AutoView Newsletter 2024/04
The Kraftfahrtbundesamt (KBA) has just published the latest parc/VIO data. Based on January 1st 2024, just under 49.1 million cars were registered on German roads. This is the first time the 49 million mark has been broken. This is around 336,000 passenger cars or just under 0.7% more than in the previous year.
Overall, the growth in the number of vehicles has slowed in recent years; before the pandemic years, the increase in the number of vehicles was regularly well over 1%. But we don't want to diminish the good news: The vehicle parc continues to grow and with it the potential for spare parts, repairs and services.
But what does this parc development mean for the demand for spare parts? The AutoView® team has calculated this using the examples of glow plugs and spark plugs. As typical combustion engine components, these two product groups are particularly in focus against the backdrop of the growing number of electric vehicles on the road.
Firstly, spark plugs: Based on the pre-corona years, there is an annual potential of around 15.9 million units. The pandemic led to a decline of around -4.2% to 15.2 million units in 2020. The main reasons for this are reduced mileage of petrol vehicles and postponed maintenance activities by customers due to the uncertain economic situation. The following year initially saw a catch-up effect. More holidays were taken by car, causing the market volume of spark plugs to increase by just under 4.1% to 15.8 million. This level was also maintained in 2022. In 2023, spark plugs reached a volume slightly above the pre-pandemic level at 16.1 million units - this corresponds to growth of just under 1.9% compared to the previous year.
The picture is more pronounced for glow plugs: due to the cancelled transport services for commercially used diesel vehicles and the reduced mileage in the private diesel vehicle segment, the potential decreased by 200,000 units to 5.0 million units in 2020. However, this "postponed" potential will be made up for in 2021 with growth of almost 10% to 5.5 million glow plugs. In 2022 and 2023, the unit volume stabilises at a level of 5.5 - 5.6 million units and is therefore slightly above the pre-pandemic level.
That's interesting news - isn't it? We will of course keep you up to date with further details of the new parc/VIO statistics and their impact on the automotive aftermarket. Stay tuned!
Have we piqued your interest? Then get in touch with us.
We look forward to hearing from you!