Pressure and disruption in the automotive aftermarket

By Neury Freitas and Maximilian Wegner

The automotive aftermarket is under sustained pressure. Consumer price sensitivity, persistent since 2025, is no longer a cyclical pattern — it is becoming structural, driving consumers away from OE-branded parts and reshaping brand hierarchies across the independent aftermarket. A second disruption is now arriving: one in three consumers already uses AI when buying car parts, with another third ready to follow. Independent workshops face growing capability gaps in battery electric vehicle and ADAS repairs, while online B2B competition is shifting away from price toward execution. With the right strategic response, we believe IAM players can turn these pressures into competitive advantage. But decisive action is required. We examine how price sensitivity and AI are changing the automotive aftermarket and what executives and investors need to do to stay ahead.

The shift away from OE parts is becoming structural

Consumer preference for original equipment (OE)-branded parts continues to fall across most of the 14 markets surveyed. IAM branded and non-branded alternatives are gaining ground, driven by rising confidence in their quality, aging vehicle fleets, and sustained pressure on household budgets. Consumers who try lower-priced alternatives and find them suitable tend not to return to more expensive options. For IAM suppliers, this makes positioning and pricing across the full vehicle lifecycle a central strategic question — one that requires credible value-tier portfolios without giving up quality perceptions.

Workshop behavior reflects the same dynamics. More than 70 percent of workshops now offer or install non-branded parts as a standard option, with consumer price sensitivity cited as the primary driver in 12 of the 14 markets surveyed. Workshops remain the dominant decision-makers in brand selection: nearly half proactively present consumers with a choice of parts. What drives brand preference - at both the consumer and workshop level, and how that balance differs by market, vehicle type, and workshop profile - is therefore more commercially significant than ever.

Online B2B competition moves from price to execution

Online purchasing is now standard practice across virtually all workshops surveyed. But as the B2B online market matures, a competitive price alone is no longer enough. Workshops value ordering convenience, inventory availability, and reliable delivery just as much as cost. Physical presence continues to matter in some markets: in the United States, a significant share of online purchases are collected in-store, reflecting a model in which digital and physical channels remain closely linked.

For distributors and online platforms, the conclusion is direct: the battle for B2B share is shifting from discounting to operational reliability. Platforms that deliver orders dependably, shorten lead times, and support workshops after the purchase are better placed to win further share than those competing on price alone.

Technology readiness: the cost of falling behind

Electrification and advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) are raising the bar for independent workshops in terms of skills and equipment. Consumer willingness to use independent workshops for battery electric vehicle (BEV) repairs is growing, but important gaps remain — particularly for complex work, where OE dealers still hold a clear advantage. Workshop BEV capability has nevertheless improved substantially: more than half now report full BEV repair capability, up from 40 percent in 2024. The task for the wider IAM is not only to build technical capacity, but to make that capability visible and credible to consumers who currently still default to OE channels for more demanding work.

ADAS is an equally pressing commercial issue. Among workshops with no or limited ADAS capabilities, a large majority have already had to turn away ADAS-related repairs — a direct and measurable loss of revenue. Equipment cost is the biggest constraint, but the business case for investment is increasingly hard to ignore as ADAS becomes more widespread across the vehicle parc. The sustainability agenda also intersects with these shifts: remanufactured parts are well placed to address both cost and trust barriers at once, combining environmental benefits with competitive pricing and strong quality standards.

AI is entering the aftermarket at scale

One in three consumers already uses AI at some point when buying automotive parts, while another third say they would consider doing so. Take-up is particularly strong in China, Turkey, Mexico, and Brazil, where consumers are bypassing more traditional purchasing channels. Among 18 to 34 year-olds, usage is already substantial.

At present, consumers mainly use AI to identify a problem, find the right part, or compare suppliers and prices — rather than to complete a purchase. This is where the commercial opportunity lies: companies that can bridge the full journey from diagnosis through comparison to completed transaction will be best placed to benefit from the next wave of demand. We refer to this as agentic commerce — a model in which AI does not simply provide information, but actively supports the consumer across the entire repair journey.

Read the full Automotive Aftermarket Pulse 2026 to see how these forces are playing out across markets, channels, vehicle types, and workshop profiles — including a dedicated focus on Japan, included in the survey for the first time this year.

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