Book My Garage claims to have channelled record levels of aftersales work into franchised retailers' workshops after bookings increased by 34% year-on-year in October.

Its franchise SecretService programme also saw record growth, with bookings in Q3 this year rising by 238% when compared to Q3, in 2020.

• Listen to this week's AM General Managers' Guide to Improving Workshop Efficiency webinar by registering here. The panellists are: Chorley Group aftersales director, Pauline Turner; Devonshire Motors dealer principal, Nathan Tomlinson; Eden Motor Group chief executive, Grame Potts; Mitchell Motor Group group aftersales manager, Mick Mills; and eDynamix strategic account director Steve Ure.  

Alongside the growth in bookings, the brand said it has welcomed 13 new dealer groups to the online comparison platform so far this year.

Karen Rotberg, co-founder of Book My Garage, said: “Heading into this year, many dealers were concerned about reduced new car sales and the lingering knock-on effects of the MOT extension.

“With dealers now more reliant than ever on aftersales, this may explain the influx of new business partners we’ve experienced, as dealers looked for innovative ways to get ahead.

“Through our SecretService offering, we can provide dealers with profitable workshop bookings from sectors two and three of the vehicle parc, which would usually be serviced by the fast-fits and independent sector.

“With volumes increasing by nearly 250% across the summer, the new arrivals and existing partners have benefitted greatly from conquest bookings that would otherwise be lost from the dealer network.”

As the new car market declines and EV ownership becomes more widespread, dealer groups are increasingly turning their attention to older vehicles to keep workshops full.

The influx of franchised workshop signings – rising by 221 sites – provides a reach of over 1,000 dealers already in place for 2022 following its pilot phase.

Rotberg added: “We look forward to building on this growth into next year.  Following a successful pilot with a major OEM, we already have the first sites within their network launching with SecretService this week.”