Independent garages and franchised car dealers are still subject to excessive demands made by car manufacturers.

This view has been expressed by the Retail Motor Industry Federation (RMI) today onthe publication of the Trade and Industry Select Committee report on the UK automotive industry.

Matthew Carrington, RMI chief executive, says: 'Despite changes to the way car sales and servicing are governed brought in by the new Block Exemption regulation, the report finds that both independents and franchised dealers are still being put under unreasonable cost pressures. These changes were supposed to offer more freedom for businesses to offer consumers a better deal, but in reality little has changed.

'The report agrees with the RMI view that for independents and franchised dealers the costs incurred via conforming with manufacturer authorised repairer criteria are too high, and the levels of corporate branding required unnecessarily strict.'