Automotive accessories are a substantial U.S. aftermarket business spanning appearance products, performance parts, wheels, tires, towing equipment, electronics, and vehicle-specific upgrades. The figures below show the market’s scale, the products consumers buy, the vehicles most associated with customization, and how the industry sells and installs those products.
Contents
- Market size and growth
- What consumers buy
- Vehicle segments driving demand
- Accessorization by vehicle model
- Shopping and installation behavior
- Retail and workforce scale
Market size and growth
The broadest recent specialty-equipment estimate puts U.S. accessory and performance-parts sales at $52.92 billion in 2025. About one in four U.S. vehicle owners purchased accessory or performance products to personalize a vehicle during that year, and more than half of buyers were under age 40. Electric and hybrid vehicles accounted for more than 15% of U.S. new-vehicle sales in 2025. SEMA, “Want to Grow Your Aftermarket Business? Start With the 2026 SEMA Market Report” (2025).
An earlier SEMA release reported $52.3 billion in U.S. automotive specialty-equipment sales in 2023, approximately 1% above 2022. Within that 2023 total, appearance and accessory products generated $27.41 billion, engine and performance products generated $12.56 billion, and wheels, tires, and handling products generated $12.38 billion. SEMA, “AUTOMOTIVE SPECIALTY-EQUIPMENT SALES GROW TO $52.3 BILLION” (2023).
Alternative-power-vehicle accessories were a $2.5 billion U.S. sales category in 2023. That figure sits inside a specialty-equipment market that includes accessory, appearance, performance, wheel, tire, and suspension products; it should not be read as a standalone global automotive-accessories market. SEMA, “AUTOMOTIVE SPECIALTY-EQUIPMENT SALES GROW TO $52.3 BILLION” (2023).
The wider light-duty aftermarket reached $413.7 billion in U.S. sales in 2024, up 5.7%. The Auto Care Association forecast 5.1% light-duty aftermarket growth for 2025. Its combined light-, medium-, and heavy-duty U.S. automotive aftermarket forecast was $664.3 billion for 2028. These are broader aftermarket measures than specialty-equipment accessory sales, and the 2025 and 2028 figures are forecasts rather than observed outcomes. Auto Care Association, “New Report: 5.1% Growth Expected for Auto Care Industry in 2025, Reaching $664 Billion in 2028” (2024 actual; 2025 and 2028 forecasts).
What consumers buy
U.S. consumers spent $26.73 billion on accessory and appearance products in 2021. The category mix shows that accessories extend well beyond cosmetic upgrades. Performance products accounted for $12.23 billion in consumer purchases, while exterior-body products accounted for $5.92 billion. SEMA, “2022 SEMA Market Report” (2021).
Chemical products were a $7.77 billion purchase category in 2021, with a $7.89 billion forecast for 2022. Maintenance oils and additives accounted for $4.58 billion, while wax and cleaning products accounted for $1.94 billion. SEMA, “2022 SEMA Market Report” (2021; 2022 forecast).
Utility-oriented categories also represented meaningful spending:
| Accessory category | U.S. consumer purchases | Measurement |
|---|---|---|
| Utility accessories | $3.79 billion | 2021; $3.87 billion 2022 forecast |
| Mobile electronics | $3.41 billion | 2021; $3.44 billion 2022 forecast |
| Interior products | $2.68 billion | 2021; $2.73 billion 2022 forecast |
| Lighting products | $2.39 billion | 2021; $2.43 billion 2022 forecast |
| Trailer and towing products | $0.96 billion | 2021 |
| Truck bedliners and other bed accessories | $0.84 billion | 2021 |
| Racks and carriers | $0.82 billion | 2021 |
| Driver-assist systems | $0.76 billion | 2021; $0.78 billion 2022 forecast |
Source for every row: SEMA, “2022 SEMA Market Report”. The forecast values are estimates published for 2022, not later reported sales.
Vehicle segments driving demand
Pickups, CUVs, and SUVs represented 32%, 15%, and 12%, respectively, of U.S. accessory and performance-parts sales in 2023. Together, those three segments accounted for 59% of the reported sales mix. SEMA, “AUTOMOTIVE SPECIALTY-EQUIPMENT SALES GROW TO $52.3 BILLION” (2023).
SEMA’s 2026 light-truck snapshot describes an even larger role for truck-based vehicles in the vehicle population and new-vehicle market. Light trucks and CUVs accounted for more than 80% of U.S. new-vehicle sales in 2026. CUVs alone represented about half of new-vehicle sales and more than 30% of vehicles on U.S. roads. Their accessories represented 16% of the U.S. specialty-equipment market. SEMA, “SEMA Light-Truck Snapshot Reveals Key Industry Trends” (2026).
The U.S. vehicle population surpassed 295 million vehicles in 2026. Pickups represented about 20% of vehicles on U.S. roads, and more than $15 billion was spent annually to accessorize and modify U.S. pickups. Pickup-related accessories and performance products represented about 30% of the specialty-parts market. More than $30 billion was spent annually on accessories and modifications for U.S. light trucks. SEMA, “SEMA Light-Truck Snapshot Reveals Key Industry Trends” (2026).
These 2026 figures describe the U.S. light-truck landscape at that measurement point. They are not a global vehicle estimate, and annual spending figures should not be combined mechanically with the separately defined 2023 specialty-equipment sales total.
Accessorization by vehicle model
SEMA’s model-level data helps show why vehicle population alone does not determine accessory demand. The vehicle-in-operation counts were measured as of March 2021, while the accessorization rates were identified as 2019 data. The figures are therefore older measurements, not current 2026 rates.
| Model group | Vehicles in operation | Accessorization rate |
|---|---|---|
| GM full-size pickups | 18.1 million | 30% |
| Ford F-Series pickups | 16.1 million | 30% |
| Ram pickups | 8.2 million | 29% |
| Jeep Wranglers | 3.2 million | 39% |
| Ford Mustangs | 2.1 million | 34% |
| Dodge Challengers | 1.3 million | 38% |
| Chevrolet Camaros | 824,000 | 30% |
| Chevrolet Corvettes | 594,000 | 39% |
| BMW X5s | 620,000 | 43% |
| BMW 3 Series | 1.7 million | 37% |
| Toyota RAV4s | 4.0 million | 15% |
| Honda Civics | 5.8 million | 21% |
Source for every row: SEMA, “TRUCKS AND SPORTS CARS DRIVE CUSTOMIZATION MARKET”. Among these examples, BMW X5s had the highest reported accessorization rate at 43%. Jeep Wranglers and Chevrolet Corvettes were each at 39%, while Toyota RAV4s had the lowest rate in the table at 15%. The source notes that vehicle-in-operation dates can be March 2021 or December 31, 2020 depending on the table, while the rate data is from 2019.
Shopping and installation behavior
The 2021 SEMA channel data shows different patterns for physical and online purchases of chemical automotive products. Auto-parts chains captured 35% of physical-location chemical-product accessory dollars, compared with 11% of online chemical-product accessory dollars. General retail chains captured 17% of physical-location dollars, while online-only general retailers captured 5% of online dollars. SEMA, “2022 SEMA Market Report” (2021).
Installation behavior is especially important for maintenance-oriented products. DIY installation represented 76% of maintenance-oil and additive purchases in SEMA’s 2021 data. That share describes the installation choice associated with those purchases; it does not establish a 76% DIY rate across every automotive accessory category. SEMA, “2022 SEMA Market Report” (2021).
Retail and workforce scale
The official 2023 Census summary counted 38,567 U.S. employer establishments classified as automotive parts and accessories stores. Those stores reported $84.377099 billion in sales or revenue, $12.520337 billion in annual payroll, and 3,075,444 employees. U.S. Census Bureau, “2023: ECNSVY Annual Integrated Economic Survey Summary Statistics” (2023).
The Census NAICS 441310 category covers automotive parts and accessories stores and includes establishments that retail and/or install accessories. Its employee value may reflect the table’s employer-firm coverage rather than the entire aftermarket labor force, so it should not be treated as a complete industry employment census.
The motor-vehicle-and-parts-dealers subsector employed 195,190 parts salespersons in 2025. The 2025 median wage for parts salespersons in that subsector was $17.64 per hour, or $36,690 per year. Retail salespersons in the same subsector had a 2025 median wage of $19.83 per hour, or $41,250 per year. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, “Motor Vehicle and Parts Dealers: NAICS 441” (2025).
Taken together, the establishment, revenue, payroll, employment, and occupation figures show an accessory ecosystem that includes specialty retailers, parts stores, installers, dealerships, and sales staff. Because the sources use different industry definitions and measurement years, each figure is best used within its stated scope rather than added to another market total.