Car Accessories Gaining Through 2014: Study

SAN ANTONIO — Vehicle accessories such as neon and LED lights should see slim but steady gains over the next seven years, according to a newly released study from Frost & Sullivan.

Separately, the company also studied consumer buying habits for car alarms and found that more consumers recently purchased a car alarm compared with 2006.

In accessories, Frost & Sullivan found that revenues from over-the-counter auto accessories will grow annually through 2014 by 0.5 percent with LED lighting comprising the fastest growth segment, exceeding 8 percent annual growth at the wholesale level.

Over-the-counter accessory sales for the categories studied totaled $226.6 million wholesale in 2007 (see chart) and should climb steadily to $234.4 million by 2014. More than half of the 10 accessories studied will show growth during this period, including neon, LEDs, lamp bulbs, fog lamps, license accessories and graphics. Other categories will be flat to slightly down, such as accessory wipers, shifter knobs and pedal pads. Showing the strongest decline for the period was wheel covers.

Frost & Sullivan also looked at buyers of accessories and found that they were most likely to be affluent males under the age of 35.

The company also studied recent purchases in a sample of 1,000 car owners and found that 10 percent had recently purchased accessories and 8 percent recently purchased an aftermarket car alarm. By comparison 6 percent had purchased a car alarm in 2006.

In another study, Frost & Sullivan polled 505 people who all said they had made at least three modifications to their car in the past 12 months. Among this group, 37 percent had installed a car alarm in the past 12 months but nearly half, 47 percent, had purchased the alarm at the car dealer.