Automotive Specialty-Equipment Sales Surpass Pre-Pandemic Levels

Sales Force

The specialty-equipment industry continues to experience strong growth and demand as the U.S. puts COVID-19 in the rearview mirror. According to the new “State of the Industry–Spring 2022” report from the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA), 75% of manufacturers, 68% of distributors, and 53% of retailers/installers report that sales are currently above where they were prior to the pandemic, and consumer demand continues to remain robust for most companies.

However, despite strong industry growth, concerns remain due to ongoing supply chain issues, inflation, economic uncertainty, and the war in Ukraine. The report, which includes 70 pages of new industry data, helps companies make better business decisions by highlighting current industry trends, business metrics, and estimates on how sales have changed over the last year, and it highlights the ongoing supply chain disruptions many organizations are being challenged with. It also provides a pulse check on consumers as they navigate economic uncertainty and deal with significant price increases on many of the products and services that they buy.

Additional key findings from the report include:

More than half of companies expect sales to continue to grow in the coming year.
Supply chain issues remain a challenge for over 90% of the industry, and most don’t see things returning to normal until at least 2023.
The current inflation rate of 8.5% is the highest it has been in 40 years, yet consumers continue to spend.
Despite gas prices being up over 40% on average from where they were last year, 80% of Americans still plan to take a road trip this summer.
Amid record consumer demand, 70% of manufacturers, 56% of distributors, and 45% of retail installers have had difficulty filling open positions due to a shortage of qualified applicants to hire.