Breaking auto aftermarket industry trends and auto aftermarket research articles. For SEMA, AASA and Auto Care Association members.

Posts

November 2012: Monthly Vehicle Sales vs Consumer Confidence

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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)…

Purchase Frequency by Vehicle Owned

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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…

Bringing the Web to Your Vehicle

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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…

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

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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…

The Top 5 Most Sold Vehicles of 2012

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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…

Vehicles at the 2012 SEMA Show

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…

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

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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…

Vehicle Segment Trends by Region

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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…

Engine Block Buyers: Amount Spent Annually on Parts and Accessories

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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…

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

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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:…

A Sign Auto Parts Retail Sales Are Slowing?

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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…

Grow Sales With New Products From the SEMA Show

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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…