SEC filings analysis · FY2019–FY2025
3M's automotive business vs. the US-listed automotive industry
Since 2018 3M's automotive revenue has shrunk slightly, while revenue at US-listed automotive companies grew by more than a third. Most of the gap opened in 2022.
Summary
3M's automotive revenue was $3.08B in FY2025, against $3.48B in FY2018, a compound rate of −0.7% a year. Over the same seven years, revenue at US-listed automotive companies (vehicle makers plus parts suppliers filing 10-Ks) grew 37.5%, or +4.7% a year. Without Tesla the industry grew 23.7% (+3.1% a year).
The gap opened after COVID, not in the downturn:
- 2019–2020: 3M moved with the industry and fell about as far. Industry FY2020: −13.8%. 3M: −13.6%.
- 2021: both recovered, 3M +14.2% and the industry +14.7%.
- 2022: the industry grew +21.4%, 3M only +1.5%. This one year accounts for most of the gap. Parts suppliers, 3M's closest peers, grew +9.5%.
- 2023: 3M +6.7%, the industry +12.8%.
- 2024–2025: both were roughly flat. 3M: −0.5%, −2.2%. Industry: +3.7%, −0.9%.
3M's Automotive Aftermarket line, sold to body shops and repair, did worst of all. It fell 7.3% from FY2018 to FY2025, while the public aftermarket chains and distributors grew 52%.
What is being compared
3M
3M reports two automotive revenue lines in the notes to its 10-K.
| Line | 3M segment | FY2025 revenue |
|---|---|---|
| Automotive and Aerospace | Transportation & Electronics | $1,901M |
| Automotive Aftermarket | Safety & Industrial | $1,178M |
| Total | $3,079M · 12.3% of 3M's $24.9B sales |
"Automotive and Aerospace" includes aerospace, which 3M does not report separately in its XBRL data, so the auto-only growth rate cannot be isolated. "Home and Auto Care" in the consumer segment is excluded, since it is mostly household products.
The industry
These are public companies that file 10-K annual reports with the SEC, grouped by Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) code.
| Group | SIC codes | Companies (FY2024) | Largest |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vehicle makers | 3711, 3713, 3715 | 23 | GM, Ford, Tesla, PACCAR, Oshkosh, Rivian |
| Parts suppliers | 3714 | 36 | Lear, Aptiv, Adient, BorgWarner, Autoliv, Dana |
| Automotive industry | both of the above | 59 | $662B of FY2024 revenue |
| Aftermarket benchmark | 5013, 5531 | 6 | Genuine Parts, AutoZone, O'Reilly, Advance Auto Parts |
| RV makers and suppliers | 3716, plus LCI and Patrick | 4 | Thor, Winnebago (shown separately) |
Excluded: Icahn Enterprises (a conglomerate filed under auto parts), and MarineMax and OneWater (boat dealers filed under auto parts retail). Also excluded are foreign companies that file 20-F or 40-F rather than 10-K, such as Toyota, Honda, Stellantis, Ferrari and Magna. They report in their own currencies, so their growth would mix in exchange-rate moves. 3M's automotive customers are global, so the US-listed universe is a reasonable proxy for the auto industry, not a complete picture.
Year-by-year growth
Growth in total USD revenue, measured inside each company's own 10-K.
| Fiscal year | 3M auto total | 3M Auto & Aerospace | 3M Auto Aftermarket | Automotive industry | Industry ex Tesla | Vehicle makers | Parts suppliers | Aftermarket benchmark |
|---|
The median company's growth in the automotive industry shows the same pattern: −0.6%, −13.2%, +19.6%, +15.6%, +9.0%, −0.7% and +2.4% for 2019–2025. The revenue-weighted figures are not being driven by GM and Ford alone.
Cumulative growth
| Series | FY2025 index | FY2018→FY2025 | Per year | FY2020→FY2025 | Per year |
|---|
Reading the gap
- Against the closest peer, 3M still lags. 3M sells materials (adhesives, tapes, films, abrasives) into vehicles rather than whole vehicles, so parts suppliers are the closest comparison. They grew 22.6% over the period, against 3M's −4.9%: a gap of about 27 points, or roughly 3.7 points a year.
- 2022 is where most of the gap comes from. Vehicle makers' revenue grew 25% in 2022 as production recovered from the chip shortage and prices rose. Suppliers passed through inflation and grew 9.5%. 3M's automotive revenue was flat. These figures are in US dollars. The dollar's 2022 strength cut 3M's reported growth, as it did for global suppliers such as Lear and Aptiv, more than for the US-heavy vehicle makers. 3M does not file organic growth figures in XBRL, so currency cannot be separated from volume here.
- The aftermarket gap is the starkest. The parts chains and distributors grew every year, even in 2020, and are up 52%. 3M's aftermarket line is below its 2018 level. The benchmark measures retail and distribution of parts to repairers and consumers, while 3M's line is mostly body-shop consumables (abrasives, fillers, masking), so the two are related markets, not the same one.
- 3M's "Automotive and Aerospace" mixes two markets. Commercial aerospace recovered strongly after 2021, but 3M doesn't split the line out. If aerospace grew faster than automotive inside it, 3M's automotive-only growth was weaker than the −3.3% shown. The data here cannot confirm that.
Method and caveats
- Measured inside each 10-K. Each year's growth compares a filing's current year with the prior year as restated in that same 10-K. 3M's 10-Ks have restated these lines more than once as the company re-organised: FY2020 Automotive and Aerospace is $1,612M in the FY2020 10-K and $1,522M in the FY2022 10-K. The same approach keeps divestitures from counting as decline (Dana restated 2024 from $10.6B to $7.7B after selling its off-highway business), and keeps companies entering and leaving the sample from counting as growth.
- Revenue definition. Total revenue is the largest undimensioned 12-month USD value on the common revenue tags in each filing, which picks up, for example, Ford's total including Ford Credit. The largest companies were checked against their reported figures: GM $187.4B and Ford $185.0B for 2024, Tesla $97.7B, Lear $23.3B.
- Fiscal years. A fiscal year ending in June or later is labelled with that calendar year. 3M's fiscal year is the calendar year.
- FY2025 sample is smaller: 49 companies against 59 in FY2024. The largest with no FY2025 10-K in the data are Superior Industries ($1.3B FY2024 revenue), Shyft Group ($0.8B) and China Automotive Systems ($0.65B). Together the dropouts are under 0.5% of the group's revenue.
- SIC codes are self-assigned and coarse. 3711 includes heavy trucks and specialty vehicles (PACCAR, Oshkosh, Federal Signal) as well as cars. Every company with over $300M revenue was checked by hand, and three were excluded.