Formula 1 to Launch Female “Formula Academy” Series in April
Officials with Formula Academy—the Formula 1-backed all-female driver series—have confirmed five teams will compete during its inaugural season, which opens in Spielberg, Styria, Austria, April 28–29. Current F2 and F3 teams (ART Grand Prix, Campos Racing, Carlin, MP Motorsport, and PREMA Racing) will enter three cars each to make up a 15-car grid. The first season will comprise of seven events with three races each—a total of 21 races—plus 15 days of testing. Drivers will compete in a Tatuus T421 chassis with Autotecnica-supplied turbocharged engines delivering 165 hp to F1 partner Pirelli tires.
Susie Wolff will serve as the managing director of the series, which aims to develop and prepare young female drivers to progress to higher levels of competition. F1 Academy offers access to more track time, racing and testing—plus the opportunity to work with professional teams that will help them develop the technical, physical and mental preparation skills needed for elite competition.
For more information, including the 2023 schedule and team driver lineups, visit f1academy.com.
Formula DRIFT Outlines New Format, Technology Set for 2023
Officials with Formula DRIFT have announced updates ahead of the opening of its 20th anniversary season in 2023. A brand-new qualifying format will feature a deductive system with judges quantifying mistakes, in a nod to the old school with a new twist. Officials will also introduce a rotating panel of judges. Former driver and FD Japan judge Robbie Nishida will join regulars Ryan Lanteigne, Brian Eggert, and Chris Uhl. Three will judge each round, while the fourth becomes a driver’s steward before they trade places to keep things fresh.
In addition, competitors will also utilize brand-new, brighter “Decel Lights” that measure g-force during both acceleration and deceleration, helping the judges see what is going on inside the car. Live telemetry will debut this year and will be featured on the free-to-view livestream broadcasts and on the new phone app called FD Unlocked. Fans can view live data from each driver with in-car camera views.
GT Radial, Kenda Tire, Nexen Tire, Nitto Tire, and Vitour Tires were also announced as official tire partners for the series, replacing the departed Falken Tire. Officials have also confirmed the inaugural Formula DRIFT Hall of Fame will be honored during the opening rounds of the 2023 season in Long Beach, California. For more details, visit the Formula DRIFT website.
IndyCar Extends NTT, NTT DATA Entitlement Partnership With Multi-Year Agreement
Officials with Penske Entertainment’s IndyCar have announced NTT and NTT data have extended the entitlement partnership of North America’s premier open-wheel motorsports series, the NTT IndyCar Series. NTT has served as the title sponsor since 2019. The new multiyear agreement will have NTT and NTT DATA continue as the official technology partner for IndyCar, the NTT IndyCar Series, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the Indianapolis 500 and the NASCAR Brickyard weekend at IMS.
Additional partnership highlights include outfitting IMS as a “Smart Venue” with artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled security technologies; IndyCar app enhancements; and an expanded IndyCar data experience with more race and driver data than before. For more information, visit the IndyCar announcement here.
IMCA Announces Composite Body Panel Mandate
Officials with IMCA Racing have announced mandates for the composite body panels allowed beginning this season in the Modified and Late Model divisions.
“We will use the United States Department of Transportation (DOT) FMVSS302 burn rate testing definition. We will continue to approve additional composite body panels as samples are submitted to us along with proof of burn rate testing,” said Brett Root, president of IMCA. “We want to make sure that all composite body panels are made with strong, fire-resistant material [and] will continue to add more composite body panels that can be used as they are submitted and approved.”
Composite body panels submitted by Five Star Bodies/MD3 have already been determined to meet those parameters and are approved for use in both divisions. Composite body panels are not allowed in any other IMCA division, but Root announced plans to consider them.
Ashley, Hight and Caruso Earn Wins at Final NHRA Arizona Nationals
Top Fuel’s Justin Ashley closed out the final NHRA Arizona Nationals at Wild Horse Motorsports Park with a victory in a front of a sellout crowd, powering to a win over Shawn Langdon in the championship round on Sunday. Robert Hight (Funny Car) and Camrie Caruso (Pro Stock) also won the second of 21 races during the 2023 NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series season. Ashley put together a run of 3.705 seconds at 329.34 mph in his 11,000hp Phillips Connect Toyota dragster powered by National Debt Relief, driving past Langdon’s 3.732 at 329.58.
In Funny Car, Hight, who finished 2022 with eight victories, picked up his 62nd career victory in his 11,000hp Flav-R-Pac Chevrolet Camaro after going 3.930 at 328.62 to beat defending world champ Ron Capps. It gives Hight the points lead and his second straight Phoenix victory.
Caruso picked up her first career victory with a run of 6.592 at 210.31 in her Powerbuilt Tools Camaro to slip past Bo Butner’s 6.593, becoming just the second female to win in Pro Stock in NHRA history.
The NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series returns to action March 30–April 2 with the Lucas Oil Winternationals at In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip in Pomona, California.
Porsche Motorsports Launches Deluxe Female Driver Development Program
Photo courtesy: PMNA, IMSA
Porsche Motorsport North America (PMNA) and Deluxe Corp. have announced the creation of the Porsche Deluxe Female Driver Development Program, an initiative designed to provide a further opportunities to female race car drivers participating in the Porsche Motorsport Pyramid North America.
Officials named Sabré Cook as the first recipient of the new scholarship. The two-time Carrera Cup North America championship-winning operation will field the veteran open-wheel and GT racer in the No. 37 Deluxe Porsche 911 GT3 Cup race car.
In addition to its title partnership, Deluxe joins with PMNA to further promote the participation of female race car drivers across all levels of the Porsche Motorsport Pyramid North America. In addition, PMNA will assist Cook with event entry fees and one-on-one mentoring with Porsche Motorsport legend Patrick Long. For more information, see the PMNA announcement here.
Formula 1 Secures Austrian Grand Prix Through 2027
Formula 1 officials have announced a new four-year agreement to race in Austria until 2027. The Austrian Grand Prix returned to the FIA Formula 1 World Championship in 2014, and since then, the Red Bull Ring has welcomed millions of fans, with 303,000 supporters in attendance at last year’s sold-out event. The last race under the current agreement, set to take place June 30–July 2, will celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Austrian Grand Prix’s return to the Formula 1 calendar and feature an F1 Sprint for the second consecutive year. For more information, visit formula1.com.
Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame Inducts 13
Image courtesy of CMHF
The Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame (CMHF), based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, has inducted 12 individuals and one organization to its class of 2022. Eleven individuals and one race team will be inducted in the Competitors/Motorsport Builders/Team Members/Significant Contributors category, with a veteran Canadian journalist honored in the Media category.
Yokohama Tire Returns as Sponsor of the Porsche Sprint Challenge North America
For the third consecutive season, Yokohama Tire is partnering with Porsche Motorsport North America (PMNA) and United States Auto Club (USAC) as the official tire partner and presenting sponsor for the USAC-sanctioned Porsche Sprint Challenge North America and USA West by Yokohama. Yokohama’s ADVAN A005 racing slicks and ADVAN A006 wets are the spec tires for the one-make series, which kicks off its season at Sebring on March 24. For 2023 the series has grown to five classes: 992 GT3 Cup Pro/AM, 992 GT3 Cup Am, 991 GT3 Cup, Cayman GT4 Clubsport Pro/Am and Cayman GT4 Clubsport Am. For more details on the Porsche Sprint Challenge North America by Yokohama, visit www.porschesprint.com.
Jeep Wrangler 4xe Named PHEV With Best Residual Value by Canadian Black Book
The Jeep Wrangler 4xe has won Canadian Black Book’s (CBB) 2023 Residual Value Award in the PHEV category. This is the second year of CBB’s Best Residual Value Awards and the first where it has ranked plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. The awards measure a vehicle’s value into the future, recognizing which vehicles are expected to hold the largest percentage of their MSRP 48 months after the original date of purchase. The Best Residual Value Awards complement CBB’s long-running Best Retained Value Awards, where Jeep Wrangler also has a long streak of success.
The first electrified Jeep Wrangler, the Wrangler 4xe features a 2.0L turbocharged inline four-cylinder engine integrated with two electric motors and a 400-volt battery pack, delivering up to 35 km of all-electric range, average fuel economy of up to 4.8 Le/100 km, instant torque and nearly silent off-roading.
Pirelli Ranks First in Segment in J.D. Power 2023 U.S. OE Tire Customer Satisfaction Study
Pirelli has earned the top customer satisfaction score in the J.D. Power 2023 U.S. Original Equipment Tire Customer Satisfaction Study. The Italian company ranks highest in the passenger car segment for a second consecutive year with a score of 828, while the average segment score is 801.
The study measures tire owner satisfaction in four areas: tire ride, tire wear, tire traction/handling, and tire appearance. The study includes four vehicle segments: luxury, passenger car, performance sport, and truck/utility. This award is a demonstration of Pirelli's global leadership and commitment to its OEM partners and U.S. consumers across the wide range of passenger cars. Pirelli has come in first for the Passenger Car Segment for the second year in a row.
The 2023 U.S. Original Equipment Tire Customer Satisfaction Study is based on responses from 32,151 owners of ’21 and ’22 model-year vehicles and was fielded from August through December 2022.
Teaser Trail to Easter Jeep Safari 2023
The final grouping of Jeep brand and Jeep Performance Parts by Mopar concept sketches take true off-road enthusiasts along for an electrified ride down past and present memory lane. Both concept vehicles push the boundaries of electrification, and their performance will be front and center during the 57th annual Easter Jeep Safari,April 1–9, in Moab, Utah.
Jeep Cherokee Production Discontinued
The Jeep Cherokee has been discontinued after 49 years in production, a Jeep official confirmed to The Drive. On March 1, Stellantis idled Belvidere Assembly in Illinois where the Cherokee is made, and that production freeze may become permanent as Stellantis draws nearer to negotiations with United Auto Workers later this year over the plant's future. A spokesperson for Stellantis said the automaker is committed to the segment going forward, but it's unclear whether its next midsize SUV will bear the Cherokee label, or when it might arrive. The Cherokee's larger progeny, the Grand Cherokee, was renewed for 2022.
Stellantis Named a Top Corporation for Women’s Business Enterprises
Stellantis is once again a recipient of the Women's Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC) America's Top Corporations for Women's Business Enterprises (WBEs) award. This is the ninth year in a row the company has received this honor, the only national award recognizing corporations for world-class supplier diversity programs that reduce barriers and drive growth and opportunities for women-owned businesses.
Stellantis is one of 66 corporations being honored this year for demonstrating a continuous and growing commitment to creating business opportunities for women-owned businesses within their supply chains, successfully implementing diversity and inclusion programs that enable growth and innovation for women's business enterprises.
Stellantis was recognized among the automotive, transportation and logistics industry leaders for investing in “WBEs by going deep into their supply chains to mentor suppliers,” according to the WBENC. The award-winning corporations were honored during the 2023 WBENC National Conference, held from March 20–23 in Nashville, Tennessee.
The award signifies Stellantis' continuing efforts to support women. Stellantis recognized the start of Women's History Month in March by celebrating the company's new MentorWE development program. Developed in partnership with the Great Lakes Women's Business Council, the program is designed to prepare women-owned suppliers for future contracting and procurement opportunities while further expanding Stellantis’ support of initiatives to empower diverse suppliers.
Stellantis has adopted the United Nations Women's Empowerment Principles, signifying a global commitment to gender equality. In 2022, the company increased the number of women in leadership positions to 27% from 24%. This supports Stellantis’ progress toward achieving 30% of leadership positions held by women by 2025 and more than 35% by 2030, as outlined in the Dare Forward 2030 strategic plan.
Lear Wins a General Motors 2022 Supplier of the Year Award
Lear Corp. has announced it was recognized as a GM Supplier of the Year during General Motors’ 31st annual Supplier of the Year event held earlier this week in San Antonio, Texas.
GM’s Supplier of the Year award recognizes global suppliers that distinguish themselves by exceeding GM’s requirements, in turn providing customers with innovative technologies and among the highest quality in the automotive industry. This is the 22nd time Lear has won the award. Each year, GM’s Supplier of the Year recipients are selected by a global, cross-functional GM team for their performance in criteria such as product purchasing, global purchasing and manufacturing services, customer care and aftersales and logistics.
Tint World Continues Growth in Texas With Benbrook Location
Tint World Automotive Styling Centers has announced the opening of its new location in Benbrook, Texas. Tint World Benbrook, owned by Mike Richards, offers drivers throughout the Fort Worth area automotive aftermarket performance and style accessories and services, including window-tinting solutions. Richards is also the owner of Tint World locations in Grapevine, Texas, and Rowlett, Texas.
100 Millionth Tire Rolls Off the Line at Yokohama Tire Manufacturing Virginia
On March 23, the 100 millionth Yokohama tire rolled off the line at the Salem, Virginia plant—a GEOLANDAR A/T G015.
“I’d like to express my sincere gratitude and congratulations to Yokohama Tire Manufacturing Virginia (YTMV) on behalf of the entire company for this amazing achievement,” said Jeff Barna, president of Yokohama Corp. of North America. “The first Yokohama-branded tire was produced at YTMV in 1990 and since that time, Yokohama has grown dramatically here in the U.S. Such a feat would not have been possible without the local production from Salem, Virginia.”
Yokohama began manufacturing tires in the U.S. in 1989, when it acquired Mohawk Rubber Company’s plant in Salem. It has since been renamed to YTMV and has been renovated and expanded.
Northwood University Hires James O’Dell as Assistant Director of Aftermarket Education
James O’Dell
Northwood University has announced that it has hired industry veteran James O’Dell as its new assistant director of aftermarket education
“As our vehicle park continues to increase in age, and our miles driven have reached a new record high, opportunities in the automotive aftermarket continue to grow at a rapid pace,” stated O’Dell, who has served as the business development manager for Fisher Auto Parts in Ann Arbor, Michigan, since 2019.
In October, Northwood named Dr. Thomas Litzinger as the executive director of the University of the Aftermarket. Litzinger is an accomplished high-performing executive with over 30 years of leadership experience. O’Dell noted Litzinger is not just an industry expert; he has the academic achievement to lead and inspire students in Northwood’s undergraduate programs and those in the University of Aftermarket, which provides industry-specific professional development to those working in the industry. He is also proficient in researching and publishing new studies relevant to the industry.
Litzinger will lead an effort to develop a new curriculum for the University of the Aftermarket just as Northwood is reinvigorating its aftermarket education through these new hires and a new curriculum.
Tick Performance Announces New Ownership
Tick Performance has new ownership: Joey Anderson and Matt Goins, who plan to continue manufacturing premium, American-made components in North Carolina. In 2004, Johnny Atkins founded Tick Performance with his son and most recent owner Jonathan Atkins. Johnny cashed his retirement savings to start the company, specializing in T-56/TR-6060 performance and making a name for themselves with F-body enthusiasts.
In 2007, they hired their first employee, Anderson, followed by Goins. Goins is the company’s lead product engineer and has developed many of their current products. Anderson developed the company’s first e-commerce site and has been a driving force in establishing the brand. The two joined forces as a 50/50 split to purchase the company from Atkins.
Tick Performance plans to expand into more offerings, with new Dodge and Corvette applications coming this year. Atkins wants to sharpen his focus on racing and engine development. The company will continue its involvement in the GrubbWorm Camaro, and Atkins, who has been building engines as a part of the Tick Performance Competition Engines program, will continue his work with JA Competition Engines, a Tick Performance products dealer.
Hot Shot’s Secret Brings the “Steve Sommers Overnight Drive” Syndicated Radio Show to the 2023 Mid America Trucking Show
Hot Shot’s Secret, sponsor of the “Steve Sommers Overnight Drive” late-night radio show and podcast, has announced a lineup of interview guests for the 2023 Mid America Trucking Show (MATS). The “Steve Sommers Overnight Drive,” recently syndicated by Talk Media Network, will broadcast live from the Hot Shot’s Secret booth #12036 all three days of MATS Thursday–Saturday, March 30–April 1.
Among guests being interviewed during MATS include: Lewie Pugh, executive vice president of Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, where he will speak about the legislative front and how new regulations affect truckers, Ellen Voie and Jennifer Hedrick with Women in Trucking, Toby Young the MATS Show manager, Joel Morrow with Alpha Drivers Transportation has his new Volvo test truck in the booth and Country Music performer Tony Justice will perform a live show on Friday night, among others.
Chris Gabrelcik, founder of Hot Shot’s Secret is also a planned guest for the show and will use this opportunity to appear on the “Steve Sommers Overnight Drive” radio show to contribute funds to Waypoint Vets; an organization that has long been supported by Hot Shot’s Secret with matched funds to support veterans with all paid adventure trips.
Nokian Tyres Expands Dayton Factory Footprint With New 350,000-sq.-ft. Warehouse
Nokian Tyres has begun construction on a finished goods warehouse at its Dayton, Tennessee, production campus that will hold as many as 600,000 tires. The facility will be ready for use by mid 2024. Nokian Tyres and its design-build construction firm, BC Construction Group, broke ground in early March on the 350,000 sq.-ft. warehouse, designed by Pieper O'Brien Herr Architects. Nokian Tyres is continuing its long-term partnership with Faithful+Gould to provide project management services for the facility.
The new warehouse will sit adjacent to Nokian Tyres’ Dayton Factory, which is currently doubling production to manufacture as many as four million tires per year by 2024. The global tiremaker is hiring 125 team members to increase its workforce at the Southeast Tennessee campus to 475 employees. The new storage space will join the company’s nine-warehouse network throughout the United States and Canada and will serve a growing volume of customers in the sun belt.
The warehouse serves as a high-tech complement to the Dayton Factory, which opened in fall 2019, and began producing tires for commercial sale in early 2020. The company is adding equipment inside the factory’s existing footprint that will enable it to double production of all-season and all-weather tires at the facility. The expansion will also allow Nokian Tyres to add light truck tires to the Dayton Factory’s product mix in 2023.
Drive for Design Contest Challenges High School Students to Create Electrified Ram Truck of the Future
For the 11th consecutive year, Stellantis is empowering students to envision the automotive future with its Drive for Design contest. For this year’s competition, high school students in grades 10–12 are challenged to sketch an innovative design for the next-generation Ram electric truck. The top prize is an opportunity to work as an intern (if eligible) in the Ram Truck Exterior Design Studio this summer.
Drive for Design is powered by the passion of Mark Trostle, vice president, Ram Truck and Mopar design, who won one of the program’s early iterations as a high schooler in 1987. The contest highlights the path to a career in automotive design and illustrates the many opportunities for creativity in the automotive industry. All student-created entries must be submitted by April 21. One grand-prize winner and two additional finalists will be selected from all valid entries received.
For detailed contest rules, information on how to submit sketches and free resources for students of all ages, visit www.StellantisDriveForDesign.com.
Have some company news you would like to share? Let us know and the news may appear in an upcoming issue of SEMA News. Send your items for consideration to editors@sema.org.
SEMA Showgoers who want to stay close to monorail stations are encouraged to make their hotel reservations while rooms are still available.
Exhibitors and attendees preparing for the 2023 SEMA Show can lock in the guaranteed lowest hotel rate now by booking in the SEMA Show Block. Making hotel reservations in the block provides you with the most affordable and convenient options for a wide range of hotels located on and off the Strip.
All of the hotels available through the SEMA Show Block come with a low-price guarantee. To help ensure that your price remains the lowest, SEMA will price-match lower advertised rates, even after your reservations are set. Whether you're looking for your favorite place to stay, or for a hotel within close proximity to the Show, you can book with confidence knowing you will get the rooms you need at the the most affordable price available.
Here are nine hotels in the SEMA Show block with easy monorail access:
Caesars Palace
Flamingo
Harrah’s
Horseshoe Las Vegas
MGM Grand
Paris
SAHARA
Westgate
The LINQ
The SEMA Show also provides shuttle service to and from the Show for the hotels listed that are not within walking distance to the Las Vegas Convention Center.
There are nearly 50 hotels available in the block. For more information on the hotels listed below, including rating, price per night and distance from the Las Vegas Convention Center, visit www.SEMAShow.com.
This is the upcoming refresh for the ’24 Chevy Tahoe High Country undergoing testing in Metro Detroit.
Though the front end is wearing a heavy amount of camo, this prototype appears to have a dual-tier lighting configuration, which will be all-new for the Tahoe/Suburban.
What gives this prototype away as the High Country are the wheels, which are similar if not the same to the units used on the current, pre-refresh models. Also note the deployable assist steps, standard on High Country.
Similar to the front end, the rear end is camo’d, though there appears to be a new integrated exhaust configuration at the lower end of the rear bumper.
Expect an official debut by the end of 2023, with an on-sale date in mid-2024.
It’s a popular nostrum that the COVID-19 pandemic provided the accelerant that enabled the explosion in e-commerce sales that continues unextinguished to this day. Cautious consumers under remain-in-place orders stayed away from brick-and-mortar retail outlets in droves, the story goes, and turned to the convenience of the internet as a shopping and purchasing alternative, turning the conventional point-of-sale business model on its head.
Amazon’s online sales represent some 40% of the e-commerce market—bigger than Wal-Mart, Target, Apple and eBay combined. This presents a potentially lucrative revenue stream to companies that can leverage Amazon’s massive scale to their benefit. Photo credit: Shutterstock.com
There’s much truth to the narrative, but in reality, e-commerce sales were already booming before the outbreak of COVID, and have continued to grow exponentially since then, with global sales of some $5.7 trillion in 2022, according to e-commerce giant Shopify. That figure is forecast to top $7.5 trillion in 2025 and $8 trillion in 2026, so the “new normal” of online retailing presents a vast and potential lucrative revenue stream for manufacturers and retailers.
But there are right and wrong ways of conducting e-commerce, and it’s not as cut-and-dried as simply setting up an Amazon account, paying a seller’s fee, and creating a few product listings—though that can get you started. A recent SEMA Education seminar, “How to Optimize Amazon,” took a deeper dive into the subject, with a review of some of the pitfalls companies face when working with Amazon to build their brands and sell their products. Moderated by Vanessa Ruminski, president of SupplyKick, an Indiana-based Amazon wholesaler and consulting firm with specialty-equipment clients that include Dometic, Mothers, Eagle Lights and Lock ’Er Down, the session reviewed several challenges aspiring Amazon sellers may encounter, along with recommended best practices to best take advantage of Amazon’s massive customer reach.
Ruminski begins by stressing the importance of maintaining a strong presence on Amazon. For starters:
75% of online product searches begin on Amazon. It’s sometimes easy to forget the fact that Amazon isn’t only the world’s biggest online marketplace—it’s also one of the internet’s most powerful search engines. “If you’re searching for a product, 75% of the people out there go right to Amazon and they type in the search bar,” Ruminski notes, “so if you want your products to be found and purchased online, you need to be there. You need to understand how you can leverage those consumers in the right way for your business.”
76% of shoppers on Amazon are brand loyal. “And they’re not only Amazon-loyal, they love their Prime shipping,” Ruminski adds. “They love that it’s a very easy checkout, and they love that all their product information is already stored on the platform,” which makes purchasing as easy as clicking on “Buy it Again.” “As long as the customer is satisfied with the product quality and they have a convenient shopping experience, they’ll purchase the same product over and over again.”
Additionally, 40% of U.S. e-commerce sales are spent on Amazon. “Think about that as a number,” Ruminski advises. “Nearly two out of every $5 spent online in the United States is spent on Amazon. Yes, there are other big players out there—there’s Walmart, Target, Apple, eBay, Costco, Kroger, all big names in the industry. But all of those combined only make up 31% of e-commerce sales. So if you’re not on Amazon, you need to be.”
Often, however, companies that sell on Amazon may wonder if they’re not fully optimizing the power and scale of the site to drive greater brand awareness and consumer loyalty in addition to sales.
At this point, Ruminski pauses to review the top five issues that companies may face when addressing these perceived (and often real) shortcomings. These can potentially include:
Selling directly to Amazon via Vendor Central. It sounds simple and straightforward—Amazon sends you regular purchase orders, you ship the product, and Amazon handles the rest. But in truth, it’s not always so simple.
One potential drawback is flexibility in pricing. “You may have a cost increase on your product,” Ruminski notes. “There’s a lot of that going on in the industry right now with supply-chain constraints and raw material shortages, so you may need to increase pricing on a particular product. You may also want to raise your pricing to a point that other retailers are selling at, but Amazon may or may not accept that. You may want to increase pricing from, say, $60 to $100, and your Amazon rep might answer, ‘No, we’re going to price it at $60.’ So sometimes it’s not easy to leverage these types of conversations to your advantage.”
There is also the issue of chargebacks. “There can be a lot of these,” Ruminski continues, “and while the reasonings vary, it really all comes down to lack of ownership and control.” The solution? Ruminski recommends upgrading your Amazon account. “If you have an Amazon first-party Vendor Central relationship and you want to make a change, switching to three-peer [3P] Seller Central is really the way to go. You can still leverage Prime shipping, you can use FBA [Fulfillment by Amazon], and you can still team up with a single-third party seller. This will gain you time and resources and a considerable amount of expertise—and, specifically, gain back control of your Amazon business.”
Unauthorized Amazon sellers or too many sellers. Ruminski cautions against conflating online sales with traditional brick-and-mortar retail, reminding companies that they follow distinctly different business models. “We all know when selling to brick-and-mortar, more sellers in the old-school way of thinking equals more sales. You’re opening new stores and new distribution channels, and you’ll hit new customers—and as long as you’re doing it with the right brand voice and the right channels of distribution, typically it does equal more sales.
“The issue is, if you’re doing that to your Amazon business, you’re taking one sale and you’re fragmenting it among many, many sellers. So you’re not doing any more business—you’re doing the same amount. But by spreading it out over a larger group of people, you may incur higher shipping costs on those B2B orders that you’re sending. So you may have too many sellers.”
“You may not even know who some of your Amazon sellers are,” Ruminski warns. “You don’t even know who they are and perhaps they’re not authorized to sell your brands. How do you get control of this?”
Too many sellers can also translate into price inconsistencies, which can inhibit sales and damage your brand. “This is a problem that we see a lot—and if you think about it, all those sellers could have different pricing for your products. They’re all trying to get into the coveted ‘buy box,’ and they’re doing it in a way that hurts your brand.”
How to mitigate this problem? Ruminski suggests “ways such as Amazon Brand Registry, consolidating sellers, consistent monitoring, controlling your distribution and registering your brand. You need to take back that control and leverage your brand in the right way.”
Inaccurate forecasting and inventory flow. This is a subject deserving of greater attention when selling on Amazon, according to Ruminski.
“Say someone wants to purchase your product and it’s not there. It’s money on the table you can’t access, and it drives you crazy,” she says. Conversely, “you have so much product, you don’t know what to do with it. Then you’re incurring fees. Then you’re looking at yourself and asking, ‘Should I drop the price?’”
The key to avoiding these traps, then, is to have “the right inventory at the right time, really making sure that you’re using the data and the seasonality to lead where your inventory should be going and flowing it appropriately.” Analyzing and optimizing Amazon logistics should be done on a daily basis, if possible, and investing in either inventory optimization software and/or dedicated employees to monitor inventory is advisable. Finally, excess inventory stocks should be purged to avoid unnecessary fees. “Either you’re flowing your inventory correctly or you have stock-outs or overstocks—and either way, you’re losing business.
“In general, the concept of ‘set it and forget it’ doesn’t exist on Amazon.”
Overspending on Amazon advertising. “We encounter many people who are overspending on Amazon advertising,” Ruminski asserts, adding that “Amazon is ‘pay-to-play’ and advertising is a must.” Amazon offers numerous channels for advertising, including Amazon Sponsored Products, Amazon Sponsored Brands and Amazon DSP [demand-side platform].
How to navigate these varied platforms to maximize your brand’s Amazon presence? To Ruminski, the key is to identify what your advertising objective is at any given time in the business cycle and let that be the determining factor in your decision-making. “The first thing we say to customers is, ‘What is your goal at the end of the day with your Amazon business? Is it to build brand awareness? Are you launching a new product? Are you focused on margin? Working through budget constraints?”
Once that question has been answered to your satisfaction, Ruminski advises constant monitoring and revising of advertising strategies as your business’s needs evolve throughout the cycle. “Maybe I want to improve my profit efficiency in the fourth quarter, and then I’m looking to improve brand efficiency in the first quarter,” she cites as an example. “Then, what are those KPIs that are important on each side of those decisions? Say if you’re building brand awareness, what’s that KPI that’s driving your decision making? The same goes with efficiencies.
“We look at our KPIs daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, yearly. They can really change over time, and they’ll obviously help you in future decision-making and future seasonality standpoints.”
One other thing to remember: Organic and paid advertising should be working together with one voice. “You have to use those together to leverage your future strategy.”
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) should be checked daily, with advertising strategies adjusted accordingly to meet shifts in consumer preferences. As a rule, “set it and forget it” doesn’t work with Amazon. Photo credit: Shutterstock.com
Lack of brand presence and building trust. Many brands don’t succeed on Amazon because they haven’t established a brand presence—one that builds a connection with the consumer and converts them at a higher rate than their competitors. The way to overcome this obstacle, Ruminski advises, is by creating a narrative—an online brand identity that tells a story about your products, which builds interest in your brand, and which facilitates a more convenient shopping experience. Tools to deploy to that end can include keywords, targeted messaging, video and photography, setting up an Amazon Storefront or a combination thereof. Each company will have its own needs and requirements in this area, but one thing that’s crucial across all platforms is that your brand messaging contains “A+ content.”
“It needs to be well designed,” she says in closing, “and it needs to be in your brand voice. A customer is looking for transparency and trust, and you only have seconds to get them to convert. You have a very, very limited amount of time in order to get your message across.
“It’s all about that journey of the customer and making sure that you are consistent and that you’re really focused on success. Just as marketing and branding are important in all your other retail channels, it’s just as important on Amazon. Whenever you launch a product in-store, you want to make sure it was branded appropriately. You want to make sure your Amazon listings look the same way.”
Accessing SEMA’s industry-leading education is easier than ever. With dozens of live and on-demand offerings—and more debuting during the year—SEMA Virtual Education includes comprehensive presentations, insightful discussions, and short videos that teach, inform, inspire and entertain automotive specialty equipment professionals. From builders and engineers to marketers and sales staff, participants will become more educated and prepared for success through SEMA’s Virtual Education. To learn more and to register for future webinars, visit www.sema.org/virtual-education.
Are you hunting for a new job? The SEMA Career Center has a comprehensive listing of automotive-related job openings around the country. Here are some of the latest jobs posted to the website.
QA1 is hiring a content marketing strategist responsible for translating business goals into content strategies to be delivered through a wide variety of mediums. Candidates should be big-picture thinkers who lead the strategy and development of messaging to be delivered in all forms of media. This position requires a high level of creativity and ability to facilitate the creation of highly engaging content to the QA1 audience.
Wilwood Disc Brakes is hiring a video content creator. Responsibilities include execution of ideas presented by management, planning, filming and editing content for the company website, training, social media and other channels as needed. A basic understanding of video production, sound equipment, lighting and directing scenes for voice-over or live audio is necessary. Typically finished videos can range between one to 10 minutes in length. Most production will occur on-premise, but may include off-site locations and an occasional event or trade show.
Canepa is hiring a motorsports technician who is quality-minded, hardworking and dedicated to providing the highest level of service in the industry. Applicants must have a broad knowledge base of all mechanical aspects of a vehicle, from suspension and brakes to engine and transmission, and be highly versatile with superior skills to produce work of the highest quality. Candidate should have exceptional diagnostic ability, along with race preparation experience, be highly professional and able to work individually, as well as part of a multi-functional team.
Left: Rob Ward, Legacy EV; and Ted Wentz, Quadratec.
Rob Ward, Legacy EV
Ted Wentz, Quadratec, Incumbent
Voting will take place online between May 9–23, and is open to current SEMA-member companies. Votes must be cast by each company’s primary contact.
Details on the upcoming election will be sent to the member company’s designated primary contact beginning Friday, April 28. Winners will be announced by June 1.
Kansas has introduced a SEMA-supported resolution (H.R. 6018) reaffirming the state’s commitment to consumer choice and vehicles powered by internal combustion engines.
As other states have begun to ban the sales of new gas- and diesel-powered vehicles starting in 2035, Kansas is declaring freedom from narrow and burdensome energy policies that limit existing, proven technologies. SEMA believes that Kansas residents, not the government, should decide what vehicles are best for them and their families. The resolution awaits consideration by the House.
SEMA encourages its members and enthusiasts in Kansas to contact their lawmakers in support of HR 6018.
For more information, please contact Christian Robinson at christianr@sema.org.
Officials with Formula Academy—the Formula 1-backed all-female driver series—have confirmed five teams will compete during its inaugural season, which opens in Spielberg, Styria, Austria, April 28–29. Current F2 and F3 teams (ART Grand Prix, Campos Racing, Carlin, MP Motorsport, and PREMA Racing) will enter three cars each to make up a 15-car grid. The first season will comprise of seven events with three races each—a total of 21 races—plus 15 days of testing. Drivers will compete in a Tatuus T421 chassis with Autotecnica-supplied turbocharged engines delivering 165 hp to F1 partner Pirelli tires.
Officials with Formula DRIFT have announced updates ahead of the opening of its 20th anniversary season in 2023. A brand-new qualifying format will feature a deductive system with judges quantifying mistakes, in a nod to the old school with a new twist. Officials will also introduce a rotating panel of judges. Former driver and FD Japan judge Robbie Nishida will join regulars Ryan Lanteigne, Brian Eggert, and Chris Uhl. Three will judge each round, while the fourth becomes a driver’s steward before they trade places to keep things fresh.
Top Fuel’s Justin Ashley closed out the final NHRA Arizona Nationals at Wild Horse Motorsports Park with a victory in a front of a sellout crowd, powering to a win over Shawn Langdon in the championship round on Sunday. Robert Hight (Funny Car) and Camrie Caruso (Pro Stock) also won the second of 21 races during the 2023 NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series season. Ashley put together a run of 3.705 seconds at 329.34 mph in his 11,000hp Phillips Connect Toyota dragster powered by National Debt Relief, driving past Langdon’s 3.732 at 329.58.
The Jeep Wrangler 4xe has won Canadian Black Book’s (CBB) 2023 Residual Value Award in the PHEV category. This is the second year of CBB’s Best Residual Value Awards and the first where it has ranked plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. The awards measure a vehicle’s value into the future, recognizing which vehicles are expected to hold the largest percentage of their MSRP 48 months after the original date of purchase. The Best Residual Value Awards complement CBB’s long-running Best Retained Value Awards, where Jeep Wrangler also has a long streak of success.
Lear Corp. has announced it was recognized as a GM Supplier of the Year during General Motors’ 31st annual Supplier of the Year event held earlier this week in San Antonio, Texas.
On March 23, the 100 millionth Yokohama tire rolled off the line at the Salem, Virginia plant—a GEOLANDAR A/T G015.
Tick Performance has new ownership: Joey Anderson and Matt Goins, who plan to continue manufacturing premium, American-made components in North Carolina. In 2004, Johnny Atkins founded Tick Performance with his son and most recent owner Jonathan Atkins. Johnny cashed his retirement savings to start the company, specializing in T-56/TR-6060 performance and making a name for themselves with F-body enthusiasts. 
Hot Shot’s Secret, sponsor of the “Steve Sommers Overnight Drive” late-night radio show and podcast, has announced a lineup of interview guests for the 2023 Mid America Trucking Show (MATS). The “Steve Sommers Overnight Drive,” recently syndicated by Talk Media Network, will broadcast live from the Hot Shot’s Secret booth #12036 all three days of MATS Thursday–Saturday, March 30–April 1.
Nokian Tyres has begun construction on a finished goods warehouse at its Dayton, Tennessee, production campus that will hold as many as 600,000 tires. The facility will be ready for use by mid 2024. Nokian Tyres and its design-build construction firm, BC Construction Group, broke ground in early March on the 350,000 sq.-ft. warehouse, designed by Pieper O'Brien Herr Architects. Nokian Tyres is continuing its long-term partnership with Faithful+Gould to provide project management services for the facility.
For the 11th consecutive year, Stellantis is empowering students to envision the automotive future with its Drive for Design contest. For this year’s competition, high school students in grades 10–12 are challenged to sketch an innovative design for the next-generation Ram electric truck. The top prize is an opportunity to work as an intern (if eligible) in the Ram Truck Exterior Design Studio this summer.
