{"schemaVersion":"1.0","id":"rs-2026-003","slug":"aerospace-motor-vehicles-trade-working-capital-q1-2026","title":"Working Capital Benchmarks by Industry: Aerospace vs Motor Vehicles, Q1 2026","headline":"Trade Working Capital-to-Sales: Aerospace Was 8.3 Times Motor Vehicles in Q1 2026","summary":"Aerospace Products and Parts had trade working capital equal to 45.9% of trailing 12-month sales in Q1 2026. Motor Vehicles and Parts was 5.5%. The aerospace ratio was 8.3 times as high. RecurSave calculated the figures from U.S. Census Quarterly Financial Report data.","published":"2026-08-13","modified":"2026-08-13","status":"published","supersedes":null,"supersededBy":null,"topic":{"slug":"operating-economics","label":"Operating economics"},"subtopics":["Working capital","Manufacturing","Aerospace","Motor vehicles"],"country":"United States","geographyLevel":"National","geographies":["United States"],"period":"Q1 2026 balance sheet; Q2 2025 to Q1 2026 sales","metric":"Trade working capital divided by trailing 12-month sales","provenance":{"primarySources":[{"agency":"U.S. Census Bureau","dataset":"Quarterly Financial Report for Manufacturing, Mining, Trade, and Selected Service Industries — 2026 Quarter 1","period":"Q2 2025 to Q1 2026 sales; Q1 2026 balance sheet","role":"Motor Vehicles and Parts sales, trade receivables, inventory and trade payables — Tables 30.0 and 30.1","url":"https://www2.census.gov/econ/qfr/pubs/qfr26q1.pdf"},{"agency":"U.S. Census Bureau","dataset":"Quarterly Financial Report for Manufacturing, Mining, Trade, and Selected Service Industries — 2026 Quarter 1","period":"Q2 2025 to Q1 2026 sales; Q1 2026 balance sheet","role":"Aerospace Products and Parts sales, trade receivables, inventory and trade payables — Tables 31.0 and 31.1","url":"https://www2.census.gov/econ/qfr/pubs/qfr26q1.pdf"}],"contextSources":[]},"transformation":{"calculationType":"calculated","formula":"(trade receivables + inventory − trade payables) ÷ trailing 12-month sales × 100","filters":["United States","Motor Vehicles and Parts — NAICS 3361 to 3363","Aerospace Products and Parts — NAICS 3364","Q1 2026 ending balance-sheet values","Sales from Q2 2025 through Q1 2026"],"transformations":["Add trade receivables and inventory, then subtract trade payables to calculate trade working capital.","Add sales for Q2 2025 through Q1 2026 to calculate trailing 12-month sales.","Divide Q1 2026 trade working capital by trailing 12-month sales and multiply by 100.","Compare the two calculated industry ratios."]},"findings":[{"claim":"Aerospace Products and Parts trade working capital","value":165040,"unit":"USD millions","geography":"United States"},{"claim":"Aerospace Products and Parts trailing 12-month sales","value":359421,"unit":"USD millions","geography":"United States"},{"claim":"Aerospace Products and Parts trade working capital-to-sales ratio","value":45.918296,"unit":"percent","geography":"United States"},{"claim":"Motor Vehicles and Parts trade working capital","value":49023,"unit":"USD millions","geography":"United States"},{"claim":"Motor Vehicles and Parts trailing 12-month sales","value":890565,"unit":"USD millions","geography":"United States"},{"claim":"Motor Vehicles and Parts trade working capital-to-sales ratio","value":5.504707,"unit":"percent","geography":"United States"},{"claim":"Aerospace ratio divided by Motor Vehicles and Parts ratio","value":8.341641,"unit":"times","geography":"United States"},{"claim":"Percentage-point gap between the Aerospace and Motor Vehicles and Parts ratios","value":40.413589,"unit":"percentage points","geography":"United States"}],"limitations":["The Quarterly Financial Report is a sample survey and does not cover every U.S. manufacturer.","For manufacturing, the QFR population covers corporations with total assets of $5 million or more.","The calculation compares Q1 2026 ending trade working capital with sales over the four quarters ending Q1 2026.","Using an average working capital balance would produce a different ratio.","Census applies disclosure-avoidance noise to QFR financial tables.","Census may revise recent QFR data in later releases.","The comparison is descriptive and does not establish management quality, financial efficiency, recoverable value or causation."],"keywords":["working capital benchmarks by industry","working capital performance by industry","trade working capital","working capital to sales","aerospace working capital","automotive working capital","manufacturing working capital","Aerospace Products and Parts","Motor Vehicles and Parts","NAICS 3364","NAICS 3361","NAICS 3362","NAICS 3363","Quarterly Financial Report","QFR"],"aliases":["working capital benchmark","trade working capital ratio","working capital-to-sales ratio","aerospace manufacturing","automotive manufacturing","QFR"],"citation":"RecurSave. “Trade Working Capital-to-Sales: Aerospace Was 8.3 Times Motor Vehicles in Q1 2026.” RecurSave Research, August 13, 2026.","canonicalUrl":"https://www.recursave.com/research/aerospace-motor-vehicles-trade-working-capital-q1-2026","hasDataset":false,"metaDescription":"Aerospace Products and Parts had trade working capital equal to 45.9% of trailing sales in Q1 2026. Motor Vehicles and Parts was 5.5%."}