Not so long ago people looked at paint protection film as a trend. Like a fashion trend for the wealthy. You would see it on Porsches, Ferraris, and other exotic vehicles. The average consumer thought it was overpriced kitchen wrap. Trends tend to fade away right? Not paint protection film or (PPF/ Clear Bra) as others may know it by. The only thing that is fading away is the visibility of the film.
Quality Of The Newer Films
Older generations of clear bra films would tend to lose their gloss, become yellow, and even start to develop cracks. The current generation of the film has a self-healing coating applied to it. This coating will heal and make light scratched disappear. Another benefit is it sheds environmental contaminants that cause the film to turn yellow. The new film are much smoother, have more gloss, and are much more flexible making installs much more invisible. Xpel technologies, film that we install here at Concours Auto Salon has led the way in this latest trend.
Popularity
In the past 5 years, retailers and manufacturers of paint protection film have seen a 20% growth in sales. This is due to added customer awareness through marketing and the expansion into the OEM market. Auto manufactures have seen the benefit of the product and started to add these films to their production lines. Today you can walk on any high-volume Toyota dealer’s new car lot and find the film on Camry’s. Something you wouldn’t see 5 years ago.
Consumer Confidence
During the recent economic downturn, new car sales were down but with the recent upswing more new vehicles are being sold. Trends show that people are planing on keeping their new cars for a longer period of time. Naturally, they would want to keep them looking new for as long as possible. Concours Auto Salon is seeing more middle-of-the-road vehicles like Altima’s, Camry’s, and Accord’s come in for clear bra protection. It’s not just a product reserved for the exotic car market anymore.
The Smart Consumer
In past years we would introduce clear bra’s to customers in our shop and we would hear comments like “well if it cost that much I might as well have the front bumper painted” or “I don’t like the line across the hood” or ” can live with a few rock chips”. The smart consumer understands that it cost over 500.00 to have a quality refinish completed to the bumper of their car and there’s a good chance that the color won’t match. Another trend at our shop has been for customers to completely wrap the front of their hood and fenders when they have a bumper kit installed so there is no visible line. This gives them 100% front rock chip protection.
If you have ever considered paint protection film and are in the market for a new car or are considering having the front of your car refinished we urge you to come by our shop Concours Auto Salon and see what we have to offer. We always have at least one vehicle with protection to show you.
