Parts Proliferation Driving Aftermarket Shipments of Steering System Hard Parts
DUBLIN, Ireland--Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c82658) has announced the addition of “North American Steering System Hard Parts Aftermarket” to their offering.
This Frost & Sullivan research service titled North American Steering System Hard Parts Aftermarket provides industry challenges, demand drivers and restraints, unit shipment and revenue forecast, competitive analysis, distribution channel analysis, and revenue market share analysis among others. In this research, Frost & Sullivan's expert analysts thoroughly examine the steering system hard parts for light vehicles.
Market Sectors
Expert Frost & Sullivan analysts thoroughly examine the following market sectors in this research:
- Ball Joint
- Tie Rod
- Idler and Pitman Arm
- Center and Drag Link
Market Overview
Parts Proliferation Driving Aftermarket Shipments of Steering System Hard Parts
The North American steering system hard parts aftermarket is witnessing stable growth, thanks to the introduction of more vehicles with variable chassis features. In fact, the proportionate rise in the number of steering parts is higher than the increase in the number of vehicle models as steering parts perform several functions and are therefore present in multiple locations in a vehicle. This factor is contributing significantly to unit shipment demand, because distributors must stock more parts to meet the demand. It also highlights the importance of a comprehensive coverage program, even though increased inventory may impact profit margins.
However, premium lines are gradually expected to loose market share to economy line products. The reason for this is that Asian countries, due to their low labor costs, are able to inexpensively produce the most popular, fastest moving part numbers for resale to the North American aftermarket. "The quality difference between North American premium parts and imported, or economy-line parts is small," notes the analyst of this research service. "Therefore, the aftermarket is less willing to pay the price premium for steering components manufactured in North America."
Installer Education Initiatives Expected to Encourage Replacement of Parts
Although steering components are indispensable to the safety and basic functioning of a vehicle, most vehicle owners are oblivious to their importance. In order to correct this, installers must justify the replacement of steering parts to the vehicle owner and manufacturers can reach out to installers and show them how to do this. This is critical as vehicle owners typically do not replace steering parts unless they fail completely. Education and training help installers to justify part replacement, when the owner brings in the vehicle for routine maintenance or unrelated repairs, driving unit shipments of steering parts.
With regard to the product segments, ball joints and tie rods are the two largest segments of the steering system hard parts aftermarket. While they are nearly equal in unit shipments size, ball joints hold a higher share of total revenues, because they cost more. "The unit shipment and revenue shares of ball joints and tie rods are expected to gradually increase over the forecast period because of declines in the idler/pitman arms and center/drag links segments," says the analyst. "Revenue growth for ball joints and tie rods will be driven by unit shipment growth rather than price growth, since prices in both segments are expected to remain flat to increase only slightly."
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