Posts Tagged ‘ Auto Aftermarket Industry News & Automotive Aftermarket Research ’

November 2012: Monthly Vehicle Sales vs Consumer Confidence

New automotive industry statistics: After a somewhat slow October 2012, the auto industry saw an increase in light vehicle sales for November 2012. October brought somewhat sluggish auto sales, yielding a Seasonally Adjusted Annual Rate (SAAR) of 14.23M, November came in strong with 1.14 million units sold, raising the SAAR to 15.48M. Experts are observing that the sales are partly driven by the devastation left behind by Hurricane Sandy. Edmunds.com noted that about 30,000 sales of automobiles were lost or deferred in October due to the superstorm. Also, between 200,000 and 250,000 vehicles were damaged or destroyed by Sandy,...

Have you ever wondered how often enthusiasts tend to buy auto parts and accessories? We surveyed more than 2,500 enthusiasts to find out how often they purchase auto parts or accessories and arranged the information by what type of vehicle they bought for. We surveyed enthusiasts and asked the question, “How often do you buy parts or accessories for your vehicle?” We also asked what vehicle they purchased parts for in order to better understand any trends within certain segments. We found that, on average, 50% of all different types of vehicle owners buy once a month or more....

A popular trend with car manufacturers over recent years has been the integration of the Internet into the vehicle. Recently, manufacturers have been adopting platforms that rely on the driver’s mobile phone for connectivity. This trend is now changing as more manufacturers focus on a more direct way to connect vehicles to the web. At a discussion about the web-connected vehicle at the SF MusicTech Summit event held in October 2012, GM’s Chief Infotainment Officer, Philip Abram, predicted that in 5 years, “software will define the experience in the car.” The main obstacle that manufacturers are facing is coming...

Today, we are going to look at some of our own auto parts market research to better understand how long it takes an enthusiast to actually purchase a product after they have made the decision to buy. As a part of our own syndicated Hedges & Company research, we sought to find out how long it took enthusiasts to make the actual purchase after deciding to buy. We surveyed more than 2,500 automotive enthusiasts, and asked them what the average length of time was from when they decide to buy an auto part or accessory to when they actually...

The automotive industry has been on the path to recovery with vehicle sales up from last year’s numbers and holding strong. A variety of different makes and models of trucks are leading the pack in sales; here is a look at the stats of the top 5. The top 5 most sold vehicles as of September, 2012 are: 1). Ford F-Series Pickup Trucks – Ford’s popular truck series is the top selling vehicle so far with 463,733 units sold as of September 2012. At this time last year, Ford had sold 416,388 F-Series trucks, marking a rise of 11%...

The SEMA Show draws all kinds of different entities of the automotive sector, and with them they bring the best products, parts, facts and research they have. Perhaps the largest attractions at the show, however, are the custom vehicles. Here is a look at what some of the most talked about vehicles that will be at this year’s show. Ford plans to unveil at least 20 vehicles at the 2012 SEMA show. Of the vehicles to be shown, the showcase will feature various Focus and Fusion models built by various motorsports groups such as Bojix Design, Tanner Foust Racing,...

3 Things Aftermarket Retail Stores Need to Stay Ahead of the Curve

There’s a lot of competition in the automotive aftermarket—retail stores have to compete with online retailers and specialty parts catalogs, and the seemingly endless selection that both provide. So what advantages do retail stores have that can keep them ahead of the competition? 1). Customer service: When customers enter an automotive parts store, they aren’t just looking for a part, many need help. Parts stores have an advantage over non-retail entities in the fact that their employees can actively provide help in a personal environment. Employees are able to explain benefits of certain products, ask open-ended questions about the...

Jumpstart Automotive Group released a report on online car shopping trends by U.S. region, showing the top vehicle segments as well as the top shopping considerations. The company analyzed behaviors of automotive website users in 2012 “to draw connections between specific U.S. territories and the most popularly researched vehicles and top car shopping considerations among consumers within those territories.” The study found that: People in the Northwest region of the U.S. tend to prefer hybrids and consider price as a priority. Consumers in the Southwest prefer compact cars and focus on the features of a car when considering a...

Engine Block Buyers: Amount Spent Annually on Parts and Accessories

Have you ever wondered exactly how much the automotive enthusiast spends on parts & accessories throughout the year? We surveyed enthusiasts who had recently bought or shopped for engine blocks to find out how much money they spend on an annual basis. Enthusiasts were given the following choices in regards to how much money they spend annually on parts & accessories: less than $500 $500 to $1,000 $1,001 to $2,500 $2,501 to $5,000 $5,001 to $7,500 $7,501 to $10,000 $10,000 and up Enthusiasts revealed that the top two ranges in which their annual spending fell into were $1,001 to...

3 Things You Didn’t Know about 1994-2004 Mustang Owners

The fourth generation Ford Mustang, also known as “SN-95,” included styling from previous Mustangs and came with a 3.8 liter overhead valve V6 engine or a 4.6 liter single overhead camshaft V8. This generation included three alternate models: the 2001 Bullitt, the 2003 and 2004 Mach 1, and the 2003 and 2004 Cobra. Here are three things to know about fourth generation Mustang owners: 1). 53% of 1994-2004 Mustang owners are homeowners. 2). The average household income of a 1994-2004 Ford Mustang owner is $61,741; for comparison, the average US household income is around $51,000. 3). 62% of 1994-2004...

Today’s trend is a little concerning: the growth in auto parts sales is slowing down compared to the first half of 2012. This is important to watch as you plan your company’s automotive aftermarket forecast for 2013. Auto parts trends 2012 Retail sales of auto parts went negative for the second time this year. August 2012 showed a slight drop from 2011, following a decent July (up about 3.5%) and a slight drop in June. We’re holding to our forecast that the year will come in between 3% and 4% over 2011 but we’ll be watching economic signs closely...

Welcome back to the Hedges & Company blog, today we cover how to grow your sales with new products. We’re introducing a new term for some of our readers, the New Product Ratio (NPR). The specialty auto parts industry thrives on new products and innovation. For retailers, warehouse distributors (WDs), manufacturers, and automobile dealers selling aftermarket products, new products are one of the best opportunities to grow sales. They create excitement among consumers and for brick and mortar retailers they help drive store traffic. For online marketers, new products increase organic search web traffic and bring in new visitors....

The US automotive industry has always played a large part in the economy, and the same industry that once needed a taxpayer bailout to stay alive may be the one to stave off another recession. Over the past two years, Ford Motor Co., General Motors Corp., Chrysler Group and other auto companies have added 90,000 manufacturing jobs—a 14% increase—according to federal employment data. New vehicle sales in August neared 1.3 million, according to Autodata Corp. This is the highest monthly sales figure since August 2007. After this surge in vehicle sales, analysts announced that they expect the industry will...

Trend 21: Using Social Media Effectively

Here’s how to effectively use your social media campaign to connect with your customers and evaluate your business. Building a large following of fans is nice or fun to brag about, but to really make your social media campaign work, you have to attract fans that have the potential to become customers. For example, if you are a small business with no online presence operating in Miami FL, having fans from Cleveland, OH won’t do you much good. “Likes” vs social media interaction Having “likes” and “fans” is helpful, but what you should really strive for is actual interaction...

Trend 22: The Importance of Email in Online Shopping

Welcome back to our blog! Today we will give you a look at how important email is when driving up sales during the holiday season. Email is an important tool for increasing your online traffic, as well as sales— especially on key promotional dates such as Cyber Monday and Thanksgiving weekend. Studies have found that consumers are more receptive to marketing influence on these big promotion days. More than half of online buyers learned about Cyber Monday deals from online retailer emails. Other ways of learning were, “I visited the site directly,” “Facebook, Twitter, or other social network,” and...

Trend 23: Crankshaft Buyers Rate Customer Service

Here is our 23rd trend, which gives you a look at how crankshaft buyers view the leading crankshaft brands. We surveyed 380 automotive enthusiasts who had recently bought or shopped for crankshafts to find out what they think about the leading crankshaft manufacturers. One of the aspects we had enthusiasts rate was the quality of customer service offered by manufacturers. The top three manufacturers rated for “good customer service” were Compstar, Ford Racing Performance Parts and Summit Racing. The brands included in the survey were: Compstar Crower Dart Eagle Specialty Ford Racing Performance Parts GM Performance Parts Lunati Cams...

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Posts Tagged ‘ Auto Aftermarket Industry News & Automotive Aftermarket Research ’

November 2012: Monthly Vehicle Sales vs Consumer Confidence

Purchase Frequency by Vehicle Owned

Bringing the Web to Your Vehicle

Enthusiasts: Time Between Decision and Actual Purchase of Auto Parts & Accessories

The Top 5 Most Sold Vehicles of 2012

Vehicles at the 2012 SEMA Show

3 Things Aftermarket Retail Stores Need to Stay Ahead of the Curve

Vehicle Segment Trends by Region

Engine Block Buyers: Amount Spent Annually on Parts and Accessories

3 Things You Didn’t Know about 1994-2004 Mustang Owners

A Sign Auto Parts Retail Sales Are Slowing?

Grow Sales With New Products From the SEMA Show

Trend 19: Auto Sales Rise in August and September

Trend 22: The Importance of Email in Online Shopping

Trend 23: Crankshaft Buyers Rate Customer Service