What are the current trend lines for the aftermarket? What parts are selling, and who’s buying them? How are consumers locating and purchasing these products? And what might businesses glean from key economic and industry indicators to help them chart both their short- and long-term growth?
Fueled by 2.5 million new-pickup sales last year, there are now more than 51 million pickups on U.S. roadways. But how much do aftermarket businesses really know about pickup consumers, their shopping habits and, ultimately, the parts they purchase? Assumptions are one thing, but manufacturers and resellers who truly want marketplace facts to drive their efforts will be interested in the newly released “2016 SEMA Pickup Report” from the association’s market research department.
The annual “SEMA Market Report”—more than 20 years running—is SEMA’s yearly take on the automotive specialty-equipment industry. The 2016 report concentrates on market sizing and sales estimates for 2015 but also reflects historical trends from the previous five years. Looking ahead, SEMA analyzes this historical data to forecast next year’s trends. The report contains multiple types of data from different sources, including government and outside vendors, who use industry data from manufacturers to develop these estimates.
Each year, SEMA’s research department produces a report that explores the automotive specialty-equipment market. The report examines the size of the market while also looking at different product segments, vehicle niches and sales trends. For more than 20 years, the report has been compiled based on data culled from industry manufacturers, providing an outward view of what their businesses are selling. For the first time, the research team has now added an element based on consumer feedback. The goal of the 2015 SEMA Market Report (available free to association members at www.sema.org/automotive-aftermarket-research) is to provide member companies with comprehensive information they can use to help their businesses.
The restyling market traditionally consists of interior and exterior accessories and includes products used to personalize vehicles that are not clearly assigned to other automotive specialty-equipment market niches.
Preview of a New Report on the Side-by-Side Accessory Marketplace
Spurred by the growth in the number of utility task vehicles (UTVs) over the last decade, SEMA recently released a new report examining the size, types of accessories and accessory purchasing processes involved in this burgeoning powersports segment.
UTVs, also known as side-by-sides, evolved as an offshoot of the all-terrain vehicle (ATV) market. The earliest models were spawned by the need for greater cargo capacity for those who used three- and four-wheel cycles for work tasks on farms, job sites, golf courses and other areas where off-road performance was required but a fullsize pickup was unnecessary or too cumbersome.
Current Report Details Slow But Steady Industry Improvement
Things are looking up. That’s the overall impression cast by the just-released 2013 SEMA Annual Market Report. The new study provides a composite view of the automotive specialty-equipment industry and new-vehicle sales, and is packed with information and background that businesspeople from all market segments will want to access. The study is available now and can be downloaded here.
The report’s major findings include a return of growth for the industry overall. The street-performance niche continues to drive the rebound with a 15.3% year-over-year increase, but the light-truck niche also experienced the first growth in four years with a 1% increase in sales. The appearance and accessories segments are growing based largely...
Who are “typical” automotive specialty-equipment consumers? What is their relationship with their vehicles? How does that relationship influence their purchasing habits? And how can automotive specialty-equipment businesses reach them with their marketing? These are some of the perennial questions that drive the industry. SEMA is now offering the 2012 SEMA Market Segmentation Report, an in-depth summary of a recent, comprehensive look into these and other questions affecting every company in the specialty-equipment marketplace.
One of SEMA’s primary tools in achieving its mission statement—to help its member businesses succeed and prosper—is providing market research that draws on historical comparisons and illuminates current trends. As a major part of that effort, the association produces an overview of where the industry stands each year. The 2012 SEMA Annual Market Report has just been released and is now available. The report is free to SEMA members and is available for a $250 fee to non-members.
The opinion leader program continued each succeeding year, including at the 2011 SEMA Show, where some of the nation’s most active and influential automotive enthusiasts provided additional firsthand feedback through participation in onsite focus groups that provided deeper insight into enthusiasts’ perspectives and attitudes about the automotive specialty-equipment industry. The information gathered during these focus groups, and a separate online session with another group recruited at random from the general population, has now been compiled in a new SEMA publication entitled 2011 Opinion Leader Report. It is available free to SEMA members. Non-members may also download the report for $200.
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