Despite the fact that remote start is expected to be available on 90 percent of vehicles this year, according to the Consumer Technology Association (CTA), aftermarket remote start remains fairly steady.
Compustar’s Justin Lee said, “There’s no falling off in sales. Our growth continues…We’re still seeing registration on newer vehicles from 2022 and 2023.”
Retailers are still able to upsell many customers whose vehicles come with remote start, they said. If the factory offers remote start as a phone app, some customers don’t like monthly fees. And if the factory offers it via the key fob, some consumers want the greater range offered in aftermarket products.
VOXX said sales are down slightly due to a heavy buy-in by many dealers at the end of last season.
Sales around the country so far this season are mixed. The Northeast, in particular, has seen slower sales due to a warm fall and a general lack of snow. Dave Prinz of distributor GoFast Solutions, CT said sales “popped” towards the end of November after a slow start to the month so November ended up even with last year in sales.
Overall, consumers are moving to higher end features including remote start from a phone, and they appear less resistant to paying the monthly fees that come with it, said many dealers.
At Proline Car Stereo, NY, remote start from a phone accounts for 70 percent of remote start sales. Said Anthony Fernandez, “They love the …distance. In New York you have a lot of buildings that can sometimes interfere with the transmitters.”
At Speed of Sound, CT, phone-based remote start is 80 percent of sales.
Performance Auto Sound, WA says remote start from a phone is slightly higher than 50 percent of its sales and Perfectionist Auto Sound, AK, said the ratio is about 50 percent.
But this is higher than average sell through on the feature. GoFast Solutions said remote start from a phone has about a 30 to 40 percent penetration in sales.
At Depot Auto Sound, NY, remote start from a phone is 20 percent sales and at Boomer McLoud (Car Essentials), NY, it’s about 10 or 15 percent.
SoundFX of RI says phone remote start gains by about 10 to 20 percent every year. Mark D’Elia said five years ago it was a struggle to get someone to choose the phone option. Now consumers are accustomed to paying for Netflix, Hulu, etc.
Perfectionist Auto Sound in Anchorage, owned by John Schwartz sold about 4,000 remote starts for the winter season last year, with only “3 1/2” installers. Schwartz said the shop and many other dealers in Anchorage moved to selling higher end remote start when inventory was low last year. Also installers remain difficult to find so, it makes sense to maximize each car in the bay.
A recent CTA forecast predicted remote start/security sales to dealers will increase to 1.37 million units in 2022, up from 1.35 million in 2021 and up from 1.32 million in 2020. However, these shipments are down from 1.5 million units seen in 2017.
In dollars, the CTA forecasts that revenues this year will remain flat with 2021 at $176 million. This is down from $178 million in 2020. Revenue back in 2017 was $235 million.
