May 31, 2017—During 2016, dealer service bay product sales increased at twice the annual rate of independent service bay volume, according to a Lang Marketing report.
After bottoming in 2012, dealer service bays began rebuilding their car and light truck product volume, climbing to $16.5 billion in 2013 and exceeding $17 billion in 2014 service bay product sales.
Dealers added over $1.1 billion in service bay product volume over the next two years, with their 2016 car and light truck service bay product sales up approximately $2.2 billion from 2012.
Hit hard by the 2008 recession, dealer service bay sales bottomed out in 2012, down over 16 percent in Do-It-For-Me (DIFM) product volume from five years earlier. While Dealer service bay product volume and share fell between 2007 and 2012, the independent light vehicle DIFM market surged. From 72.7 percent of 2007 light vehicle service market products, independent repair outlets peaked at nearly 79 percent of 2012 DIFM product volume across the U.S.
Dealers are expanding their car and light truck bay volume, adding over $2.2 billion in service bay product sales between 2012 and 2016. Dealer bays accounted for one-third of total light-vehicle DIFM product growth during 2016 at user price.
