Changes are disrupting market shares of major types of repair outlets, altering the product volume flow through distribution channels and products installed
Fort Wayne, Ind.—Changes are taking place through the service bay populations of the seven types of light vehicle repair outlets. According to the latest Lang Aftermarket iReport, “Massive bay population changes are disrupting the market shares of major types of repair outlets, altering the product volume flow through distribution channels, changing the brands of products installed by technicians, and affecting other key aftermarket dynamics.”
The following are key takeaways from Lang Marketing on those shifts.
More Vehicles But Fewer Bays
From 2013 to 2023, more than 36 million cars and light trucks have been added to the nation’s vehicles in operation (VIO). Nevertheless, the light vehicle bay population has been shrinking. In addition to their growing number, newer vehicles are far more mechanically complex than just a few years ago. Consequently, fewer service bays must handle a growing volume of vehicles requiring increasingly complex repairs.
Bay Count Shift Among Repair Outlets
At mid-year 2023, there were about 65,000 fewer car and light truck service bays across the U.S. than five years earlier, a 7% loss despite the nation’s expanding light vehicle population. Reflecting the those changes in bay population by type of outlet, only two of the six major types of Independent (non-Dealer) repair outlets have expanded their bay count since 2018.
Service Stations & Garages
Lang Marketing estimates that the pandemic accelerated the bay loss of Service Stations & Garages, whose bay count decreased about 14% between 2018 and 2023.
Vehicle Dealers
The economic downturn of 2008 cut a wide swath through the Dealer population, and more than 3,000 Dealers closed over the following three years. While the number of Vehicle Dealers stabilized in the U.S. between 2017 and 2019, COVID-19 again reduced their number. However, Dealers showed resilience and their bay population rebounded during the aftermarket recovery from 2021 to 2023.
Other Repair Outlets Lose Bays
The service bay populations of Tire Stores, Discount Stores/Mass Merchandisers with bays and Retail Auto Parts Stores with bays declined between 2018 and 2023. There were approximately 10,000 fewer Tire Store bays at mid-year 2023 than five years earlier.
Discount Stores/Mass Merchandisers with bays also were impacted by COVID-19; their bay count fell by more than 11,000 from 2018 to 2023. The number of Retail Auto Parts Stores with bays has been falling for the past 10 years. As a result, they have lost more than 7,000 bays since 2018.
Two Independent Outlets Add Bays
Only two types of Independent (non-Dealer) repair outlets increased their service bay populations between 2018 and 2023: Repair Specialists and Foreign Specialists. While these two outlet groups each suffered bay losses during 2020 due to COVID-19, their service bay growth over the two previous years and their strength in the recovery from 2021 to 2023 offset the 2020 impact of COVID-19 on their bay populations.
Repair Specialists expanded their bay count by approximately 1,000 from 2018 to 2023, and Foreign Specialists added nearly 5,000 bays over these five years.
Independent Repair Outlets Lose Bay Share
Independent (non-Dealer) outlets experienced a decline in their share of total light vehicle service bays, falling from 75% in 2018 to less than 73% of service bays in 2023. This has had significant consequences for the DIFM share of major types of repair outlets, the volume of products through the five major distribution channels, and the product brands that technicians install on cars and light trucks.
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