Ask most franchised dealers about car parts ecommerce and you’ll hear a familiar line: customers buy on price, the aftermarket owns online, and the real parts business happens over the counter and in the workshop.

The search data tells a different story. Australians are searching for car parts more than ever. They’re just searching differently, and most of that demand is going to businesses that aren’t franchised dealers.

We analysed Australian search behaviour across 51 parts, accessories and DIY maintenance terms, covering all the major franchised brands, to understand where demand is growing, where it’s softening and who is winning it. It builds on the [nine market trends] we’ve previously identified for franchised dealers, with fresh search data behind it.

How we did it

We used Semrush’s Australian keyword database to compare average monthly search volumes from October 2024 with the latest available data. The terms covered four groups: common maintenance parts, DIY how-to searches, “[brand] parts” searches across 13 franchised brands, and accessory searches across 18 brand and model terms.

We then looked at the very specific searches behind three popular models, checked which types of businesses rank on the first page of Google for key searches, and looked at where Google’s AI-generated answers are appearing.

What Australian car parts search data shows

Average monthly searches in Australia. Source: Semrush.

Growth well beyond population

A growing population naturally creates more searches, so it’s worth checking the numbers against that baseline. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the population grew by 1.4 per cent in the 12 months to March 2026, after annual growth of around 1.5 per cent through 2025. That’s roughly 3% across our comparison period. absabs

Maintenance parts searches grew around eight times faster than the population, and DIY how-to searches more than ten times faster. Brand parts searches also outpaced population growth, while broad accessory searches fell behind it. The growth in maintenance and DIY demand isn’t explained by more people. It reflects a genuine change in how Australians look after their cars.

Finding 1: Maintenance and DIY demand is growing fastest

The strongest growth isn’t in accessories or brand searches. It’s in the everyday parts that keep a car on the road.

Searches for “wiper blades” rose 50%, from 3,600 to 5,400 a month. “Cabin air filter” grew 69%. “Brake pads” climbed from 4,400 to 5,400. And the how-to searches tell the clearest story of all: “how to change oil” nearly tripled, from 140 to 390 searches a month.

This matches what’s happening in household budgets. Youi’s 2026 Generational Car Care and Costs Report found the proportion of drivers delaying one or more maintenance tasks rose from 35% to 47%. Drivers are holding on to their vehicles for longer, putting off services and taking on more of the work themselves. When they do, they start with a search. aap

Finding 2: Buyers are searching with intent to buy online

Broad, browsing searches are shrinking. “Car parts” fell by a third, from 9,900 to 6,600 searches a month.

At the same time, searches that show clear buying intent are rising sharply. “Car parts online” more than doubled, from 590 to 1,300. “OEM car parts”, meaning parts made by or for the original vehicle manufacturer, grew from 40 to 140.

Customers aren’t browsing for ideas. They know what they need, they want to buy it online, and an increasing number specifically want original equipment parts. That’s exactly what a franchised dealer sells.

Finding 3: The real demand lives in the long tail

Broad search terms only show part of the picture. Behind every one sits the long tail: the thousands of very specific searches, like a part for one model and year, that are each small on their own but together make up most of the real demand.

Take three popular models.

Toyota Hilux brake pads. Beyond “hilux brake pads”, owners search for “toyota hilux brake pads”, searches by generation such as “N70 hilux brake pads” and “N80 hilux brake pads”, “hilux front brake pads”, “toyota hilux brake pads price” and “how to change brake pads on toyota hilux”. Some even name a specific aftermarket retailer in the search.

Ford Ranger floor mats. “Ford ranger floor mats” alone attracts around 480 searches a month, more than four times the shorter “ranger floor mats”. Owners also search by generation and variant, including “next gen ranger floor mats” (140), “ford ranger rubber floor mats” (110) and “ford ranger raptor floor mats”. Tellingly, “genuine ford ranger floor mats” (70) and “genuine ford ranger wildtrak floor mats” (50) show owners actively looking for genuine product.

Toyota Corolla wiper blades. “Toyota corolla wiper blades” draws around 170 searches a month, and a long string of model year searches sits behind it: “07 corolla wiper blade size”, “09 corolla wiper blade size”, “2001 toyota corolla wiper blade size” and many more. There are also how-to searches such as “how to take off wiper blades toyota corolla”.

These searches share three things.

1. They’re specific to a model, generation or year.

2. Many are questions about fit or how to do the job.

3. And a meaningful number include the word “genuine”.

   
   

   
   

   Owners are telling search engines exactly what they need. The businesses that win are the ones with the right product, the right fitment data (the information that confirms which parts fit which vehicles, explained in our guide to [fitment mapping]) and clear guidance to answer them precisely.

Finding 4: Newer brands are creating fresh demand

As the new car market fills with new brands, their owners are creating a new wave of parts and accessories demand.

“BYD accessories” grew from 390 to 1,300 searches a month, more than tripling. “BYD parts” rose from 70 to 170, and “GWM parts” from 70 to 210. Searches for Kia, Hyundai, Mitsubishi, Isuzu and Volkswagen parts all grew as well.

These owners are early in their ownership journey, the market for their parts is still forming, and very few businesses are set up to serve them online. For the dealers selling these brands, the window to become the go-to source is open now.

Finding 5: Some broad accessory searches have softened

Not every number went up. Broad accessory searches for some of the country’s most popular models fell, including Hilux, RAV4 and Ranger accessories, as did the broader “Toyota accessories”.

We don’t read this as falling interest. As the Ranger floor mat example shows, the broad term is small compared with the specific searches beneath it. Owners are searching for the exact product they want for their model and year, rather than browsing a category. Those searches are won by stores with complete, accurate product and fitment data.

Finding 6: Dealers win when they show up. Mostly, they don’t.

The most telling evidence comes from who ranks on Google’s first page.

For “Toyota genuine parts”, half of the top ten results are franchised dealer parts stores. When customers want genuine parts and dealers have invested in being found, dealers win.

For “brake pads”, one of the fastest growing maintenance searches, there isn’t a single franchised dealer in the top ten. Every result belongs to an aftermarket retailer, parts manufacturer or online parts store.

The fastest growing demand in the category is going almost entirely to the aftermarket. Not because customers prefer it, but because those businesses are the ones answering the search.

Finding 7: AI is already answering these questions, and dealers aren’t part of the answer

Google now shows an AI Overview, a written answer generated by AI, at the top of many search results. For parts searches, that answer is often the first thing an owner reads, and sometimes the only thing. We’ve written more about how [AI search] is changing how businesses get found.

When we searched “toyota corolla wiper blades size”, Google showed an AI Overview. The websites appearing alongside it included an American Toyota dealership, an online forum and two Australian wiper specialists. No Australian franchised dealer appeared. An Australian Corolla owner asking a simple question about their car gets an answer shaped partly by a dealer on the other side of the world.

The same happened for “cabin air filter”, where the AI Overview appeared with aftermarket retailers and how-to videos around it.

By contrast, a search for “genuine ford ranger floor mats” showed no AI Overview, and the top three results were the manufacturer, a franchised dealer parts store and a marketplace. When owners ask for genuine parts by name, dealers can still win. But the questions owners ask before they’re ready to buy, about sizes, fit and how to do the job, are increasingly answered by AI, using content from whoever has published it.

For dealers, that makes clear, accurate how-to and fitment content doubly valuable. It helps win the search today, and it’s the material AI tools draw on when they decide what to tell an owner tomorrow.

Why parts ecommerce matters for dealer profitability now

The case for parts has never been stronger, because the front end of the dealership has rarely been weaker. Put simply, Deloitte’s benchmarks show new car profit per vehicle has roughly halved in two years, while parts still earns more than double the margin of a new car.

The detail is stark. Deloitte’s 2024 benchmarks put net profit at 6.5 to 6.9% of sales, with selling gross profit of $4,063 per new vehicle sold. By 2025, those benchmarks had fallen to net profit of 3.9 to 4.3% and $3,093 per new vehicle. Deloitte’s 2026 volume market benchmarks go further still, at 3.0 to 3.5% net profit and $1,800 to $2,300 selling gross profit per new vehicle. 2024 deloitte dealership benchmarks +2

Parts tells a different story. In the same 2026 benchmarks, parts carries a gross profit margin of 21 to 23%, compared with 9 to 10% for new vehicles and 10 to 12% for used. Yet advertising and promotion for the parts department sits at just 0.8% of gross. deloittedeloitte

In other words, the department earning the strongest margins receives some of the least marketing investment, while the demand it could capture is growing online. Every maintenance search that goes to the aftermarket is margin that could have stayed with the dealer, and often a customer relationship that drifts away with it.

What it means for franchised dealers

Put the findings together and a clear picture emerges. Demand for car parts is moving away from broad browsing and towards specific, maintenance-led, buy-online searches. Owners are doing more themselves, searching by model and year, and asking for genuine parts by name. AI is increasingly answering their questions before they ever click. New brands are creating new demand. And franchised dealers, who have the genuine parts, the fitment knowledge and the customer relationships, are largely missing from the searches growing fastest.

How franchised dealers can capture parts ecommerce demand

1. Build vehicle-specific maintenance pages. Create pages for the parts owners search for most (brake pads, filters, wiper blades and service kits), organised by model, generation and year, with clear fitment. This is how you start competing for searches currently won almost entirely by the aftermarket.

2. Answer the questions owners are asking. Searches like “corolla wiper blade size” and “how to change brake pads on toyota hilux” are questions waiting for an expert answer. Short guides and videos that answer them, each linking to the exact genuine part, turn a how-to search into a sale. They also give AI tools accurate, local content to draw on, and position the dealer as the trusted expert, so when a job is beyond the customer, they book it in.

3. Get fitment data right. Specific searches are won by stores that can confidently say “this part fits your car.” Complete, accurate fitment data is the foundation of every successful online parts store, and it’s what separates a store that converts from one that generates returns.

4. Use “genuine” as an advantage. Owners are already adding “genuine” to their searches. Make sure product titles, pages and ads use it, and explain clearly why genuine parts matter for warranty, fit and resale.

5. Be where buyers already are. eBay remains a major channel for parts in Australia, and a dealer storefront there puts genuine parts in front of buyers who are already searching. It’s a low-risk way to test demand before investing further.

6. Use the customer data you already have. Dealers know exactly which vehicle each customer drives and when their next service is due. Use that data to promote the right parts, accessories and service reminders to the right owners at the right time, starting from the moment a new car is delivered.

7. Move early on newer brands. For dealers selling fast-growing brands, competition for parts and accessories searches is still light. Building presence now is far easier than catching up once the aftermarket moves in.

Frequently asked questions

Is demand for car parts growing in Australia?
Yes, but it’s changing shape. Our analysis of Australian search data found maintenance parts searches grew 26% and DIY how-to searches grew 36% over two years, well ahead of population growth of around 3%. Broad searches like “car parts” are falling, while specific, buy-online searches are rising.

Should franchised dealers sell parts online?
The evidence says yes. Owners are increasingly searching online for specific parts, often asking for genuine parts by name, and dealers already rank well for genuine parts searches when they’re present. With parts earning gross margins of 21 to 23% in Deloitte’s 2026 benchmarks, online parts sales are one of the strongest growth opportunities available to dealers.

What is fitment data?
Fitment data is the information that confirms which parts fit which vehicles, down to the model, generation and year. It lets an online store tell a customer with confidence that a part will fit their car, which is essential for converting long-tail searches and reducing returns.

Why do AI search results matter for parts sales?
Google’s AI Overviews now answer many parts questions directly at the top of the results, such as wiper blade sizes or how to replace a filter. Those answers draw on published content, so dealers with clear, accurate how-to and fitment content are more likely to be part of the answer an owner sees.

A note on the data

Search figures are Semrush estimates of average monthly searches in Australia and should be read as indicators of direction rather than exact counts. Figures for specific long-tail searches are shown individually, and the full long tail for any model is far larger than the examples listed. Search rankings and AI Overviews change regularly and reflect the results at the time of analysis. Semrush shows where an AI Overview appears and which websites appear alongside it, rather than confirming exactly which sources the AI Overview cites.

Population figures are from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, National, state and territory population, March 2026 (released 17 September 2026), which reported annual population growth of 1.4% in the 12 months to March 2026 and around 1.5% through 2025. Maintenance behaviour is from Youi’s 2026 Generational Car Care and Costs Report, and dealer profitability benchmarks are from Deloitte’s ProfitFocus Dealership Benchmarks reports for 2024, 2025 and 2026.

The opportunity is already searching for you

Australians haven’t stopped needing car parts. They’re searching for them every day, more specifically, more often with the intent to buy online, and increasingly asking for genuine parts by name. More and more, AI is answering them first. The question for franchised dealers is whether they’ll be the ones who answer.

At DRVN Digital, we help franchised dealers build [parts and accessories ecommerce] that captures this demand, from fitment-led stores and maintenance content to marketplace strategy and customer data that drives repeat sales.

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