The Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) says the US specialty-equipment industry continues to experience strong growth and demand after battling the COVID-19 pandemic, but concerns remain due to ongoing supply chain issues, inflation, economic uncertainty and the war in Ukraine.
According to SEMA’s new State of the Industry Spring 2022 report, 75 per cent of manufacturers, 68 per cent of distributors, and 53 per cent of retailers / installers report sales above pre-pandemic levels and consumer demand remains robust for most companies.
Additional key findings from the report include:
- More than half of companies expect sales to continue to grow in the coming year
- Supply chain issues remain a challenge for more than 90 per cent of the industry, and most don’t see things returning to normal until at least 2023
- The current inflation rate of 8.5 per cent is the highest it has been in 40 years, but consumers continue to spend
- Despite petrol prices increasing more than 40 per cent on average from where they were last year, 80 per cent of Americans still plan to take a road trip this summer
- Amid record consumer demand, 70 per cent of manufacturers, 56 per cent of distributors, and 45 per cent of retail installers have had difficulty filling positions due to a shortage of qualified applicants to hire
SEMA said the report, which includes 70 pages of new industry data, helps companies make better business decisions by highlighting current industry trends, business metrics, and estimates on how sales have changed during the last year. It also highlights ongoing supply chain disruptions challenging many organisations and provides a “pulse check” on consumers as they navigate economic uncertainty and deal with significant price increases for many products and services.
The State of the Industry Spring 2022 report is available to download for free at www.sema.org/research.