RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. – U.S. automotive aftermarket sales totaled $202.5 billion in 2007, according to the new aftermarket channel forecasting model highlighted in the 2008-2009 AASA Automotive Aftermarket Status Report, just published by the Automotive Aftermarket Suppliers Association (AASA).

An entire section of the Status Report is dedicated to the new forecasting model that was developed by Global Insight and jointly commissioned by AASA, the Automotive Aftermarket Industry Association (AAIA) and the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA).

"The forecasting model gives the automotive aftermarket a single point of reference to anchor the various estimates of its size and a road map to the complex structure of the aftermarket channels of distribution," said Steve Handschuh, president and COO of AASA.

In a table published in the Status Report, the new model is used to analyze the automotive aftermarket by channel sales. For example, general automotive repair shops reported 16.1 percent of total aftermarket sales in 2007.

The forecasting model was first developed in 2002 and updated in 2007, according to Frank Hampshire, AASA senior director of market research. "The new model is much more in tune with the changes in the economic and market conditions that have occurred since the development of the original model. It also includes a method of continuously updating the model to maintain its validity," he added.

Now in its 10th year of publication, the Automotive Aftermarket Status Report is designed to serve as a resource for the information needed for strategic planning, budgeting, new product launch and more.

Copies of the 2008-2009 AASA Automotive Aftermarket Status Report – in print or on CD-ROM – may be ordered online in the publications section of the AASA Web site, www.aftermarketsuppliers.org. The member price is $125 and the non-member price is $500. Please e-mail [email protected] for information about volume discounts.