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Research Outline

Prepared for Patrick | Delivered May 7, 2020

Automotive Parts

Goals

To gain an understanding of how COVID-19 has impacted the automotive parts space in the U. S. , including buyers journey, demographics, and market size.

Early Findings

  • The key impact of COVID to the US automotive parts space is that it has caused supply chain issues. 
  • The US imports the majority of its auto parts from Mexico, Canada, and China, and supply chains have been disrupted between these countries. Specifically the disruption between the US and China has caused lack of access to parts.
  • Total auto parts imports from China to the US total over $155 billion.  
  •  Quarantine measures in the US are also impacting the ability of dealers, service stations and parts shops to have enough parts in stock.
  •  Online purchases of auto parts have however seen a surge, as retailer websites and manufacturers have a higher demand for direct to consumer sales.
  • Online revenue for auto parts, including retailer and manufacturer sales, increased 67% compared to the first week of March.  
  • However, the decline in vehicle miles traveled due to social distancing may have a long term impact on the automotive aftermarket space.
  • However automotive parts tend to be more resilient during economic hardship than the automotive industry as a whole.
  • During the recession of 2009, when sales for new cars dropped 42% and used cars 20%, the aftermarket only declined by 1%.
  • However, COVID includes five additional factors; a decrease in need for vehicle maintenance, few collisions, lower retail traffic, increase in e-commerce, and lower public transport use, all which will likely further impact the auto parts space.
  •  Potential positive impacts include declining used-car prices and government stimulus package impacts.