Garage Hive, the garage software system, has made some additions to the data available on it Garage Industry Trends website. This uses real data from Garage Hive users to analyse trends in the mechanical workshop sector. 

Although the data is based on UK users, it does provide some interesting comparison data for Irish garages. 

The trends platform takes data from garages that have opted in to share data anonymously. The aim is to promote understanding and discussion to support data-driven insights into the opportunities and challenges ahead for independent garages. 

One of the key findings in the latest report is that in 2023, 98% of garage revenue came from work on internal combustion engine cars. Total invoice value by fuel type makes interesting reading saying that Diesel stood at 61.55%, Petrol 36.24% and hybrid and battery electric at the low levels of 1.69% and 0.52% respectively.  

Average invoice value by fuel type shows that for diesel this is £320, Petrol £235, Hybrid £221, EV £182. As well as lesser servicing requirements this would also be affected by vehicle age. 

With regards to labour rates, analysis has found that this has gone up by 10% during the year with the average hourly rate now standing at £72.50. 

The data shows that the bulk of work comes from cars registered between 2019 and 2012 (4 to 11 years old) with this accounting for 67% of invoice revenue. Peak individual years were: 2016, 10.53%, 2015, 10.11% and 2017, 9.56%.

The information is free to access by clicking here.