Operators continuously struggle with the ongoing improvements in windshield safety
Los Angeles, CA (PRWEB) December 08, 2013
The Auto Windshield Repair Services industry has sustained many scrapes and cracks over the past five years. During the recession, many consumers postponed nonessential windshield repairs and replacements, as available disposable income was limited. Consequently, industry revenue is expected to slide at an annualized rate of 3.2% to $3.8 billion in the five years to 2013. As the recovery period continues, which has been characterized by growing consumer confidence and rising disposable income, revenue will follow suit. On the rise since 2011, revenue is anticipated to increase 1.3% in 2013. However, rising demand for new cars, coupled with the decreasing crime rate, which corresponds with fewer automotive break-ins, will limit revenue growth for the Auto Windshield Repair Services industry moving forward.
According to IBISWorld Industry Analyst Sally Lerman, “Industry operators face a continuous struggle with the ongoing improvements automotive windshield safety.” In the US, windshields must be made of laminated glass, which is less likely to shatter as compared with safety glass, and is also able to bend slightly under impact. These improvements protect consumers' safety and expenditures, to the detriment of industry operators and company profit. Consequently, over the five years to 2013, the number of enterprises decreased at an average annual rate of 0.2% to 4,898 companies. Consolidation has also increased, pushing establishments to grow 0.6% per year on average to 6,900 locations. The industry's profit margin is also projected to fall slightly from 5.6% in 2008 to 5.5% in 2013, due to the higher input costs of items such as glass and the expense of industry wages. Furthermore, operators are often unable to pass on increasing input commodity prices to consumers in the form of higher prices because of the already high cost of labor used to repair or replace the glass components.
“However, as the US economy recovers the industry is expected to revive over the next five years, although, revenue will not reach prerecessionary levels,” says Lerman. Additionally, disposable income is increasing while the unemployment rate is in decline, trends that will provide consumers with additional funds to use toward industry goods, such as window tinting. On the other hand, rising demand for new cars with advanced safety technologies and fewer automotive break-ins, offset by a declining crime rate, will hamper demand for industry services.
A low level of market share concentration characterizes the Auto Windshield Repair Services industry. Similar to the overall automobile repair sector, windshield repair is highly fragmented with a large number of small operators providing services to local markets.
For more information, visit IBISWorld’s Auto Windshield Repair Services in the US industry report page.
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IBISWorld industry Report Key Topics
Operators in this industry primarily replace, repair and tint the various glass components of automotive vehicles. These automobiles include passenger cars, trucks and vans. The industry does not include companies that predominantly offer repair services for automotive vehicles.
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