The automotive sector has been hit in recent years: inflation, the semiconductor crisis, energy prices, equipment for new models… The cost of repairs, as well as prices for spare partsliterally exploded.

This observation was made by insurers to justify increasing their insurance premiums. They are based on research by the SRA (Security and Automotive Repair), which tracks the price change for new OEM parts, looking at no less than 261 models from 24 brands.

Spare parts: technological coordination

You can’t avoid it: the latest models of cars released on the market have a lot of technological equipment, always more expensive, such as radars, numerous sensors or even LED headlights.

These the most modern equipment contribute to the increase in the prices of spare parts, on average over the past year they have increased by 10%, only for optics, for example. Other elements suffer from the energy crisis and various shortages: the windshield jumped by 11% and hoods by 13%.

On average, the increase for 2022 was 12.7%, which is more than twice the rate of inflation (5.2%). The use of used parts, which can reduce the repair budget, remains insignificant and even decreases: 3.5% in 2022 compared to 3.9% in 2021.

Spare parts: the most expensive

In 2022 almost all manufacturers have increased the price their spare parts several times a year. This mania is not new among some manufacturers: most of those showing growth of more than 10% are also those that have raised prices sharply since 2019.

Conversely, it can be surprising to see German manufacturers in less economical brands: premium cars aren’t known for being cheap, but their parts prices don’t change much from year to year.

Here are the manufacturers whose parts prices rose the most in 2022:

• SD: +22.5%
• Vauxhall: +22.1%
• Citroën: +18.9%
• Mazda: +16.8%
• Peugeot: +16.1%
• Toyota: +15.7%
• Fiat: +14.1%
• Skoda: +14%
• Renault: +13.4%
• Suzuki: +13%
• Volvo: +12.3%
• Honda: +10.2%
• Seat: +10%
• Ford: +9.5%
• Volkswagen: +9.3%
• Alfa Romeo: +9.2%
• Nissan: +8.8%
• Dacia: +7%
• Audi: +6.8%
• BMW: +5.5%
• Hyundai: +5.4%
• Kia: +5.4%
• Mercedes: +3%
• Min.: +1.8%