Will Stengel
President & Chief Operating Officer at Genuine Parts
Thank you, Paul. Good morning, everyone. I want to start by adding my thanks to the global GPC team for another great year and for their ongoing dedication to serving our customers. In addition to delivering solid financial results for the year, we also made significant progress on our strategic initiatives, many of which we shared at our Investor Day last March.
Globally, we align our strategic initiatives around five foundational priorities, which include talent and culture, sales effectiveness, technology, supply chain and emerging technology, complemented by disciplined and value creating M&A. Our focus around these priorities drives global team alignment as we continuously improve the customer experience and deliver profitable growth.
Turning to our results by business segment. During the fourth quarter, total sales for Global Industrial were $2.1 billion, an increase of 2% with comparable sales growth of 1% versus the same period last year and 18% on a two-year basis. Average daily sales were essentially flat in October, with low single-digit growth in both November and December.
Motion saw mixed results across its various end markets similar to last quarter, with particular strength in iron and steel, chemicals and mining. Categories like equipment and machinery and oil and gas were underperformers relative to the fourth quarter average. Motion continues to make excellent progress with initiatives including sales excellence, pricing, ecommerce technology and supply chain strategies that are helping to win profitable market share and improve productivity. For the full year, motion's sales grew $414 million or 5%, with comparable sales of 5% and 22% on a two-year basis. I'd like to take a quick moment to highlight our Motion team in Asia Pacific, who delivered a fantastic year. Sales and profit were up double digits in 2023 and the team continues to outperform our expectations.
Industrial segment profit in the fourth quarter was $275 million, up 19% and 12.9% of sales, representing a 190 basis point increase from the same period last year. For the full year, Industrial segment profit was $1.1 billion, up 24% and 12.5% of sales, representing a 200 basis point increase from the same period last year and exceeding the 2025 target that we set at our Investor Day.
Bert will take you through more detail on our outlook for the Industrial segment margin, but we are confident that our strategic. Initiatives can continue to deliver margin expansion. Throughout 2023 the profit improvement in Industrial was primarily driven by strategic pricing, excellent operating discipline, the execution of our productivity initiatives and the accelerated integration of KDG. When we announced the acquisition of KDG in December of 2021, we set a target of approximately $50 million of synergies to be accomplished over a three-year period. We are proud to say that the integration of KDG is complete and we've realized $70 million of synergies a full year ahead of schedule.
Turning to the Global Automotive segment. During the fourth quarter, our International Automotive businesses posted positive sales growth in local currency, while sales declined at U.S. Automotive. Total sales for Global Automotive increased approximately 1% for the quarter, with comparable store sales decreasing 3%. For the full year, total sales for the Global Automotive segment increased 4%, with comparable store sales increasing 2%, in line with our guidance.
The moderation in the sales benefit from inflation continues to be a factor in our year-over-year comparisons. As expected, Global Automotive sales inflation moderated throughout the year and ended the year in the low single-digit range compared to a high single-digit range in the fourth quarter of 2022. Global Automotive segment profit in the fourth quarter was $259 million and segment operating margin was 7.5%, down 110 basis points.
In the fourth quarter, all of our international geographies delivered margin expansion, although Global Automotive segment margin was negatively impacted by the performance at U.S. Automotive. For the full year, Automotive segment profit decreased approximately 1% versus the same period last year and segment operating margin was 8.2%, down 50 basis points year over year.
Now, let's turn to our Automotive business performance by geography. Starting in Europe, our Automotive team delivered another strong quarter with total sales growth of 10% in local currency and comparable sales growth of 4%. For the year, total sales growth was 16% in local currency with comparable sales growth of 8%. We are winning profitable market share gains across our European markets due to the ongoing execution of our initiatives and strategic value-creating acquisitions.
During the fourth quarter, we saw low single-digit to double-digit growth across each of our geographies. And for the year, we delivered mid single-digit to double-digit growth across each of our markets. This was driven by continued wins with key accounts, winning higher share of wallet with existing accounts and expanding the NAPA brand, generating over EUR400 million in the region, which exceeds our internal target for 2023. Congratulations to the entire AAG team for another outstanding year.
In the Asia-Pac Automotive business, sales in the fourth quarter increased 2% in local currency with comparable sales growth of 1%. This compares to strong double-digit growth in the comparable period last year. Sales for both commercial and retail were up in the fourth quarter. The team is executing well, converting the sales momentum in the quarter into strong operating margin expansion.
For the year, sales increased 7% in local currency and comparable sales increased 6%. Sales for both commercial and retail were up in the year with commercial growth up mid-single digits and retail growth up high-single digits. Our Asia-Pacific team had another fantastic year and their fourth consecutive year of double-digit profit growth. They continue to drive market share gains, deliver strong operating leverage, and strategically invest for long-term success. Congratulations again to the Asia-Pacific team on another great year.
In Canada, sales grew approximately 1% in local currency during the fourth quarter with comparable sales decreasing approximately 1%. For the year, total sales grew 5% in local currency with comparable sales increasing 4%. We are pleased with the Canadian team's growth this year and the execution of their strategic initiatives, despite a softer macroeconomic backdrop and a more cautious consumer in Canada.
In the U.S., Automotive sales declined 5.6% during the fourth quarter with comparable sales down 6.1%. A reminder that our comparable sales figure includes same-store sales out from our company-owned stores, as well as same store sales into our independent-owned stores. In the quarter, sales to commercial customers were down low-single digits, while sales to DIY customers were down mid-single digits. For commercial, NAPA Auto Care saw low single-digit growth, while major accounts sales were down mid-single digits.
Let me provide an update on the priority actions we're taking at NAPA that we explained on our third quarter call. We detailed three key areas to improve, including operational rigor in our stores, addressing fill rates in key product categories, and working with our commercial teams to address growth opportunities in the field.
First, we completed changes to certain key suppliers to improve fill rates. The changes have improved category trends in the fourth quarter, and we are encouraged by the positive momentum.
Second, our in-store service levels, measured by on-time delivery to customers, have significantly improved as a result of increased focus on last-mile operating disciplines.
Lastly, our commercial efforts are ongoing and were highlighted by the appointment of Tom Skov to a newly created role of EVP, Sales & Store Operations for NAPA. Previously serving as a Division Vice President in the west, Tom has over 20 years of field sales and operations experience with NAPA. He's an automotive parts expert and has a deep understanding of our customers, field sales and store operations. We are excited for the strong leadership Tom will bring to our sales and store operations field teams.
While these actions drove encouraging improvements, the fourth quarter results at NAPA still missed our expectations. As we mentioned previously, the fourth quarter, and December in particular, were difficult year-over-year sales comparisons for NAPA. Our average daily sales growth for NAPA in the fourth quarter of 2022 was 10%, which included approximately 8% benefit from inflation, with December 2022 sales up 13%.
As expected, the benefit from inflation did not repeat in the fourth quarter of 2023. Further, December 2022 included the benefits of extreme winter weather for most of the U.S. With that context, as we look within the current fourth quarter for U.S. Automotive, the first two months of the quarter were in line with our outlook that we shared last quarter. December performance, however, was well below our expectations, driven by unseasonably warm weather and moderated purchases from our independent owners.
We had the opportunity to be with many of our largest owners at a week-long meeting in December. It was a productive series of discussions with high energy and good engagement. The outlook for the market fundamentals remains positive. We reviewed areas of commercial focus and detailed key initiatives to deliver profitable growth together. The NAPA competitive spirit is certainly high.
A theme from the owner's feedback highlighted ongoing efforts to manage their purchases as they balance operating costs in the current environment. Based on the session feedback, however, we remain optimistic that owners' purchasing behaviors return to more normal patterns in 2024 and we're encouraged by the performance in January, albeit it's only one month.
As we reflect on 2023 and move forward, we will continue to evolve our operating model at U.S. Automotive. We will be more Intentional about owning more stores. A higher mix of company-owned stores in targeted priority markets enables us to service our repair shop and commercial customers more consistently and completely. We are also working actively to better align incentives with our independent owners to partner and grow together.
We have current and future opportunities to create value in both our owned and independent-owned locations. As an example, during the fourth quarter, we made strategic acquisitions of 33 NAPA stores from our independent owners, ending the year with approximately 1,560 company-owned stores, up 20% versus 2021. While owner acquisitions have been a long-standing aspect of the business, these trends accelerated in the fourth quarter and second half of 2023, and we would expect these accelerated trends to continue into 2024. The NAPA business navigated unexpected challenges in 2023, but the team adjusted and took decisive action to step up our operational intensity, simplify our priorities, and improve service to our customers.
As we look back during the year, a few highlights. We brought in new leadership with Randy Breaux now leading the team and a proven internal leader as the new CFO. These seasoned executives got to work quickly, identifying opportunities and improved our business clarity and priorities. We quickly assessed costs and took action to increase productivity and efficiency. We partnered with new suppliers to address poor fill rates in select key categories and surgically invested in inventory breadth and depth.
We identified opportunities within our stores and DCs to improve our processes to ensure that we are delivering our customer commitments and executing locally. We accelerated progress on foundational talent, technology and supply chain investments, including, as one example, a strategic global partnership with Google for analytics and search. And we are encouraged by some recent wins, including a structured inside sales program, planned introduction of new product lines and recent traction with loyalty programs with key customers. In 2024, we believe that supportive industry fundamentals combined with clear priorities and urgent action position NAPA to deliver success.
For GPC overall, our global teams are already actively executing 2024 priorities focused on our key strategic initiatives across our businesses. We know evolving market environments require us to continuously evolve with them. And to that end, as Paul mentioned, we announced a coordinated restructuring program across each of our global geographies. The primary objective of the global program is to continue to simplify and streamline our operations consistent with our overall business strategy.
When we simplify, we increase the speed of local service, deliver operational productivity, improve the efficiency of our teams and reduce our overall cost serve. This program is a similar playbook to our previous GPC program implemented in fall 2019 that delivered positive results. Aspects of the restructuring are already in flight and some will take place in the months ahead. Bert will go over the financial details of our restructuring in his remarks and update you on how it's reflected in our 2024 outlook.
In closing, GPC delivered solid fourth quarter and full year results, and we achieved the plan we laid out for 2023. This was driven by the benefit of our strategic business mix and global geographic diversification. Most importantly, it was driven by incredible effort from our global teammates to take care of our customers, live our GPC values every day and deliver performance. We are committed to our plans for long-term growth and we are confident our teams are focused on the right strategic initiatives that will deliver solutions for our customers and create value.
Thank you again to the entire GPC team for another great year. And with that, I'll turn the call over to Bert.
