EU independent aftermarket parts worth €73bn, study suggests
A new study suggests that the market volume of parts and components sold by independent workshops and parts dealers across the European Union (EU) stands at €73 billion (62 per cent of the total market excluding labour costs).
Roland Berger, a leading management consulting firm, and FIGIEFA, the international federation of independent automotive aftermarket distributors, conducted a survey of some 380 wholesale distributors from within FIGIEFA’s membership, and 25 expert interviews with CEOs of independent parts distribution groups and aftermarket suppliers.
It found that 82 per cent of all vehicle workshops in the EU are not brand-affiliated, and 62 per cent of the market volume of spare parts and components are sold in the independent aftermarket.
This means that a large proportion of the almost 280 million passenger cars and commercial vehicles in the EU are serviced by the multi-brand independent aftermarket (IAM), particularly as vehicle manufacturers (OEMs) continue to reduce the numbers of their own sales and service locations.
The study also suggests that wholesale distributors source on average more than three quarters of their parts from Tier-1 original equipment suppliers (OESs) and independent manufacturers of branded spare parts.
Making more than three deliveries per day on average, they supply the independent (and also authorised) workshops, which in turn ensure fast repairs and short distances for customers with their dense network – an important factor especially for commercial vehicle and fleet operators.
With the increasing electrification of passenger cars and commercial vehicles, the importance of the IAM is growing even further, also for the OEMs, according to FIGIEFA chief executive Sylvia Gotzen.
“When people talk about the automotive industry, the focus is usually on new vehicle production and sales,” she said. “However, the spare parts, maintenance, and repair market is a crucial component of the industry and a key economic factor within the EU.
“This is evidenced by the fact that each vehicle costs more than €15,000 on average for maintenance and repairs over the course of its lifetime – plus labour costs.
“Of this, 62 per cent or €73 billion per year is generated in the IAM, which also provides around 1.1 million jobs with its 280,000 workshops and parts dealers, more than twice as many as in the OEMs’ service and repair network,” Gotzen added.