DesRosiers Automotive Consultants (DAC) has written in detail in recent weeks regarding the outlook for the automotive aftermarket in Canada, and the unique situation it is facing with the unprecedented drop in kilometres driven brought about by provincial states of emergency and work from home orders.
In further exploring this issue, one area that DAC thought was lacking was a survey specifically of the independent aftermarket installer community.
General surveys that indiscriminately group together parts manufacturers with retailers with body shops lack utility or meaningful outputs – so DAC decided to focus specifically on the independent aftermarket installer.
To explore this issue, DAC partnered with its friends and colleagues at the Automotive Aftermarket Retailers of Ontario (AARO) to survey their members as to the impact of COVID-19 and their outlook for the year.
The survey was distributed by AARO during the week of May 11-15 and received a response from more than 100 independent aftermarket installers across the province.
Analysis of the survey results
The majority of respondents—nearly sixty percent—noted their stores still being open in April with relatively few full closures. However, nearly forty percent indicated operating under reduced hours.
When asked about the dollar value change in their business for April, the largest segment of respondents noted a decrease of 26-50%. Most job types observed moderate decreases with preventative maintenance and diagnostic work seeing the largest declines.
The most common future outlook among respondents noted an expected decrease in the business of 1-25% for 2020 overall. Finally, almost half of the respondents noted problems with parts supply – with these issues arising from both jobbers and new car dealers.
DAC will this summer be publishing a detailed market outlook for the aftermarket and its implications for warehouse distributors, parts manufacturers, retailers and installers.
The report will focus on specific market data and provide a full 5-year forecast at a national and regional level. In addition, DAC does have detailed market sizing and forecasts available by a wide range of products including:
- Brakes
- Battery
- Filtration (Engine Air, Oil and Cabin Air Filters)
- Oil Changes
- Lighting
- Exhaust
- Coolant
- Wiper Blades
- Tires
- Etc.
