“I can’t lose with 22s,” hip-hop MC Ludacris declared in verse two years ago, and it looks like he was on the forefront of a trend. SEMA research shows that 22 inches is now the most popular wheel diameter among urban-lifestyle enthusiasts. Of nearly 1,800 responses from a recent SEMA survey on the urban-lifestyle market, 21% said they have purchased, or plan to purchase, 22-inch wheels.
Twenty-inch wheels still hold sway with 16% of enthusiasts surveyed, and 24-inch wheels round out the top three, with 12.5% preferring them.
Wheels were also the overwhelming favorite product category, with 77% of respondents having purchased them. Alarm systems, perhaps not surprisingly, followed (56.5%), then wash/wax/polishing products (54.6%), window tint/lamination (52.1%) and finally exhaust kits (pipe, tip and muffler), the first nod to performance upgrades among this segment at 45.2%
You can read more of the Urban-Lifestyle Market Update, produced by SEMA Market Research, in the July 2007 issue of SEMA News. Additionally, SEMA members can receive complimentary copies of various market reports as another benefit to being a SEMA member by visiting www.sema.org/research.