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Automotive Aftermarket Spending Statistics: U.S. Market, Households, and Retail

Explore U.S. automotive aftermarket market growth, consumer vehicle expenses, and retail sales indicators, with clear distinctions between forecasts and measured spending.

November 12, 2026 6 min read audiobahninc.com Editorial Team

Contents

Automotive aftermarket spending statistics: U.S. market size and growth

The U.S. automotive aftermarket has continued to expand, though reported figures cover different vehicle classes and should not be treated as one uninterrupted series. Auto Care Association releases report that U.S. light-duty aftermarket sales grew 8.6% in 2023 to $392 billion, then grew 5.7% in 2024 to $413.7 billion. These are historical growth figures for the light-duty aftermarket.

A later release states that the broader U.S. total aftermarket grew 3.9% in 2025. It forecasts 5.4% growth in 2026, reaching $599.7 billion, and projects total sales of $676.5 billion in 2029. The broad total aftermarket and light-duty-only figures have different scopes, so the $413.7 billion light-duty figure for 2024 should not be directly compared with the $599.7 billion 2026 total-market forecast as if they were successive values in the same series. Auto Care Association, June 2024; June 2025; June 2026.

MeasurePeriodFigureStatus and scope
U.S. light-duty aftermarket sales2023$392 billion; up 8.6%Reported historical figure
U.S. light-duty aftermarket sales2024$413.7 billion; up 5.7%Reported historical figure
U.S. total aftermarket2025Up 3.9%Reported historical growth
U.S. total aftermarket2026$599.7 billion; forecast growth of 5.4%Forecast published in June 2026
U.S. total aftermarket2029$676.5 billionProjection published in June 2026

The 2024 release had forecast 5.9% growth for the light-vehicle aftermarket in 2024. The next release reported 5.7% growth for that year. This is a useful reminder that an industry forecast is an expectation made at a particular time, while a later release may report a different result. The same 2025 release projected that the combined light-, medium-, and heavy-duty aftermarket would reach $664.3 billion in 2028. That combined vehicle-class measure differs from the later total-market projection of $676.5 billion for 2029; the figures come from separate releases and forecast vintages. Auto Care Association, June 2024; June 2025; June 2026.

The vehicle population figures provide additional industry context. The June 2026 release says the U.S. light-duty vehicle parc—the vehicles in operation—is projected to exceed 301 million by 2029, nearly 10 million more than in 2025. It also reports a record average age of 12.9 years for light-duty vehicles in operation. These figures describe the vehicle population and its age; they are not spending measurements or proof that any particular factor caused aftermarket growth. Auto Care Association, June 2026.

Automotive aftermarket spending statistics: household vehicle upkeep and repair

Industry sales totals capture spending across the market, while consumer expenditure statistics describe average outlays per consumer unit. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reports that average annual transportation expenditures were $13,318 per U.S. consumer unit in 2024, up 1.1% from 2023. In 2025, average transportation expenditures were $13,492, equal to 16.5% of average annual expenditures. Transportation includes far more than repairs or aftermarket purchases, so these totals are broad budget context rather than estimates of aftermarket spending. BLS, Consumer Expenditures—2024; BLS, Consumer Expenditures—2025.

For a more specific upkeep measure, the BLS-sourced FRED series for vehicle maintenance and repairs reports an annual average of $984 per U.S. consumer unit in 2024. The unit is an average across all consumer units, not just those that paid for maintenance or repairs during the year. It also is not a market-wide total. FRED, Expenditures: Vehicle Maintenance and Repairs: All Consumer Units.

Other BLS categories can help show the scale of vehicle-related household budgets, but they should not be relabeled as repair spending. Average “other vehicle expenses” were $4,206 per consumer unit in 2024, a 9.4% increase from 2023; that category represented 5.4% of average annual expenditures. Vehicle purchases, measured as net outlay, averaged $5,337 per unit and represented 6.8% of expenditures. The purchase outlay declined 3.6% from 2023 to 2024. These distinct movements show why a broad vehicle-budget figure can obscure changes in individual components. BLS, Consumer Expenditures—2024.

In 2025, average other vehicle expenses were $4,765 per consumer unit and average vehicle-purchase net outlay was $5,023. The BLS notes that a subcomponent publication source changed from the Interview Survey to the Diary Survey, contributing to the statistically significant increase reported for other vehicle expenses. Because of this change, interpreting the year-to-year movement as a simple change in underlying household behavior would overlook a documented measurement issue. BLS, Consumer Expenditures—2025.

Automotive aftermarket spending statistics: retail sales indicators

Census retail sales data offer a more frequent view of selling activity, but the categories are not interchangeable with the full aftermarket market. In September 2026, U.S. motor vehicle and parts dealers reported a 2.5% sales increase from September 2025 and a 0.2% seasonally adjusted increase from August 2026. The category is NAICS 441, which includes motor vehicle dealers as well as parts dealers. It therefore does not isolate aftermarket parts shops. U.S. Census Bureau, Advance Monthly Sales for Retail and Food Services, September 2026.

The same Census release lists revised, seasonally adjusted sales of $11,680 million for auto parts, accessories, and tire stores in September 2025. This is a more focused retail category, NAICS 4413, but it covers sales by those store establishments rather than all aftermarket activity. It does not capture every service, distribution, or sales channel included in a broad industry total. Census estimates are also nominal sales values: the reported dollar amount is not, by itself, an inflation-adjusted measure of volume. U.S. Census Bureau, Advance Monthly Sales for Retail and Food Services, September 2026.

The report’s methodology also matters. Census says its monthly advance retail survey mails letters to a probability sample of approximately 4,800 employer firms, selected from the larger Monthly Retail Trade Survey sample. As a sample survey, it produces estimates rather than a complete count of every retailer. In addition, the September 2026 release does not provide a current-month advance estimate for the NAICS 4413 parts, accessories, and tire-store row in the cited table. The available 2025 figure is revised, not a September 2026 estimate. U.S. Census Bureau, Advance Monthly Sales for Retail and Food Services, September 2026.

How to interpret automotive aftermarket spending statistics

The most useful reading is to match each number to its population, period, and measurement. Auto Care Association market figures describe the U.S. aftermarket, with some releases specifying light-duty sales and others reporting a broader total. BLS measures average spending per consumer unit, and its categories such as transportation or other vehicle expenses are wider than repair and parts spending. Census tracks retail sales in specific establishment categories and reports monthly changes that do not encompass the entire market.

Forecasts should likewise remain labeled by when they were published. The 5.9% 2024 growth expectation in the June 2024 release and the later reported 5.7% result are different kinds of evidence. Similarly, the 2026 and 2029 total-market values are forecasts or projections published in June 2026, not completed-period observations. Keeping those distinctions visible makes the statistics more useful for comparing market scale, household budgets, and retail activity without implying that they measure the same thing.

Sources

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