Toronto, Ontario – In general, things are looking up for the Canadian automotive industry with many shops bouncing back quite well following a series of lockdowns and restrictions, however, a recent report from Desrosiers Automotive Consultants (DAC) shows that some signs of uncertainty are starting to show themselves to Canadian aftermarket industry workers.
DAC partnered with the Automotive Aftermarket Retailers of Ontario (AARO) to survey their members as to current market conditions and the outlook for the year. When asked about the change in the dollar value of their sales over 2019, a slim majority of respondents noted a decrease of between one percent and 25 percent.
However, a significant portion of respondents noted sales increases with July especially showing strength. About 47 percent of respondents indicated that July’s sales actually exceeded that of 2019, however, that number quickly dipped to 41 percent in August.
“Installers in Ontario saw some real strength in July as the province reopened and pent-up demand was released,” according to Andrew King, managing partner of DAC. “Although the aftermarket outlook for the fall is far from clear as uncertainty remains, both about public health concerns and the ‘stickiness’ of changes in structural issues such as working from home, and online shopping.”
The report also noted that respondents felt a “moderate to severe” decline in the frequency of preventative maintenance work, while general diagnostic work remained largely unaffected.
As it concerns 2020 as a whole, about 12 percent of respondents noted an expected business increase. The rest expected decreases–with 34 percent expecting a decrease of one to 10 percent, and a similar portion—30 percent—expected a larger decrease of 11 to 25 percent.
