Dealers are reporting a sluggish March, and new numbers released from the Mobile Electronics Association (MEA) bear that out.
Overall car audio specialist sales were down 19 percent over last year for the first quarter 2023 based on point of sale data collected by MEA on 300 retailers and projected to up to 4,600 known car audio locations (not stores, but locations). This is preliminary data, said MEA President Chris Cook, who expects the final tabulation to show Q1 numbers at 15 percent below the same quarter last year.
Cook presented the findings at the GoFast Expo distributor show in Massachusetts this week.
He predicted full year 2023 sales will fall by 10 percent compared to 2022, which was also a soft year. So he encouraged retailers to be prepared and to continue to educate themselves to stay ahead of their competition.
That said, the numbers are different when compared to 2019, the last “normal” year before the pandemic. Q1 2023 sales were up 4 percent compared to Q1 2019, which marks a return to the typical year over year sales growth seen before the pandemic, said Cook.
We polled a handful of retailers and reps in recent days, who reported a slow March. Mark D’Elia of SoundFX, West Warwick, RI blames inflation. “When everything you buy is up, that filters down.” While the average rate of inflation is about 6 percent, it feels more like 20 to 25 percent on some items, he added.
Shawn Gunnels of Mobile Music, WA said, “We are seeing erratic customer flow. Some days it’s really good, some days you wonder, ‘Is there a sign that says don’t come here?’” Overall, the shop is still up for the year, but, as with many other shops, it’s the larger jobs that are carrying it through.
Retailers also reported very little tax return activity this season. Gunnels said, “I have a friend who owns a used car dealership that specializes in the $5K type car. The tax season used to be huge and he’s not seeing any. We used to have it, but we haven’t seen it in the past couple of years.”
The typical tax refund this year will be around $2,700, according to CBS News, but some analysts have estimated the tax return this year as low as $1,940. The average tax refund last year was almost $3,200 said CBS News.
Only 4.8% down from 2022. Hang on to that inventory and buy some more (They won’t go stale). Another round of shortages are coming. You heard it here first. The shortages might not happen right away but there coming. Pay attention to the world stage.
What country owns the most ports?
“China”
At present, China is home to more shipping ports than any other country, including seven of the 10 busiest ports in the world. In addition to its massive accumulation of domestic shipping infrastructure, China also owns over 100 ports in approximately 63 countries.
And most dealers are sitting on an excess of inventory.