Denise Koeth joined Babcox Publications as managing editor for its Tire Review magazine. She will also serve as an assistant editor on Tire Review’s sister publication, Fleet Equipment magazine. A veteran reporter, Koeth started her career at the Barberton (Ohio) Herald and most recently worked for the Medina County Gazette. She graduated with honors from The University of Akron, earning a bachelor's degree in mass media communications. Koeth can be reached at 330/670-1234, ext. 274, or via e-mail at dkoeth@babcox.com.

The following are executive changes at Yokohama Tire Corp. Takao Oishi was named Yokohaama Tire Corp.’s executive vice president of operations. Oishi, who spent the past two years as president of Yokohama Europe, will be responsible for logistics, strategic marketing and operations. Kenichi Shirai was named the company’s chief advisor, strategic marketing. He will oversee product planning and strategic marketing. Iwao Shimomura was named senior director, corporate quality assurance. Shimomura will oversee tire development, technology and quality assurance.

KICKER announced that factory training and certification for the company’s amplifiers is now available online for all authorized KICKER dealers. The online format is in addition to the training that the company conducts across the country featuring factory product specialists.

Scosche Industries received the “Innovators Class of 2007” distinction from DigitalLife. Presented by Ziff Davis Media, DigitalLife Innovators honors industry leaders dedicated to educating consumers about what the digital lifestyle means to every aspect of life, from work and home to recreation.  

Send press releases for Movers and Shakers to eNews@sema.org.

Wheel & Tire Council (WTC)

• Like to get some exposure for your company in front of the wheel and tire industries’ top companies and also have a good time? Become a sponsor of the WTC Reception during the 2007 SEMA Show. The reception is scheduled for Wednesday, October 31, 5:00 p.m.–7:00 p.m., at the Las Vegas Hilton, Pavilion 1. Sponsorship Agreement forms have been mailed to all WTC members. If you need a Sponsorship Agreement form or have any questions about the WTC Reception, contact Paul Moritz at 909/396-0289, ext. 112, or paulm@sema.org.

To learn more about the WTC, visit www.sema.org/wtc or contact Paul Moritz at paulm@sema.org.

Automotive Restoration Market Organization (ARMO)

All ARMO-member companies, branch offices and individuals are invited to attend the events the council has scheduled for SEMA Show week.

Popular blues guitarist Kenny Wayne Shepherd will perform at The Joint in the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas on Friday, November 2, and all registered SEMA Show attendees can catch the concert for the reduced price of $25. The Mopar-lovin' six-stringer will himself attend the SEMA Show on November 1 and 2, and personally requested that Showgoers receive a discounted ticket price. Shepherd's latest project car, a '70 Duster, will be displayed in the Mopar Performance Booth.

Tickets can be purchased through the Ticketmaster website (www.ticketmaster.com) or by calling 866/448-7849. SEMA Show attendees will later receive the special event promo code for the discounted price.

With five albums, two Grammy nominations, two Billboard Music Awards, two Orville H. Gibson Awards, four straight #1 blues albums, a string of #1 rock singles and one film under his belt, Kenny Wayne Shepherd is a growing blues legend. Cracking into the music industry at age 16, his 1995 debut Ledbetter Heights has sold over a million copies, while follow-up Trouble Is... and third album Live On both earned Grammy nominations.

Shepherd's most recent project, a DVD/CD entitled TEN DAYS OUT; Blues from the Backroads, captures a 10-day portable recording and performing blitz with the most renowned artists to ever play the blues. Backed by Double Trouble (esteemed bandmates of the late Stevie Ray Vaughn) and produced by Jerry Harrison, Shepherd sat down with B.B. King, the late Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, Hubert Sumlin, PInetop Perkins, and Honeyboy Edwards, to name just a few. Partial proceeds from the project are being donated to Music Maker Relief Foundation, a non-profit organization committed to helping impoverished blues artists.

“I cut my teeth as a blues artist,” Shepherd says. "My first three records mixed my styles, and the last one, The Place You’re In, was a pretty heavy dose of rock and roll. So this became a perfect time to present a solid dose of the blues."

The album has no overdubs and no high-tech fixing.

“What happened is what you hear," Shepherd says. "We kept it as real as possible."

Filler for eNews

With more than 500 companies exhibiting in 2,500-plus booths, Racing & Performance is one of the largest and most powerful sections of the SEMA Show. It’s where buyers can see what’s new in nitrous systems, turbochargers, superchargers, exhaust replacements, racing fuels and more. Also featured will be the latest trends in regard to crew uniforms, helmets and safety equipment. Exhibitors in the Racing & Performance section are conveniently located in Central Hall and in the Front Exhibit Hall. 

To view all of the exhibitors in the racing & Performance section of the 2007 SEMA Show, click here.

Often called “the most productive event to attend at the SEMA Show,” the SEMA Businesswomen's Network (SBN) Breakfast changed its name to the SEMA Speed Networking Breakfast—Powered by the SBN. The new expanded program is open to all SEMA members and SEMA Showgoers and provides a delicious breakfast accompanied by the presentation of the coveted SBN Athena Award and the SBN Woman of the Year Award. Following the breakfast is the popular Speed Networking session, providing attendees one-on-one, three-minute segments of time to meet and exchange information. This new format will allow for the growing popularity of this event and for more industry involvement.

For more information on how to attend the breakfast, or for more details on the SBN, visit www.sema.org/sbn.

Passionate street-rod and custom enthusiasts spend on average 32% more on parts and accessories than enthusiasts of other stripes, according to data from SEMA's 2007 Automotive Lifestyles survey. Enthusiasts queried in the survey say they spent $4,792 on average in the last 12 months customizing their car or truck, while those who identified themselves as street-rod or custom enthusiasts spent about $1,500 more than the entire group of consumers sampled.

Street-rod and custom enthusiasts were defined as those that said they were “very interested” in street rods and customs and subscribe to at least one hot-rod-related enthusiast magazine. The Automotive Lifestyles survey as a whole was administered to automotive-enthusiast magazine subscribers, and those that visited enthusiast websites that posted the survey.

In 2006, specialty-equipment sales slotted for the street-rod and custom market reached $344 million, growing at 4.7% per year since 2000. For more insight into the overall hot-rod market, which houses the aforementioned street rod and custom niche, SEMA members can download a copy of the full-length 2006 Hot Rod Industry Report as another benefit to being a SEMA member. The report is filled with valuable facts and figures about the hot-rod industry and can be downloaded at www.sema.org/research.

The mobile-electronics market has ridden a spectacular wave of growth since 1999, expanding 67% in a six-year period ending in 2005, according to SEMA research. Fueled largely by demand for navigation and video entertainment products, retail sales from 1999–2005 rose from $3.3 billion to $5.5 billion. And a 2005 forecast by the Fredonia Group indicates that the segment will continue growing, with demand reaching $10 billion by 2008.

Six years ago, navigation and video entertainment products comprised just less than 12% of total mobile-electronics retail sales. By 2005, it had nearly doubled to 23%.

Still, audio systems are the heart of the market. The top seven modifications mobile-electronics enthusiasts perform are audio-related, starting with amplifiers (22.1% had installed, 12.8% planned to install), and continuing down through component speakers, head units and subwoofers. DVD players and video monitors were the eighth most popular purchase, with 7.4% having installed one and 12.4% planning on it.

These enthusiasts (from a sample of 5,000 subscribers to auto-enthusiast publications, these 2,349 indicated they had purchased or planned to purchase mobile electronics gear) are a fast-acting group, as well: 67% had purchased and installed a product within the first two months of ownership.

For more original SEMA research and insight into the mobile electronics segment, click here to read the Mobile Electronics Market Update from the December 2006 issue of SEMA News. Also, visit www.sema.org/research to download member-exclusive market research reports.