This quarterly update presents information and insights pertaining to continued inventory, pricing and sales volume challenges being faced by the automotive industry, as supply chain issues persist.

For the six publicly traded aftermarket parts companies comprising the Hilco Parts Index, net sales for the 12 months ended June 2022 increased by 8.9% as compared with the same period the year prior.

The U.S. automotive industry sold 1.2 million new cars and light-duty trucks in the month of June, a seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of 13.0 million vehicles. The June SAAR was marginally better than the prior month but significantly lower than the SAAR of 15.4 million vehicles recorded one year prior. June marks the 12th consecutive month in which the industry’s SAAR fell short of the prior year’s results.

For the six public companies comprising in the Hilco Parts Index, net sales for the first quarter of 2022 increased 12.5% as compared with performance in the first quarter the year prior.

First quarter U.S. sales of light-duty vehicles totaled 3.29 million, one of the worst single quarter tallies in a decade. The only quarter to post a worse result was the second quarter of 2021 at the height of the pandemic.

In this article we take a look at the changing tire industry and how the impact of ever-changing tariffs prior to the arrival of the pandemic and a precipitous drop in the number of miles driven during its height in 2020 have now been further exacerbated by reduced production output, increased raw material pricing, shipping delays and higher import costs.

The automotive industry is on a long march toward a future which, will no doubt, look and operate much differently than what we experience today.