Light trucks still king in aftermarket sales

AKRON — For the past decade or so, crossover vehicles have become the most popular type of personal transportation, both in terms of new vehicles sold and vehicles registered or in operation, but pickup trucks are still king in terms of aftermarket customization potential.

That's the assessment of the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA), which tracks aftermarket modification trends regularly.

In a Pickup Accessorization Report compiled in late 2022, SEMA reported that 42% of pickup owners surveyed by the trade group were planning to make modifications to their vehicles in the coming year, with changes to improve appearance (12%) and accessibility/comfort (9%) topping the list of reasons.

SEMA also noted that tire and/or wheel upgrades were among the most common types of modifications pickup truck owners had made in recent years, registering 26% of all upgrades. No. 1 on the list was improvements to the truck bed/utility capacity.

Also high on the list were changes to the pickup's exterior (24%) and lighting and engine (14% each).

The pickup category also dominates in terms of aftermarket sales potential, SEMA said, accounting for over 31% of estimated aftermarket parts/components sales in 2021. That translates to a value of $16 billion.

In assessing the market, SEMA researchers noted that pickups "at their core … are utility vehicles, and most pickup accessorizers make changes that enhance functionality or appearance of the vehicle."

Performance upgrades, SEMA said, most often are aimed at improving handling, rather than on-road speed or acceleration. Secondarily, owners look to upgrade performance with an eye toward towing and/or off-roading.

At the time the report was issued, SEMA said there were about 29 million late-model (2010 or newer) pickups in operation in the U.S., and over half of them (roughly 15 million) had been modified.

Within the pickup category, SEMA noted that owners of super-duty trucks (Ford F-250, Ram 3500, etc.) are the most likely to modify their vehicles, and more often than not the changes are for some sort of specialized purpose.

SEMA noted in its report that there are roughly 59 million pickup trucks registered in the U.S., which represents 21% of all vehicles in operation on U.S. roads.

While the half-ton pickup is the overwhelming favorite currently, a resurgence in new mid-size and smaller pickup models from the various manufacturers will skew the market to a degree in the coming years.

SEMA projects that this category will account for 30% of all new pickup sales by 2030, double that of what was sold in 2015.

Turning to the tire/wheel aspect of pickup truck accessorizing, SEMA's research shows that all-terrain and off-road tires account for over half of purchases made in this category. Wheels of various types make up a bit more than a third of purchases in the category, with winter or performance tires making up the rest.

Another category of potential interest to tire dealers would be the suspension/brakes/steering category, which makes up about 15% of the $16 billion of spending by pickup truck owners.

Among products sold in this category are brakes and brake system components, lift kits and dampeners, and sway bar/control arms and steering-system parts.

In terms of tire sales/fitments, one can see from the accompanying chart that with few exceptions pickup trucks and cargo delivery vans sold in the U.S. and Canada are equipped OE with passenger-spec tires.

Only the super-duty versions of the more popular pickup trucks (Ford F series, Chevrolet Silverado/GMC Sierra and Ram) are spec'd OE with true LT-spec tires.

According to U.S. Tire Manufacturers Association (USTMA) statistics, a steadily growing percentage of both passenger and light truck tires built in the U.S. are spec'd OE on what the trade association terms "non-commercial light trucks."

While the USTMA does not publish unit shipment figures for this market segmentation, its figures do show steady growth in this trend.

As one might surmise, the trend is more advanced in the OE category, with the aftermarket moving the same direction, albeit with a few years lag.

Somewhat surprisingly, the emergence and growth of last-mile delivery appears to have hit a plateau last year, based on sales of new Class 4 to 7 commercial vehicles (those over 14,001 pounds gross vehicle weight), which includes the box-truck/panel van-type vehicles used widely in that business.

Sales of new medium-duty vehicles fell 6.3% in 2022, according to data from the American Truck Dealers trade group, to 221,834 units. The group is projecting a rebound in 2023, however, to as many as 245,000 units.

The SEMA report is available free to SEMA member companies and available for a charge to non-member companies.