SIC 7549
AUTOMOTIVE SERVICES, EXCEPT REPAIR AND CARWASHES



This category covers establishments primarily engaged in furnishing automotive services, except repair and carwashes. Establishments primarily providing automobile driving instructions are classified in SIC 8299: Schools and Educational Services, Not Elsewhere Classified.

NAICS Code(s)

811191 (Automotive Oil Change and Lubrication Shops)

488410 (Motor Vehicle Towing)

811198 (All Other Automotive Repair and Maintenance)

Examples of miscellaneous automotive service providers include emissions testing centers, inspection services, do-it-yourself garages, diagnostic centers, lubricating and oil change shops, emergency road services, rust roofers, window tinting shops, and towing services. The industry consisted mostly of small repair shops. The average number of employees per establishment, for example, was 6 in the mid 1990s, while the average for all service industries was 13. In addition, only the top 10 companies in the industry generated annual revenues of more than $10 million. The majority of establishments within this classification had sales that fell within the $100,000 to $249,000 range.

The automotive services industry grew out of America's love affair with the automobile. Immediately after Henry Ford's introduction of the Model T in 1905, car sales boomed. From just 2.2 million in 1920, annual automobile production rocketed to more than 8 million by 1950. As auto output fluctuated around 8 million annually throughout the mid 1900s, the automotive services industry ballooned. Importantly, federal safety and emissions regulations developed in the mid 1960s bolstered demand. By the early 1990s, the miscellaneous auto services industry generated $3.4 billion in revenues each year and employed 67,400 workers. By the mid 1990s, revenues and employment reached almost $4.4 billion and 86,300 workers, respectively.

Demand for miscellaneous automotive services expanded during the 1980s, due to a surge in car sales to almost 11.5 million per year in 1986 and 1987. Furthermore, the rapid proliferation of quick and convenient oil change and lubrication shops allowed the industry to encroach on traditional service stations.

A U.S. recession in the late 1980s and early 1990s hampered growth in most segments of the industry. Markets for some fast-growth services, such as quick oil changes and window tinting, became saturated. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency significantly boosted local demand for services with its IM 240 emissions testing legislation, even though many states resisted its regulations.

The largest company in the industry in 1999 remained Envirotest Systems Corp. of Phoenix, Arizona, with assets of $141 million. Other industry leaders included Q Lube, Industrial Powder Coatings, Interstate national Dealer Services, Inc. and Grease Monkey.

Job prospects for miscellaneous automotive service providers were promising going into the late 1990s. In fact, most occupations were expected to increase by over 40 percent between 1990 and 2005, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Positions for coating and decorating workers, for example, appeared likely to rise by about 30 percent. Jobs for miscellaneous mechanics were anticipated to jump by about 50 percent. Wages in this industry, however, were low in relation to most other service industries, including automobile-related sectors. Because most positions required a relatively low level of skill and training, the average industry employee earned about 72 percent as much as the average service industry worker in the early 1990s.

Further Reading

Dun's Census of American Business 1996. Bethlehem, PA: Dun & Bradstreet, Inc., 1996.

Occupational Outlook Handbook. Washington: U.S. Department of Labor, 1992.

Service Industries USA. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale Group, 1996.

Dun's Census of American Business 1997. Parsippany, NJ: Dun & Bradstreet, 1997.

Ward's Business Directory of U.S. Private and Public Companies, 1999. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale Group, 1999.

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