Finland began its tradition of strict vehicle inspections already back in 1917. In 1968 a national road vehicle administration known as Autorekisterikeskus was created to carry out the periodic checks. After almost three decades of exclusive service, the vehicle inspection market was opened for competition in 1994.
Today the Finnish Transport Safety Agency Trafi oversees over 500 privately-held stations offering the vehicle inspection services required by Finnish law.
Over 30 new inspection stations have been founded in Finland already this year. Most are small private firms. This has meant that the larger inspection firms’ share of the market has fallen, although the top five still command over 50 percent of total business.
Jouko Torkkeli founded an independent inspection station of his own in the southeast city of Kotka this spring. Having already worked in vehicle inspection for two decades, he had considered the move for a long time before finally diving into the market.
“It didn’t take much to gain a foothold starting my own business. I just had to give it a try,” he said.
He said that he believes that small inspection firms may do well among the strict competition on the market due to their light administrative load.
Driving prices down
Consumers have plenty to gain by the introduction of new inspection service providers. Prices are down, if only by an average of four euros.
A Trafi analysis of the market last year also found that prices varied considerably from place to place. The average price of a regular inspection and emissions test for a petrol car in early 2016 was 62.30 euros, declining to 50.30 euros for people who made appointments ahead of time.
Petri Haikola, manager of the Finnish branch of K1 vehicle inspection service stations, says the price of vehicle inspections can’t fall much further so things like service selection, flexibility and the ability to make online reservations will soon become the deciding factors for market success.
