DALLAS, Texas - RnRMarketResearch.com released a new research report, "Automotive Aftermarket in North America to 2016." The research says gains will be fueled by expansion in size and increasing age of the North American light vehicle fleet, which includes a rising number of vehicles in prime aftermarket service age: five to ten years for many components. Additionally, as the regional economy improves and unemployment rates decrease, average miles driven per vehicle will climb along with travel to and from work.

Continuing improvements in vehicle component durability will prevent sales from rising more rapidly through 2016, as will increased monitoring of vehicle systems by advanced onboard electronics, alerting owners of any performance issues. This will reduce the need to make major repairs, although these losses will be offset somewhat by the ensuing maintenance work and sales of minor repair parts. Increasing price pressures from aftermarket parts sourced from low labor cost countries will also dampen sales growth in dollar terms.

The fastest growth among the major aftermarket product segments will be registered by electronic products. Suppliers of items such as controls, modules and sensors will be the beneficiaries of the further development of advanced vehicle systems and the rising amount of electronic content found in light vehicles. Mechanical products - which include automotive filters, brake parts, drivetrain components, engine hard parts and transmissions - will continue to be the largest aftermarket segment, accounting for 38 percent of all sales in 2016. Demand gains will be tempered by the rising quality of these already highly durable mechanical products.

Aftermarket sales of exterior and structural products are forecast to grow in line with the overall market through 2016, decelerating from the 2006 to 2011 period. Increased demand for higher priced items like performance tires and advanced glass products, including solar control windows and electrochromic mirrors, will help spur this rise. Value gains will be restricted, however, by improved tire quality and moderating raw material costs. Electrical parts are expected to record a similar rise in demand, limited by the long useful life of many products in this segment and stabilizing raw material prices, which will reduce inflationary pressures and market increases in dollar terms.

Professional service providers account for the vast majority of demand for light vehicle aftermarket parts, representing 85 percent of total sales in 2011. The professional service provider market is expected to see faster growth than the do-it-yourself market through 2016 due to the increasing complexity of modern vehicle systems and components, which makes it more difficult for DIYers to do some types of maintenance and repair work.