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The winners and losers of 2020 service bay shakeup

The impact of COVID-19 last year rapidly accelerated the trend of service bay losses that had been underway for a number of years

Fort Wayne, Ind.—Big changes are rippling through the service bay populations of the seven major types of light vehicle repair outlets across the U.S., reflecting competitive market trends and the impact of COVID-19, according to a new report.

“These bay changes have significant consequences for the Do-It-For-Me market share of major types of repair outlets, the volume of aftermarket products flowing through the five major distribution channels, and the brands of products installed by technicians on cars and light trucks,” states Jim Lang in advance of the 2022 Lang Aftermarket Annual, which will be released in a few weeks, for a 2020 analysis and complete 10-year history of the number and mix of light vehicle service bays across the U.S.

The following are a few of the report’s findings:

More Vehicles but Fewer Bays

Despite the additional 43 million cars and light trucks that crowded onto the U.S. roads over the past 10 years (2010 to 2020), the light vehicle service bay population shrank.

Not only have the annual numbers of cars and light trucks increased since 2010, newer vehicles have become more mechanically complex than the light vehicle populations of just 10 years ago.

Bay Count Shift by Major Types of Repair Outlets

Although approximately 1.14 million car and light truck service bays were operating across the U.S. at mid-year 2020, only two major types of repair outlets had managed to increase their bay count over the previous five years: repair specialists and foreign specialists.

Service Stations and Garages Hit by COVID-19

Lang Marketing estimates that nearly 30,000 service station and garage bays were shuttered between 2015 and 2020. The impact of COVID-19 last year rapidly accelerated the trend of service station and garage bay losses that had been underway for a number of years.

Vehicle Dealers Stabilized

Since the 2008 Great Recession, the number of vehicle dealers had stabilized in the U.S., with some growth in their population levels between 2015 and 2019.

However, COVID-19 reduced the number of vehicle dealers and, consequently, the dealer bay population.

Other Outlets Losing Bays

The annual bay counts of tire stores, discount stores/mass merchandisers and retail auto parts stores, each declined between 2015 and 2020.

Tire stores were hit hard by COVID-19, and their outlet population declined during 2020. The tire store bay count had suffered a modest decline over the previous four years. As a result, there were approximately 6,000 fewer tire store bays at mid-year 2020 than five years earlier.

Discount stores/mass merchandisers had their bay count reduced by the closing of numerous Sears Service Centers that had begun previous to COVID-19. The bay population of discount stores/mass merchandisers fell by more than 2,500 between 2015 and 2020.

The number of retail auto parts stores with bays had been declining for the past 10 years. Their loss of service bays between 2015 and 2020 numbered more than 1,500.

Repair Outlets Adding Bays

Only two types of repair outlets added service bays between 2015 and 2020: repair specialists and foreign specialists.

Although each of these outlet groups suffered some bay losses during 2020, their service bay growth between 2015 and 2019 more than offset the negative impact of COVID-19 on their bay populations during 2020.

Overall, repair specialists expanded their bay count by approximately 4,200 between 2015 and 2020, and foreign specialists added nearly 5,000 bays over this five-year span.

Independent Bay Share Loss

Independent (non-dealer) outlets fell to less than a 73 percent share of service bays during 2020, down from a 75 percent share during 2015.

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