The closure this year of a record number of automotive dealerships is not only going to affect automakers and motorists, it will affect the parts distribution community as well.
According to the Brake & Front End 2008 Shop Profile, 72 percent of readers surveyed said that they have ordered parts from OE dealers because they are the only source of that particular part.
Looking at the 2006 and 2008 shop profiles, the top three types of parts sourced from OE dealers have remained the same: electrical parts (75 percent of shops reported ordering these parts from dealership parts departments), emissions (66 percent) and fuel system products (32 percent).
These and other statistics can be found in the 2008 Brake & Front End Shop Profile from Babcox Research. For more information about Babcox Research, go to: http://www.babcox.com/marketing_research.html.