Earlier this year, the International Carwash Association released the latest edition of its North American Car Wash Manufacturing Sales report, with sales information from 2007 through 2012. The report is the result of a unique and ongoing collaboration between ICA and leading car wash manufacturing companies.

Manufacturers submit their annual sales data to a third party, which is then combined with their and ICA’s market intelligence to create a total market estimation. More than a dozen manufacturers have participated in the report since its inception, including the 12 listed on these pages who were a part of the 2012 edition.

Total car wash equipment sales increased 3.2 percent in 2012, following an increase of 8.2 percent in 2011. “We’re encouraged to see another year of overall growth in the car wash equipment manufacturing segment,” said ICA CEO Eric Wulf. “While we have not returned to pre-recession sales levels, the 2012 results point to steady investment and expansion in the professional car wash industry.”

Not surprisingly, the United States continues to be the dominant geographic market. The 83 percent of sales into the U.S. in 2012 was in line with the six-year average. More noticeable were results by equipment type.

First, and for the first time in the report’s history, conveyor sales outpaced in-bay sales — though narrowly, $108 million to $107 million. Second, in the in-bay segment, friction/hybrid machine sales surpassed touch-free machine sales for the second year in a row. In 2007, touch-free machine sales accounted for 66.7 percent of total sales. In 2012, friction/hybrid machines were 58.8 percent of the total market.

The full report contains additional data available to the participating manufacturers. Manufacturers interested in joining should contact Director of Membership Megan Clark at mclark@carwash.org. All participants are required to sign a confidentiality and anti-trust compliance agreement.