Used Motor Vehicle Parts Wholesalers NAICS 423140

Nov 20, 2025 - AI Transforming Auto Parts Purchasing

• AI is reshaping the landscape of aftermarket auto parts retail by improving inventory management and simplifying the sourcing of components. AI systems can analyze sales trends, part usage patterns, and supplier lead times to accurately predict demand, automatically reordering stock to prevent shortages while minimizing excess inventory and tied-up capital. AI also assists in locating rare or hard-to-find parts by searching online marketplaces, forums, and supplier databases, significantly reducing the time and effort required to track down components. When integrated with POS and shop management systems, AI handles repetitive and time-consuming tasks, freeing staff to focus on core operations, customer service, and more complex problem-solving. By enhancing efficiency, accuracy, and responsiveness, AI not only helps shops maintain optimal stock levels but also strengthens overall profitability and competitiveness in the highly dynamic auto parts retail market.
• First Brands Group, a major US auto parts supplier known for Fram and Raybestos brands, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, citing $10 to 50 billion in liabilities mainly from years of aggressive expansion. While primarily serving the aftermarket sector, its collapse could ripple through the industry, potentially causing supply disruptions, higher retail prices, and increased pressure on other suppliers with similar debt levels. US tariff policies have added to the complexity, which was already causing significant financial strain throughout the automotive industry. Other ramifications include retailers facing possible inventory gaps, and consumers could see higher prices as companies steer through the ups and downs of a constantly moving trade policy. The First Brands bankruptcy underscores the vulnerability of the US auto parts sector to both financial missteps and an ongoing American trade war.

• American Tire Distributors (ATD), one of the largest wholesale distributors of tires in the US, is finding little relief after reorganizing and emerging from bankruptcy late last year. The tire and wheel aftermarket industry has struggled mightily in the past year - low demand as consumers look for cheaper tires, supply chain disruptions brought on by a US trade war, and increased labor and product costs. Retailers like Advanced Auto Parts are closing hundreds of stores, while distributors like ATD filed for bankruptcy, and still others closed shop altogether. ATD customers continue to drop the distributor, even after it emerged from Chapter 11, spurred by an ill-advised operational expansion after the tire market boomed post-Covid in 2021. ATD had already lost Goodyear in 2018, and now Michelin North America followed suit, pulling popular tire brands such as Michelin, BFGoodrich, and Uniroyal from ATD’s network.
• Struggling retailer Advanced Auto Parts is aggressively moving on a corporate restructuring in early 2025 to turn around years of floundering sales and ranking fourth among its competitors. Its closing of 700 corporate-owned and independent stores represents 10% of corporate locations and 20% of indies. It is also closing four distribution centers and simplifying its supply chain from big distribution hubs to smaller regional hubs in order to get the vast amount of parts the company must carry to customers as quickly as possible. With recession worries looming, auto parts retailers typically benefit from consumers putting off new car purchases in favor of repairing a current vehicle. But the ping-ponging tariff war between the US and its North American neighbors is a wild card that could increase costs and blunt any gain to be had in the auto parts industry.