Key Note has determined that the apparent UK market for autoparts was worth £6.49bn in 1997, which included sales estimates for components used by original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), but excludes the OEMs’ own manufacture of autoparts. Of this total, £4.52bn is accounted for by the replacement market. The market is showing signs of reasonable growth, despite the strong sterling, and is confident for the future.

There are two main market divisions considered in the report; these being based on the type of purchaser – the OEMs and the aftermarket for replacement parts. The replacement autoparts market has a number of prominent subsectors, including tyres (estimated in 1997 at £860m), brake components (estimated at £580m), exhausts (estimated at £321m), engine components (estimated at £330m) and batteries (estimated at £250m). The fast-fit chains are also included in the report.

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The market has been affected in recent years by a slump in vehicle sales, but these have shown better than expected growth in the UK in 1997, although other European countries are still experiencing lower than normal new registrations. One of the largest electrical component manufacturers, LucasVarity, has undergone an intensive review of its operations and has sold off a number of companies in order to concentrate on core businesses.

As can be seen from the corporate activity highlighted in the Report, the major autoparts manufacturers have been concentrating their efforts on the developing markets around the world, mainly through joint ventures to improve their global presence. Car manufacturers continue with their consolidation of their parts purchasing, even moving to single sourcing on a worldwide basis.

The autoparts manufacturers realise that they must rationalise and expand their operations to succeed in this new climate, and so mergers and acquisitions have become the norm in the industry.

Key Note predicts that the market for autoparts will grow to £9.23bn by the year 2002. In the UK, Japanese car assemblers continue to make encouraging comments concerning volume growth, although several important car manufacturers have expressed concerns about the possibility of the UK not becoming part of European Monetary Union (EMU). The use of electronics in cars is growing strongly, with in-car navigation systems, radio data system (RDS) radios, mayday call devices, engine control systems and onboard diagnostic systems expected to be standard items in mid-range and top-of-the-range cars by the year 2001.

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Contents of full report (this article is the Executive Summary)

Executive summary 1 1. Market definition 2 Introduction 2 Market sectors 2 The original equipment market 2 The repair and maintenance sector 3 Market position 3 Market trends 4 2. Market size 5 The total market 5 Motor vehicle parts and accessories 5 Table 1: apparent UK demand for motor vehicle parts and accessories (£m), 1994-1998 6 The sale of new and used motor vehicles 6 Table 2: sales of new and used motor vehicles in the UK exclusive of value-added tax (£m), 1994-1998 7 Vehicle production 7 Table 3: vehicle production in the UK (000), 1994-1998 7 New registrations 7 Table 4: new registrations of vehicles in the UK (000), 1994-1998 8 The number of vehicles in use 8 Table 5: the number of vehicles in use in the UK, 1995-1998 9 By market sector 10 Batteries 10 Electrical components 10 Exhaust systems 10 Transmissions 11 Tyres 11 Foreign trade 11 Exports 11 Imports 12 Table 6: UK exports and imports of motor components (million), 1994-1998 12 The destination of exports 12 European union 12 Table 7: UK exports of general autoparts and accessories to European union countries (£m), 1997 and 1998 13 Non-European union 13 Table 8: UK exports of general autoparts and accessories to Non-European union countries (£m), 1997 and 1998 14 The origin of imports 14 European union 14 Table 9: UK imports of general autoparts and accessories from European union countries (£m), 1997 and 1998 15 Non-European union 15 Table 10: UK imports of general autoparts and accessories from Non-European union countries (£m), 1997 and 1998 16 3. Industry background 17 Recent history 17 Industry concentration 18 By turnover 18 Table 11: the number of vat-based enterprises involved in the manufacture of parts and accessories for motor vehicles and their engines by turnover (£000), 1998 18 Table 12: the number of vat-based enterprises involved in the sale of motor vehicle parts and accessories by turnover (£000), 1998 19 By number of employees 19 Table 13: the number of local units involved in the manufacture of parts and accessories for motor vehicles and their engines by number of employees, 1998 20 Distribution 20 Fast-fit 20 Table 14: selected major UK fast-fit chains and retail outlets by turnover (£m), 1997 and 1998 21 Trade associations 21 Automotive aftermarket association 21 Automobile association 22 British rubber manufacturers association 22 Institute of British carriage and automobile manufacturers 22 National tyre distributors association 22 Retail motor industry federation 23 RAC ltd 23 Society of motor manufacturers and traders 23 4. Competitor analysis 24 The marketplace 24 Table 15: selected autoparts companies by turnover (£m), 1997/1998/1999 24 Market leaders 26 Btr plc 26 Financial results 26 Tomkins plc 26 Financial results 27 Lucasvarity ltd 27 Financial results 27 Gkn plc 27 Financial results 28 T&n ltd 28 Financial results 28 Bba group plc 28 Financial results 28 Unipart group of companies ltd 28 Financial results 29 Britax international plc 29 Financial results 29 TT group plc 30 Financial results 30 The mayflower corporation plc 30 Financial results 30 Finelist group plc 31 Financial results 31 Partco group ltd 31 Financial results 32 Dura automotive ltd 32 Financial results 32 Advertising and promotion 33 Motor components 33 Table 16: main media advertising expenditure on motor components (£000), 1994-1998 33 Manufacturers of motor accessories 33 Table 17: main media advertising expenditure by manufacturers of motor accessories (£000), 1994-1998 34 Tyres 34 Table 18: main media advertising expenditure on tyres (£000), 1994-1998 35 Tyre and exhaust centres 35 Table 19: main media advertising expenditure by tyre and exhaust centres (£000), 1994-1998 36 5. Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats 37 Strengths 37 Weaknesses 37 Opportunities 38 Threats 38 6. Buying behaviour 39 Car ownership 39 Table 20: the ownership of cars for private motoring (000 and % of adults), 1999 40 Age of car 40 Table 21: year and model of car (000 and % of adults), 1999 41 Car servicing 41 Table 22: response to car servicing (000 and % of adults), 1999 42 Car components 42 Table 23: the purchase of spark plugs, car batteries and tyres (000 and % of adults), 1999 43 Car batteries 43 Table 24: purchasers of car batteries by social grade (000 and % of buyers), 1999 44 Spark plugs 44 Table 25: purchasers of spark plugs by social grade, (000 and % of buyers), 1999 45 Tyres 45 Table 26: purchasers of tyres by social grade, (000 and % of buyers), 1999 46 7. Outside suppliers to the industry 47 Introduction 47 Raw materials 47 Steel 47 Non-ferrous metals 47 Rubber 48 Glass 48 Chemicals 48 Electrical and electronic equipment 48 8. Current issues 49 Corporate activity 49 Lucasvarity plc 49 Sumitomo electric industries 49 Toyota gosei 49 Michelin tyres 49 Cooper-avon tyres ltd 49 Kwik-fit holdings 50 Rover group 50 Other developments 50 Reduction in the number of component suppliers 50 Pressure on autopart prices 51 Copyright on autopart manufacture 51 9. Forecasts 53 Introduction 53 Sales of autoparts 53 The original equipment markets 53 Replacement markets 54 Forecasts 1999 to 2003 54 Table 27: forecast apparent UK demand for motor vehicle parts and accessories at 1999 prices (£m), 1999-2003 55 10. Company profiles 56 Bba group plc 57 Britax international plc 59 Btr plc 61 Dura automotive ltd 63 Finelist group plc 65 Gkn plc 67 Lucasvarity ltd 69 The mayflower corporation plc 71 Partco group ltd 73 Tomkins plc 75 Tt group plc 77 Unipart group of companies ltd 79 11. Further sources 81 Associations 81 Periodicals 83 Directories 84 General sources 85 Hoppenstedt bonnier information sources 86 Government publications 87 Other sources 87 Understanding TGI data 89 Number, profile, penetration 89 Social grade 90 Standard region 90 Key note research 91 The key note range of reports 92