According to the latest data from automotive industry research firm IMR Inc., 91% of independent auto service facilities have reported a drop in revenue this year, driven by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Slightly more than 1% of those facilities "are expecting that their business won’t financially recover from the hardships brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic," say IMR officials. "However, an additional 18.5% of shops responded that their revenue has since returned to normal."
Compared to a similar survey taken in May 2020, auto repair facilities had a more optimistic outlook on when they anticipated their businesses would experience financial recovery, with 33.9% believing it would take less than a year to recover.
"Ten months into the pandemic, 17.4% of shops anticipate that it will take more than a year to financially recover compared to 2.5% this past May."
Forty-one-percent of shops stated that they "don’t have any idea when revenue will return to normal levels compared to 60% when asked the same question in May."
In addition to financial challenges, independent repair facilities are also still experiencing some delay in parts delivery.
When asked about delivery delays in May, 25.8% of shop owners stated that they were either “frequently” or “very frequently” experiencing disruptions.
Owners were once again asked about parts delivery issues in November 2020, with only 3.6% responding that they are still frequently experiencing delays and 47% now experiencing delays “occasionally.”
Among those facilities currently having issues with parts supply, 58.6% are “rarely” ordering those delayed parts from an alternate supplier, whereas 11% are “frequently” ordering from another source.
For more information on IMR Inc., visit automotiveresearch.com.
