Small Business Saturday offers communities the opportunity to support local businesses, including car repair shops and dealerships, for an item most use every day – their cars. While alternative parts manufacturers and distributors, parts stores, and repair shops are directly responsible for 2.7 million jobs and more than $175 billion in wages in communities nationwide, repair restrictions are unfortunately placing costly and unnecessary pressure on how local shops choose to manage their business.
Original manufacturers are increasingly using a range of tactics, like patent thickets, position statements, repair procedures, and trademarks, to force repair shops and dealerships to use their parts and to steer more business to their preferred repair networks. These practices not only severely limit consumer choice, but cause economic ripple effects for businesses nationwide.
With more than two-thirds of repair shops in the U.S. being family-owned, choosing to stay close to home for repairs helps support local jobs and fund community initiatives. It’s also clear that consumers trust their local shops, with independent mechanics performing around 70% of all automotive repairs. But, repair restrictions are disproportionately hurting local businesses, which are already under stress due to the pandemic, and making it harder for small businesses to offer certain aftermarket parts and services to their customers. In fact, 91% of independent repair shops reported a decrease in revenue in 2020.
Business owners know their customers best, and have a right to choose between offering automaker-branded and aftermarket parts from alternative suppliers. While progress is being made to empower business owners to provide and sell the parts they want – as seen with Illinois’ recently passed right to repair bill, which prevents manufacturers from forcing repair shops and dealers to exclusively use their parts – there is still work to be done.
Right to repair protections, like design patent reform, would give a needed boost to local businesses across the country by allowing for greater choice of quality, safe, and affordable aftermarket car parts.
Show your support for Small Business Saturday. Learn more about the SMART Act and tell your member of Congress to support common-sense right to repair legislation.
