By Kyle Cheng
Since the beginning of April, SEMA Market Research has been tracking how businesses within the specialty-equipment industry have navigated through the disruption over the past few months. Overall, our industry continues to return to more normal operations and is increasingly more optimistic about their sales for the rest of 2020.
In a recent survey conducted July 24–30, approximately 95% of all companies said they were mostly business as usual or only impacted in the short-term. Nearly half (45%) stated that they were business as usual, compared to only 17% back in April. The number of companies reporting more severe disruptions have continued to decrease over the past few months as well.
Companies are growing equally optimistic about their sales. Today, nearly half of all companies expect higher or at least the same amount of sales as last year. That is a significant jump from April when only 20% of companies said that. Overall, most companies expect to finish the year better, at least the same, or with only a slight decline in sales compared to 2019.
Want the latest data and trends in the specialty-equipment industry? Check out the newest reports from SEMA Market Research:
- 2020 SEMA Market Report: The “2020 SEMA Market Report” provides a comprehensive look at how the products your company sells are purchased and installed. Also included is the most up-to-date information on parts buyers, key industry trends and forecasts, and insights into the vehicles currently on the road.
- SEMA State of the Consumer Report – July 2020: In this report, the SEMA Market Research team explores the current state of consumers within the United States and their outlook for the future. This quick snapshot looks at how consumers are emerging from coronavirus lockdown—including recent driving patterns, retail behavior and how they are interacting with the specialty-equipment industry.
All of these reports, and much more, are available for free download at www.sema.org/research.