CONTENTS

2. CONTENTS

3. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

8. Special Questions:Education and Technical Training in the Aftermarket

9. An overwhelming majority of respondents, 89%, indicated a need for increased technical training for service technicians in the automotive aftermarket

10. On average, 8.4% of marketing spend dollars is allocated to technical training in the industryMajority of suppliers, 89%, delegate some portion of marketing spend on technical training; indicates how important of an issue this is for our industry

11. Majority of respondents, 62%, have seen an increase in their technical training budget over the past decadeRespondents estimated that, on average, budgets have increased 11%

12. “Person-to-person training”, “online resources” and “800 help desk” are the most common initiatives to increase education for service technicians

13. One of the major shifts respondents reported in regards to technical training was increased use of technology

14. Detailed Results: Market Conditions

15. Sales performance continued to increase with 76% of respondents enjoying growthRespondents are seeing steady increases over the past year

16. An overwhelmingly majority of “under car” respondents, 94%, indicated growth in sales in the first quarter of 2014

18. Respondents’ independent aftermarket sales grew on average by 5.8%, a significant increase from Q4The average growth reported by respondents is the highest seen since 2012 Q4

19. “Under car” product segment experienced the greatest average sales growth at +6.5%The colder winter was seen in the average growth rate of the “Cooling/HVAC” segment at only +1.1%

20. OES average growth rate increased to +2.8%Growth rate grew by 1 percentage point from 2013 Q4

21. Q4 pricing band has tightened with 18% increasing prices and only 7% reporting declinesPricing environment appears to move cyclically throughout the year

22. Gross margin performance increased slightly in Q4Gross margin has remained balanced throughout 2013

23. Detailed Results:Outlook

24. Respondent’s outlook increased with majority, 63%, indicating optimismFor the past three quarters, there has been a steady increase in optimism among respondents

25. Majority, 54%, added to inventories in 2014 Q1Inventories saw a significant increase from the past quarter

26. Majority of respondents, 52%, added to production capacity in 2014 Q1Capacity has been increasing since 2013 Q3

27. Hiring increased significantly with 69% indicating modest and substantive hiring from 2013 Q4This is the largest increase since 2012

28. New orders remained steady from previous quarterOn average, new orders increased by 5.2%

29. Detailed Results:Issues

30. “Lack of pricing power,” “Extended terms” and “Aftermarket demand” remains top issues for aftermarket suppliers

31. Weather dominated respondents concerns in early 2014, although mixed views were expressed

32. IMR Repair ShopSurvey

33. Shop sales increased from previous quarter

34. Channels purchased from in past 12 months

35. Appendix

36. Respondents’ product categories

37. What shifts are you seeing in how technical training and education in the aftermarket is being conducted? (1/2)

38. What shifts are you seeing in how technical training and education in the aftermarket is being conducted? (2/2)

39. What events or changes have most impacted your business or business conditions in the past three months? (1/2)

41. AASA Supplier Barometer methodology notes

42. Contact Information