Record Attendance at This Year’s Automotive Shows

If you attended the AAPEX or SEMA shows this past November, you already know how crowded it was. For those of you who did not, you missed a great event with lots of interesting vendors, manufacturers and products. And you missed some record crowds. Independent estimates of attendance well above 2009 levels, which were admittedly low, due to the economic downturn. Some estimates ranged from 10 to 30 % above the previous year’s count.
A majority of attendees also indicated that they are beginning to see a turnaround in the economy as well. Many report sales figures up from 2008 and 2009 significantly, and when surveyed, a strong majority were optimistic and expect a significant increase in 2011. Which leads us to logically surmise that we have seen the worst and the light is at the end of the tunnel.
Besides the economy turning around, one other fact leading to optimism about the future is the trend of older vehicles remaining on the road longer. Anytime you have older cars on the road, you can expect to sell more parts and equipment necessary to repair it. This of course is good news for any company related to the service, parts or equipment industry.
Many of the national suppliers of automotive equipment that trade publicly have reported increased numbers for this year, and have increased their estimates for 2011. So have the national service chains.
As a distributor of Automotive Lifts and auto shop equipment, we also can quantify the anecdotal evidence with support of the theory that things are definitely improving. And that’s good news for all of us.