Dashcams are becoming an in-demand product at car dealerships and some car audio shops.
Regarding aftermarket dashcams, sales to dealers this year are forecast to increase by 8 percent in dollar volume to $205 million, with unit sales climbing 11 percent, said the Consumer Technology Association.
Several retailers we contacted report an uptick in dashcam sales.
Armando Sounds in Chicago is now installing dashcams on a daily basis and said the category is growing. More parents are putting dashcams in their kids’ cars, said Mohammed Arman. “The way people are driving nowadays, and with insurance rates skyrocketing, everyone wants to protect themselves,” he said.
Mesa Radio, Albuquerque, NM said dashcam sales have been gradually on the rise for the past two years. The shop sells Alpine and Momento brands. It also regularly installs dashcams that customers purchase online, and charges about $200 for the install, said Mike Robinson, owner.
SoundFX’s Mark D’Elia believes consumers grew tired of cheap dashcams on Amazon that were hard to set up. Now they are looking for professional advice and installation. D’Elia said the devices are profitable. “We sell Thinkware and Firstech. We stock a lot and offer a lot of price points…A three to four hour install fee coupled with an average margin item is fine by me. If you put effort into the sales side of it and be the expert, it becomes a good category.”
Several retailers mentioned they are seeing demand for the new Compustar Drone XC, a 4G dash cam, that integrates with an aftermarket remote start and security system.
On the new car side, about a third of prospective car buyers say they want a dashcam in their new vehicle, according to a study by AutoPacific.
“They’re exploding in popularity.” A driver can spend “a couple hundred bucks and you do get this really reliable, accurate, extra safety blanket,” said AutoPacific’s Robby DeGraff according to Automotive News.
Car companies are taking note of the rising demand for dashcams. Ford offers a dashcam option for commercial customers and Ford CEO Jim Farley has stated that video capture technology will play an important role in the future of the car, according to Ford Authority. Toyota and BMW also offer integrated dashcams on some models, said Automotive News.
