A formal complaint has been made to the Federal Trade Commission by the Automotive Aftermarket Industry Association (AAIA), Bethesda, Md., responding to recent position statements made by Honda regarding aftermarket parts.
AAIA claims that Honda's statements about failure to use Honda replacement parts will cause consumers to lose warranty coverage on their vehicle are a violation of the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act.  -Read more-

Auto parts retailers are benefiting from consumers now making good on their intentions to keep their aging vehicles on the road longer, after deferring repairs for the last two years. According to automotive aftermarket research by The NPD Group, Houston, auto parts retailers experienced a 7% growth in dollar sales for year-to-date April 2010 versus a year ago.  -Read more-

There’s more! Only here at Restylingmag.com: How has the truck accessory industry changed? See Joel Ayres’ last response to Tracy Teuscher’s question.

What if.

Research points to the steady growth of Internet car buying. There are the eBays, Craigslists, AutoTraders, CarsDirects, Cars.coms and others ad infinitum offering new, near-new, old, antique, rebuilt, restyled and so on vehicles. As well, virtually every automaker provides its models with retail base and option add-on prices on its own website. Brick-and-mortar dealers, of course, have for several years hawked their vehicles online.

As reported by SEMA, through its government affairs division, a "substitute bill to ban the use of most aftermarket exhaust systems has been introduced in the Utah Legislature and passed by the [state's] Senate Transportation Committee," and will move "to the floor of the senate for a vote by all members. Under the substitute bill, all vehicles must be equipped with an exhaust system that is 'installed by the original manufacturer of the vehicle and is not modified; or meets specifications equivalent to the muffler installed by the original manufacturer of the vehicle and is not modified.'"