Lang Marketing Resources' newest report suggests internal combustion engine (ICE) cars and light trucks on U.S. roads will climb by 36 million between now and 2030, despite predictions of their rapid replacement by electric vehicles.
Jim Lang, CEO and founder of Lang Aftermarket, shares how foreign nameplates will impact the market and how repair shops need to re-evaluate their work mix to stay relevant.
Domestic nameplate cars in the U.S. reached a 14.4 year average age at the beginning of January 2018, marking the 27th consecutive annual record-high age for domestic cars across the U.S.
Jim Lang reported that more and more dealerships are adding quick service bays, which has repositioned their hold on the repair market. However, Lang says that independent shops still have a pricing advantage over most dealerships, and are able to work on a much wider array of nameplates.
Three of the five major light vehicle aftermarket channels have grown their U.S. product share over the past decade. Those three channels combined to add $20 billion in product sales between 2007-17.
Service purchased for cars and light trucks increased $19 billion between 2006 and 2016. This was greater dollar growth than light vehicle products recorded during this time.
The projected 2017 decline in miles per vehicle does not present a downward pressure on aftermarket product use, Lang Marketing reports, since the average age of vehicles is climbing at a faster pace than the rate at which the average annual mileage per vehicle is declining.
Vehicle scrappage remained low during 2016. That trend, along with rising new vehicle sales, are helping to increase the number of vehicles on U.S. roads, particularly older cars and light trucks, according to Lang Marketing. This is boosting the average age of light vehicles nationwide.
