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Service Bays Soar in Product & Labor Volume Car and light truck Do-It-For-Me (DIFM) product and labor (purchased service) volume has grown significantly over the past five years, despite the onslaught of COVID19, which cut deeply into 2020 DIFM volume and slashed the number of repair outlets. Nevertheless, the reduced population of light vehicle repair outlets has been able to keep pace with the rising DIFM repair volume. Service bay average repair volume has climbed faster than total DIFM product and service volume, with annual repair sales (products and labor) per bay surging by more than $20,000 between 2016 and 2021, at user-price. Growing DIFM Product Sales Recovering from the impact of COVID-19, car and light truck 2021 DIFM product and labor volume topped $173 billion at user-price, up more than $16 billion from 2016. As Do-It-For-Me (DIFM) product and labor sales rose at a 2.0 percent average annual pace over these five years, the population of car and light truck service bays in the U.S. fell sharply. 45,000 Fewer Service Bay At mid-year 2021, there were approximately 45,000 fewer light vehicle service bays nationwide than five years earlier. This bay reduction ran contrary to the rise of vehicles in operation (VIO). As the number of light vehicle service bays in the U.S. fell between 2016 and 2021, the VIO increased by nearly seven percent, and DIFM product and labor sales climbed by over 10 percent, at user-price. More Vehicles Per Bay The average number of cars and light trucks per service bay in the U.S. continues to increase, reflecting a shrinking
8 | June 2022
bay population that is challenged by the increasing number of cars and light trucks on U.S. roads. The growing vehicle population and expanding DIFM sales should have triggered a surge in the nation’s bay population. However, the opposite has occurred. As the car and light truck population increased and DIFM sales climbed between 2016 and 2021, the light vehicle service bay population fell, hit hard by the pandemic. At mid-year 2021, the number of vehicles per service bay was nearly 10 percent higher than five years earlier. This trend of more vehicles per service bay in the U.S. will continue for the foreseeable future. DIFM Market Solution Service bay average repair volume has climbed faster than total DIFM product and service volume, with annual repair sales (products and labor) per bay surging by more than $20,000 between 2016 and 2021, at user-price. The solution to this DIFM market challenge (fewer service bays to handle greater repair volume) has been to increase product and service sales per bay. Increased Service Bay Volume Car and light truck bays averaged nearly $155,000 in annual product and service sales at user-price during 2021. Despite the shrinking number of service bays across the U.S., the annual product and labor sales of the average car and light truck bay rose by 15 percent between 2016 and 2021, half again more than the total DIFM market. Different Bay Performance by Type of Outlet While the average service bay increased its product and service volume by 15 percent between 2016 and 2021, there were significant differences in the performance of bays by type of outlet. Foreign Specialists led the way as their annual product and labor volume per bay soared by more than 25 percent between 2016 and 2021. Repair Specialists and Service
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