OE Battery Shipments Fell, Aftermarket Shipment Climbs In 2002.

Shipments of replacement automotive batteries in the first 10 months of 2002 rose 3.01 percent, compared with the Jan.-Oct. 2001 period, while original equipment auto battery shipments fell 0.17 percent, Battery Council International (BCI) said. A BCI report said replacement battery shipments from January through October 2002 reached 73,994,910 units, while original equipment shipments totaled 17,233,692 units.

During the same time frame in 2001, replacement battery shipments numbered 71,831,042 units and original equipment shipments were tallied at 17,262,332 units. Replacement shipments in Oct. 2002, the latest month for which data were available, rose 1.37 percent to 8,355,180 units, from 8,242,075 units in Sept. 2002, BCI said.

In the original equipment category, shipments in October increased 0.47 percent to 1,830,056 units, from 1,821,414 units in the previous month.

Replacement batteries are shipped to parts dealers and wholesalers, while original equipment batteries are usually shipped to auto manufacturers. BCI's data include shipments in the United States, Mexico and Canada of lead-acid batteries, used for starting, lighting and ignition purposes in automotive and marine applications.