Spanish firm wins NCT deal

SPANISH MULTINATIONAL testing and services group Applus RTD has emerged as the winner of the new 10-year national car testing contract worth more than €400 million.

Applus RTD beat the current holder of the contract, NCTS Ltd, into second place during a tender process run by the Road Safety Authority (RSA) last year.

Applus RTD is an international certification company and operates across five continents. Its automotive services division operates car road-worthiness testing – known as the Inspección Técnica de Vehículos – in 70 centres in Spain where it also provides certification for second-hand cars.

Separately the Government is planning to introduce test measures for all used vehicles, including used imports, “as a condition of registration” by the middle of next year and the company operating the national car test then is seen as the most likely agency to carry this out.

It is understood pricing was a significant factor in deciding the winning tender. The contract was signed in recent days and Applus RTD will take over on January 1st, 2010.

The new contract envisages up to 11 million car tests being conducted between 2010 and 2019, suggesting potential fee income for the successful company of over €400 million at 2008 prices. The test costs €49 and a re-test €27.50.

NCTS Ltd is a wholly-owned subsidiary of SGS Ireland Ltd and has run the vehicle roadworthiness test since January 2000. Three companies tendered for the new contract and NCTS was ranked second during the evaluation period.

NCTS employs 497 people in 48 test centres across the State and also provides driving tests under licence to the Road Safety Authority. Staff will be formally notified of the decision in the coming days.

It is understood the majority of the NCTS workforce will transfer to the new company under the transfer of undertakings. These regulations were designed to safeguard employee rights following the change of ownership of a company.

The State introduced a national car test in 2000 as part of a bid to improve road-worthiness in private cars following an EU directive making it compulsory. The test is mandatory for cars over four years old, which must be retested every two years.

A spokeswoman for NCTS Ltd declined to comment on the contract award. The RSA also declined to comment while no representative for Applus RTD was available last night.

Revenues for NCTS increased to almost €35 million in 2007.