Automotive Communications Council Explores Economic Challenges in Latest Webinar

The Automotive Communications Council recently held its first Fast Track session of 2025, sponsored by Endeavor Business Media, delving into survey data on financial trends among auto repair shops, as well as their customers. 

Rob Pietrowsky, vice president of research at IMR, led the Jan. 31 session, which was split into three categories: consumer health, repair shop trends, and brand selection. 

Inflation has continued to be a burden on consumers, with prices still rising despite inflation becoming more moderate.

Between 2016-2019, there was a steady decline in automotive maintenance, with the estimated value of delayed maintenance dropping by 19.5%, or $5 billion. In 2020, there was then a surge in DIY work being done, with 2023 estimated delayed maintenance far surpassing pre-pandemic levels.

The average dollar spent per vehicle has increased steadily since 2018—until 2023, which saw a 10.9% decline, followed by a flat performance in 2024. Repair order counts saw a spike in Nov and Dec, but ultimately were down 14.2% by the end of 2024.

Vehicle owners’ decisions are increasingly guided by the financial pressure they’re facing. There’s been an uptick of interest in financing repairs, with 40.3% of consumers in the first half of 2024 being either somewhat or extremely likely to use financing for major or costly repairs, compared to 32% in 2020. 

Additionally, 52.3% of consumers surveyed in H1 2024 said they research a shop before going there; potentially due to concerns they have over rates. In 2020, just 45.2% of consumers said they are likely to research a shop, and that number has been 50% or more since 2022.

Shops are also preparing for and investing in equipment and tools they’ll need for EVs and hybrids, with 43% saying they’ve invested in equipment or tools specifically for servicing EVs or hybrids.  

When it comes to replacement of components, the results varied by powertrain, but EVs scored the highest out of them all in 11 of 15 products. The only component EVs had the lowest replacement rate for was radiator replacements. 

ADAS continues to be a challenge for shops, but is something that most are handling well, without seeing a significant loss in business. Out of all shops surveyed, an average of 2.4% of customers were turned away due to concerns around ADAS issues.

81.4% of respondents also shared seeing an increase in sensors that calibrate during a road test following an alignment, eliminating the need for equipment based alignment procedures. 

On average, 38.9% of parts purchased by shops are private label or store brand. Market share for private label products has grown, potentially as a result of inflationary pressure.

Though availability of preferred brands has been an issue, 46.6% of shops using private label cited cost savings as the reason they expect their usage to increase. Other notable factors included having the same quality as other brands, inflation pressure impacting consumer choice, and customers requesting more affordable parts. 

Respondents were asked about their satisfaction with preferred brands for brake parts, which includes pads and shoes, rotors and drums, calipers, master cylinders, and wheel cylinders. 

Across most categories, importance and satisfaction both ranked highly—except for product info, training, and support, which saw low satisfaction. 

Responses were divided across age categories, showing that older respondents are less satisfied with the prices of their preferred brand. 

Availability of preferred brands was the biggest opportunity for growth. Across every age group, there exists a huge gap between the importance of preferred brands being available to purchase, and the satisfaction respondents have had. Availability was 99-100% important on average across all age groups, but satisfaction ranged only from 29-55%.