‘Car parts market is buoyant and set for further expansion’, says GSF Chairman as company reports 20% year-on-year growth

· GSF Car Parts has today reported more than 20pc y-o-y revenue growth over the first nine months of 2024, firmly establishing itself as the industry frontrunner.

· GSF is one of the largest car parts distributors in the UK with more than 200 stores across the country.

· This month marks a year since the business was acquired by Epiris private equity and the Ahluwalia Family Office.

· Market data indicates that the wider aftermarket segment is also performing strongly, notching up 6.5% y-on-y growth for September compared with September 2023.

· GSF credits its ability to outperform the market to its significant investment in new stores, parts availability, staff and customer service.

· In response to these results, GSF Car Parts believes there is still an opportunity to add another 40 branches.

RELEASE

22nd October 2024: GSF Car Parts, the UK’s fastest-growing car parts distributor, has today announced over 20% year-on-year revenue growth, outperforming a buoyant aftermarket sector and firmly establishing itself as the frontrunner in the sector.

The announcement comes quick on the heels of data from Factor Sales reporting strong growth across the wider aftermarket car parts segment. The data shows that the sector notched up by 6.5% year-on-year growth for September, continuing a pattern that has seen eight out of nine months in 2024 trading ahead of 2023, indicating rapid industry-wide expansion.

The growth of the car parts market indicates that hard-pressed consumers are holding on to their existing cars for longer, driving demand for repairs and replacement parts.

While the broader market is performing well, the latest data shows that GSF Car Parts continues to substantially outperform the wider aftermarket segment, having staked out its position as the industry’s top performer.

This has been driven by significant investment into the business, including adding 15 new branches across the network this year, boosting product range and availability, as well as speeding up the delivery of parts to customers, and streamlining ease of returns.

In response to the latest results, GSF Car Parts has recommitted to fully opening a new 500,000-sq-ft National Distribution Centre and adding many more new branches in 2025. GSF Car Parts was acquired by private equity firm Epiris and the Ahluwalia family in October 2023.

Sukhpal Ahluwalia, Executive Chairman at GSF Car Parts, said: “The car parts market is booming right now, and we are well-positioned to take advantage of the continuing expansion of the market.

“In difficult economic times, the aftermarket industry plays a key role in supporting hard-pressed consumers who are looking for the most cost-effective way to maintain their existing vehicles. We will continue to work hard to be there for these motorists.

“This knock-out data gives us the full confidence that our plan is bearing fruit — and that we’re truly supercharged as a business. As a result, we are now recommitting to adding many new stores over the next 12 months, with our network study even indicating an opportunity to open another 40 branches from here on.”

Steve Horne, CEO of GSF Car Parts, added: “It’s great to see our garage customers are growing. We know that the industry usually operates on a counter-cyclical basis, showing growth and resilience in the face of tight economic headwinds.

“But while it might be difficult to find an aftermarket company struggling in this environment, we are still packing a harder punch than most. We are very proud of our ability to deliver over 20pc year-on-year growth, and this is a result of our wider team’s efforts and hard work.

“There is sometimes a misconception that the afterparts market rises and falls with the general automotive segment. That’s not how the market works, and you can see that in this latest data. The market is resilient, and it’s not as if you could ever blame bad performance on a wider automotive slowdown.

“We will not be slowing down. With our new National Distribution Center coming online in the next month or so, we will be able to increase the availability and speed of delivery to even more of our important independent garage customers — and continue our streak as the best and most efficient player across the industry.”