and the biggest cost, by far, is depreciation. That’s why Residual Value (RV) is so critical to Vehicle Manufacturers. A strong RV doesn’t just shape the used car market; it influences competitiveness in the new car market, brand credibility, and long-term profitability. Read more

Five years on from Brexit, UK Automotive remains £115bn trading powerhouse 

Five years on from Brexit, SMMT’s latest Trade Report, Unmarked Routes: Britain’s Pathway to Stronger Automotive Trade, sets out how the UK sector remains a global trading powerhouse, generating £115 billion in imports and exports last year. The sector is on course to generate more than £110 billion in trade for the third year running, shipping vehicles, parts and components around the world, in the face of incredibly tough conditions with tariff barriers, rising protectionism, and geopolitical uncertainty. Read more

‘Safety First, Always,’ NVIDIA VP of Automotive Says, Unveiling the Future of AI-Defined Vehicles at IAA Mobility 

At this week’s IAA Mobility conference in Munich, NVIDIA Vice President of Automotive Ali Kani outlined how cloud-to-car AI platforms are bringing new levels of safety, intelligence and trust to the road. NVIDIA and its partners didn’t just show off cars at the conference — they showed off what cars are becoming: AI-defined machines, built as much in the data center as they are in the factory. Read more

Agenda continues to build for Mobility conference 

More sector leading names have been added to the agenda line-up as momentum for the Mobility in Insurance Conference 2025 builds. Taking place on Thursday 16 October 2025 at the British Motor Museum, Gaydon, the conference – in association with The CHO – will explore: GTA2 reform, technology and fraud, vehicle crime, culture and collaboration, and the future of supply chains. Read more 

Positive indications on claims costs but tech gaps and communications challenges persist – DCL Broker Barometer

Direct Commercial Limited’s (DCL) latest Broker Barometer reveals that while a majority of brokers still report rising claims costs, fewer say costs went up this quarter (78%) than a year ago (91%). Read more

BCA – strong trading across August as used car demand continues 

In what historically has been one of the quieter months of the year, BCA is reporting another strong trading month in August as buyers battled it out for stock. Read more

Skills policy moves to DWP in government reshuffle

A significant shift in UK skills policy has been highlighted by Apprenticeship Central Ltd following the government’s recent reshuffle, with responsibility for skills now spanning both the Department for Education (DfE) and the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). Read more

FCA clamps down on hundreds of motor finance claims promotions 

Regulators have shut down hundreds of advertisements making motor finance customers unrealistic promises of compensation, it emerged today. Nikhil Rathi, chief executive of the Financial Conduct Authority, told the House of Commons Treasury Committee that 400 promotions by claims management companies have been removed or amended since last year for being unfair or inaccurate. Read more

Q&A with FX Demaison, Technical Director and Justin Taylor, Chief Engineer at Genesis Magma Racing

The first tests of the GMR-001 Hypercar signalled the start of the next key phase in Genesis Magma Racing’s preparations to enter the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) in 2026. Read more

Ben expands support as job losses hit automotive sector

Automotive industry charity Ben has reinforced its ‘Work, health & wellbeing’ services in response to rising job losses, redundancies, and ongoing skills shortages across the UK automotive sector. Read more

Sam Goffin has been appointed as Managing Director at AutoFlow.

Pete Brookes has been appointed as Sales Director at LKQ Bodyshop Division UK and Ireland

Pete Dockerty has started a new position as End Point Assessor at The Institute of the Motor Industry (IMI)

Michael Gordon has started a new role as Operations Director at LKQ Euro Car Parts Ltd

Volkswagen Financial Services (UK) has appointed Gavin Jones as fleet director.