Autopromotec, Day Three: the U.S. and Europe

May 24, 2013

Over the last few days, Autopromotec hosted a series of conferences on the state of the aftermarket industry in several key countries. These conferences were part of AutopromotecEDU, the trade fair forum that focuses on examining the current issues of the automotive aftermarket.

“Understanding the U.S. automotive aftermarket: an overview on trends, tendencies and opportunities for European manufacturers” was one of the conferences. It featured speeches by representatives of many important associations such as the Automotive Aftermarket Industry Association (AAIA) and Tire Industry Association (TIA).

AAIA presentation

Arlene Davies and Michael Barrett of AAIA provided a detailed account of the U.S. aftermarket. With more than 250 million vehicles in circulation, the U.S. aftermarket has an annual sales turnover of approximately $307 billion and is the third largest industry in the United States economy, accounting for 2.1% of the country’s GDP and employing 4 million people.

Even during the current economic crisis, the annual growth of this industry is around 3-4%, they said. The crisis has led to the aging of the vehicles in circulation, with positive effects on spare part sales volumes.

"Overall, the industry is likely to experience further growth, as is its European counterpart."

TIA presentation

Roy Littlefield, executive vice president of TIA, discussed the most important figures of the U.S. tire market, currently dominated by replacement tires.

In the U.S., the tire market is transitioning toward products that guarantee better performance from a traditional point of view, but over the next few years it is expected that efficiency will become a key factor, he said.

This market, too, is rather strong and stable, yet it's profitability is affected by a number of variables, from restrictions on retreaded tires to the possible privatization of motorways, he added.

The 25th edition of Autopromotec, the nickname for the International Biennal Exhibition of Automotive Equipment and Aftermarket Products, will run from May 22-26, 2013, in Bologna, Italy. Attendance is expected to exceed 100,000 buyers, one-fifth of them international buyers.

For more information on the show, check out these links:

"Autopromotec, Day Two: business opportunities outside Europe."

"Autopromotec, Day One: Speech! Speech!"

"Ready to go: the 25th biennial Autopromotec."

"U.S. aftermarket is focus of Autopromotec panel."

"Tour de force: Kenda sponsors cyclist."

"Federal will introduce Formoza AZ-01 in Italy."