Vinyl wraps, be they color change wraps, chrome delete wraps, or hood and roof wraps, are all gaining in popularity and some 12 volt shops are jumping on the bandwagon.
The vinyl wrap industry is expected to grow from $1.6 billion in 2015 to almost 11 billion by 2025, according to Grand View Research.
One reason is a growing acceptance among consumers of the film colors including matte orange, matte black, green, blue and pink. Also textured finishes are becoming more popular including wood grain, carbon fiber, brushed metal and leather, said the report.
The Al & Ed’s Autosound, CA-based chain is expected to begin offer wraps in the near future.
Retailers say the way to enter the market is by hiring a window tint installer that also has vinyl wrap experience. That’s what Titan Motoring, TN did two years ago.
“Any paint work you do on the car devalues the car, but the wrap is removeable, doesn’t devalue the car and it protects the factory paint. You can change the color. It’s removeable so you can return it back to stock,” said Philip Lindsley.
Even with a skilled technician there’s a learning curve in applying vinyl. “Originally we were pulling bumpers off the car; we pulled doors off to wrap the inside door jambs. If someone was going from red to black, if you opened the doors, you saw red. Over the course of the last 6 months we figured out how to wrap without pulling hardly anything off the car, which makes it go from a two week process to a 4 or 5 day process. If we had known that over the last two years, we would have saved some money,” said Lindsley.
But the profits are great. A roll of material that will cover a car costs $500 to $600. “So typically we charge double on the material and the rest is labor. That price does not include the trim. So if someone wants a chrome delete and color change on a Tesla, that’s $5,000,” he added.
Titan charges $3,500 for the color change and $1,500 for a chrome delete. It does about 5 to 8 chrome deletes a week and a single color wrap a week and it’s booked out about a month in advance on the full wraps.
The shop, which had its best month in its history last month at $350,000, says wrap and tint is now 25 percent of its business, up from about 10 percent two years ago.
Pete Muller, who owns a Tint World franchisee in Orlando, FL also hired window tinters who were skilled at vinyl wraps.
Muller started by wrapping his own vehicle, used as a demo car at local shows. He chose a sunset color from Oracal that fades from red to orange depending on where the sun hits it. It gets a lot of attention at shows and draws people to the booth. From there he began to offer accent wraps or hood or roof wraps. “We do a lot of chrome deletes and computer patterns if someone wants a design. Full color wraps start at $2,500. A roof wrap is about $600,” he said.
He brings the car to about two car shows a week. “So, I’m sitting out there. The wrap is the first thing people notice,” said Muller.
Leading wrap brands include 3M, Oracal and Avery Dennison, which are offered through distributors such as Fellers and Metro Restyling.
