IMR Inc., the industry’s leading full-service automotive market research firm, has released new insights on the current financial situation of independent repair shops in light of the COVID-19 pandemic as well as insights on disruptions in parts delivery.
As of December 1, 2020, 91 percent of independent repair shops have reported a decrease in revenue this year.
1.3 percent of those shops are expecting that their business won’t financially recover from the hardships brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, an additional 18.5 percent of shops responded that their revenue has since returned to normal.
Compared to a similar survey taken in May 2020, shops had a more optimistic outlook on when they anticipated their businesses would experience financial recovery. 33.9 percent of shops believed it would take less than a year to recover, which has dropped to 22.9 percent as of the December survey. Ten months into the pandemic, 17.4 percent of shops anticipate that it will take more than a year to financially recover compared to 2.5 percent this past May. 41 percent of shops stated that they don’t have any idea when revenue will return to normal levels compared to 60 percent when asked the same question in May.
In addition to financial challenges, independent repair shops are also still experiencing some delay in parts delivery. When asked about delivery delays in May, 25.8 percent of shop owners stated that they were either “frequently” or “very frequently” experiencing disruptions. Shop owners were once again asked about parts delivery issues in November 2020, with only 3.6 percent responding that they are still frequently experiencing delays. 47 percent are now experiencing delays “occasionally.” Amongst those shops having issues with parts supply, 58.6 percent are “rarely” ordering those delayed parts from an alternate supplier, where 11 percent are “frequently” ordering from another source.
For more information on IMR Inc., visit automotiveresearch.com. To schedule a research-related interview with IMR Inc. president, contact the company. The most recent Insights from IMR Inc. can be found here.
