Franchised car retailers’ workshops captured 31.4% of UK vehicles’ MOTs during the first half of 2019, according to data published by Marketing Delivery.

New analysis of the aftersales sector showed that there remains “a clear opportunity to capture a greater proportion of 2019’s record volumes of available MOT work”, according to the digital marketing and customer contact specialist.

The research revealed, however, that franchised sites succeeded in capturing 46.3% of MOTs when placed in a position where scheduled servicing work was required – driving home customers’ desire for convenience.

Jeremy Evans, managing director at Marketing Delivery, believes that dealers have an untapped opportunity oin what will be a record year for MOT testers. He said: “Three years on from the UK’s highest-ever vehicle registration volumes, 2019 presents a great opportunity for dealers to capture more MOT work.

“While many franchised dealers retain a significant proportion of scheduled servicing work, a clear majority of customers are still taking their cars elsewhere for MOT work.

“Dealers can address this by ensuring customer records are up-to-date, with accurate MOT and service ‘due dates’ and correct contact details.

“With these foundations in place, dealers are better able to engage proactively with customers to maximise workshop utilisation.”

Marketing Delivery conducted nationwide analysis of over 245,000 anonymised customer records from its ‘Aftersales’ platform to gain its view of the UK’s overall picture of MOT trends.

The company found that the best-performing dealers retained more than half of all service work and over 40% of MOT custom, showing the potential for many dealers to increase MOT booking volumes.

Earlier research from Marketing Delivery found that 60% of UK motorists are more likely to book a service or MOT with a dealership that reminds them about vehicle maintenance at an appropriate time.

However, further analysis indicated that 7% of customer records are missing a ‘due date’ for customer car MOTs, a figure which rises to 34% among dealers with the worst record-keeping.

Evans said: Anecdotally, we have found that dealers get the best customer response by sending email reminders about MOTs or service work around three to four weeks ahead of the due date.”