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About Advance Auto Parts
At Advance Auto Parts we have a passion for YES. Each day we are motivated by a passion to help our Customers. When you join our team, you become one of more than 68,000 knowledgeable and experienced Team Members who are committed to providing outstanding customer service to our customers, communities and each other every day.
With over 5,100 stores and branches in the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, we are a leading automotive aftermarket parts provider.
With opportunities ranging from our Stores and Distribution Centers to our Corporate Headquarters and our rapidly growing Professional Business, we have the career for you, and we’re committed to advancing the lives of our fellow Team Members, Customers, and the Communities where we live and work.
We challenge each and every team member to lead the Advance culture by taking the time to understand our Cultural Beliefs and bring them to life. Everyone has a part to play in driving the company’s evolution, success and creating the culture we want.
It’s about how we approach our work and interact with each other. When we do it right, we experience care, move with speed, and discover our individual purpose. This is what it means to be part of the Advance family.
Overview of Advance Auto Parts
Like businesses, governments, communities and families around the world, we are being challenged in ways we could not have anticipated by the global coronavirus pandemic.
Through this blog, I plan to share regular updates on how this crisis is unfolding at Advance Auto Parts, starting with a message about how we are helping others right now and why the U.S. government has deemed our business essential during this crisis.
First and foremost, nothing is more important than the health and safety of our Team Members and our Customers. That has always been the case at Advance; however, in the midst of a global pandemic, it has taken on an entirely new meaning.
In times of great uncertainty, our customers need safe, working vehicles to ensure they can get to essential jobs and have easy access to food, supplies and medical assistance.
It’s a great time to be in the aftermarket car-parts business. Just check out how things are going for Advance Auto Parts, whose business covers every nook and cranny of this market.
Advance Auto Parts Product Review
But Advance takes things much further: It has an expansive parts-catalog business, an academy for training automotive technicians, and a technology arm providing software and multimedia projects like animations that show consumers how a repair will be done. Its website and ecommerce operations are modern and mobile.
And, as required of any business related to horsepower and socket wrenches, Advance sponsors racing events and competitors. Let’s take a quick look at three reasons why the near-term outlook for the automotive aftermarket industry outlook is bullish, using Advance as an example.
Cars on the Road Keep Getting Older
Cars and light trucks are staying on the road longer than ever. The Wall Street Journal reported that the average age of U.S. cars and light trucks hit an all-time high of 12.1 years in 2021. Moreover, many of those cars are outside of warranty but not yet ready for the scrapyard.
These are the kinds of cars that DIY mechanics fix and maintain on their own. The less-mechanically inclined would probably rely on independent garages. These are prime markets for Advance Auto Parts and its counterparts in the aftermarket business.
Used Cars Look Like an Attractive Alternative
The average list price for new cars in the U.S. exceeded $40,000 in July 2021, according to Kelly Blue Book (KBB). And buyers with immunity to sticker shock face another challenge: The global shortage of computer chips is pinching new-car inventories.
KBB notes that while used-car prices hit all-time-highs in the summer of 2021, the average of just under $26,000 was still far more economical than buying new.
Economy-minded motorists often change their own oil. Those handy with tools often feel comfortable replacing belts and disc brake pads. And they’re less inclined to pay full retail for visits to the dealer’s repair shop.
The Mass Market in Electric Cars is Far in the Future
What about the looming shift to electric vehicles? Yes, electric motors have far fewer moving parts than internal combustion engines, requiring less maintenance and fewer repairs and replacements.
But mass adoption of electric cars is years in the future. Data from an Advance strategic planning document from April 2021 predicts that in 2030, internal-combustion/hybrid vehicles on the road will still outnumber their electric-powered cousins by a factor of 20-to-1.
It’s true that the current auto part aftermarket chains face significant competitive challenges. Amazon and Walmart aren’t going away, for instance. Even so, there’s evidence that these giants’ forays into the aftermarket has run out of steam — primarily because chains like Advance have risen to the challenge and started recapturing lost market share.
