With colder weather settling in, it’s a good moment for service shops to revisit one of winter’s most reliable revenue drivers: conventional 12-volt batteries.

According to the latest DesRosiers Light Vehicle Study—based on a survey of more than 4,500 Canadian vehicle owners—battery replacement remains one of the most active maintenance categories in the Canadian car parc, with more than one in four motorists purchasing a new battery each year.

The study highlights a nearly even split between DIY (40.9%) and Do It For Me (DIFM, at 59.1%) purchasing, reinforcing that this is one product area where independent shops can continue to capture meaningful volume.

Combined with convenience factors, modern charging systems require new batteries to be “registered” by the system to ensure proper function and battery and charging system performance. This further plays into the professional service segment.

On the DIY side, Canadian Tire dominated 2024 battery sales with a 46.2% share, followed by Costco at 15.9% and auto parts stores collectively at 13.2%.

In the DIFM channel, independent repair facilities led the market at 23.5%—edging out Canadian Tire’s 22.6% share—while new-car dealers trailed at 14.5%.

For shop owners, the takeaway is clear: despite increased attention on high-voltage EV packs, the 12-volt segment remains firmly rooted in the aftermarket and is still a category where independents outperform other service channels.

“While BEV batteries have been getting all the attention in recent years, it is traditional car batteries that are a staple of the vehicle maintenance business,” noted Andrew King, Managing Partner at DAC.

“The battery replacement market in Canada accounted for more than $1.02 billion of aftermarket sales in 2024 and is one of the few automotive product areas where the DIY presence remains significant.”

As temperatures drop, shops that lean into timely testing, preventive replacement messaging, and convenient turnaround stand to benefit from a product category that continues to deliver steady winter traffic.