Manufacturers are now welcome to sign up for time slots at the Hotrod & Restoration Education Day, presented by the SEMA Hot Rod Industry Alliance (HRIA). Registration is now open exclusively to HRIA member companies that are exhibiting at the Hotrod & Restoration (HRR) trade show.

Seven session times are offered, with five sessions per hour. This exclusive opportunity ends July 1, and will then open to all HRR trade show exhibitors.
 
For more information on this educational opportunity, contact SEMA at 909/396-0289 x134 or hria@sema.org. To access the online registration form, click here.

Dates and locations for several upcoming SEMA-sponsored shows and activities have been announced. Details are:

>> SEMA Webinar: SEMA/Car Care One Credit Program, June 21, 10 a.m. (PST)
>> Aftermarket eForum, Hyatt Regency O'Hare, July 16–18, Chicago
>> SEMA Webinar: Tire Pressure Monitoring Systems (TPMS), July 12, 10 a.m. (PST)
>> SEMA Webinar: Urban Lifestyle Report, July 26, 10 a.m. (PST)
>> SEMA Installation Banquet & Gala Fundraiser, July 27, Irvine, California
>> MRC Rep Conference, September 26–27, Phoenix
>> SEMA Show, October 30–November 2, Las Vegas
>> MPMC Media Trade Conference, January 22–24, 2008, Los Angeles

For association-related travel, contact Manya Petropaki (manya.p@travelstoreusa.com) at Travel Store USA, 949/930-9268.

SEMA-members companies have posted several new listings for job opportunities at www.sema.org/classifieds. Working for a SEMA-member company has many advantages. In addition to working for a company that supports and contributes to the success of the overall industry, being employed by a SEMA-member company enable the employee to participate in webinars, access free market research, join SEMA committees and more. The newest classified listings posted under Positions Available include:

• Outside Sales Rep, Cleveland, Ohio
• Outside Sales Rep, Nationwide
• Marketing Associate, Long Beach, California
• Territory Manager, Southern California
• Territory Manager, Denver, Colorado

SEMA members: Have a job opening that you need filled? Members are invited to post classified ads on www.sema.org/classifieds free of charge. Categories include Positions Available, Positions Wanted, Rep Opportunities, WD Opportunities, For Sale, Items Wanted, Business Opportunities and Internships. Visit the site for details.

A study released by the automotive consulting firm AutoPacific Inc. summarizes the results of its 2007 model-year vehicle-satisfaction research. AutoPacific’s Vehicle Satisfaction Award (VSA) is an industry benchmark for objectively measuring how satisfied an owner is with their new car or light truck. Vehicle satisfaction may be an indicator of what vehicle buyers may buy in the future.

The brand with the highest satisfaction rating is Infiniti. The vehicle registering highest overall satisfaction in 2007 is the Cadillac DTS. The highest rated truck is the 2007 Lincoln MKX, a luxury crossover SUV.

There are 25 Vehicle Satisfaction Award categories. At the manufacturer level, multiple award winners include: General Motors and Toyota—six categories; Ford—five categories; Nissan and Hyundai—three categories; and Honda—two categories.

“Infiniti wins the Vehicle Satisfaction Award as the top brand in the closest race in years. Strong satisfaction performance by Infiniti cars and trucks has it winning over strong performances by Lincoln, Cadillac, Lexus and other luxury marques,” says AutoPacific President George Peterson. “The dual wins by Ford Motor Company’s new Crossover SUVs—the Lincoln MKX and Ford Edge—shows it was on target when developing these important new vehicles.”

Peterson continues, “The Cadillac DTS is the highest-rated car and vehicle overall. The Hyundai Santa Fe was the first Korean vehicle to win AutoPacific’s Vehicle Satisfaction Award—in 2001—and continues its strong performance for the sixth year in a row. Winning an AutoPacific VSA is testament for any vehicle that their owners are confident that they have made the right choice.”

Source: AutoPacific. (June 12, 2007). “AutoPacific Announces 2007 Vehicle Satisfaction Awards.” AutoPacific press release courtesy of PR Newswire.

Approximately 71% of U.S. consumers are using the Internet today, according to data from the Pew Internet & American Life Project. Nearly the same numbers of men versus women are using the Internet, but the age groups that are now going online is skewed toward younger demographics. According to the data, 87% of consumers aged 18–29 use the Internet, but 83% of the consumers aged 30–49, 65% between 50–64 and 32% of those over 65, are now going online. In other words, consumers under 50 years old are typically using the Internet. Specialty-equipment companies could use this to their advantage by simply providing detailed information about their products to help guide consumers towards the right places to actually make their purchases.

The types of consumers going online typically involve those living in urban or suburban areas of the country, with 73% of those living in these areas saying they use the Internet. In addition, more than 80% of those with a household income of $50,000 or more per year use the Internet, while 55% of those earning less than $30,000 per year go online. Eighty-one percent of those who have attended some college use the Internet today.

On a typical day, 41% of Internet users use a search engine to merely find information online, which is the second-most popular online activity next to using e-mail. However, nearly one in five (19%) use the Internet each day to research a product or service before buying it, and a total of 78% of Internet users have reported doing this activity at least once. The number of consumers who have actually made a purchase online only drops to 71%, showing that a majority of the online population rely on the Internet to do their shopping.

Specialty-equipment companies may be at an advantage by creating a blog website for consumers to discuss their products. Research shows that 39% of consumers going online are now reading blogs, possibly looking for what they perceive as unbiased information.

Source: SEMA Research & Information Center

What characteristics are most important to new-vehicle buyers? Recent data from the automotive consulting firm AutoPacific shows that overall reliability and durability tops the list of characteristics new-vehicle buyers are looking for when making their automotive purchases. In their Future Vehicle Study, AutoPacific sent out its survey to new-vehicle buyers to find out what features, characteristics and types of vehicles they look for in their current and future vehicle purchases. On a scale of one to five, survey respondents were asked to rate several vehicle characteristics in terms of importance. The top 10 in terms of average characteristic rating are shown in the table below.

AutoPacific also asked new-vehicle buyers to indicate what vehicle features they want on their next vehicle purchase. In order to get a more accurate reading, typical costs of each of the features were provided next to each item. The table below shows that new-vehicle buyers have safety in mind when considering their next vehicle, as shown by the top three features listed.



Specialty-equipment companies often want to know what types of vehicles consumers will buy next. The AutoPacifc data showed that, despite rising gasoline prices, consumers are still considering SUVs and pickups because these vehicles show up on the top 10 vehicle types considered, as shown in the table below.



An overwhelming 65% of the new-vehicle buyers surveyed indicated that they plan to purchase a gasoline powertrain, while 26% indicated hybrid and 7% said diesel was their next vehicle powertrain choice. A majority (54%) of those surveyed said they will purchase a six-cylinder engine, 29% a V8 and 14% a four-cylinder engine the next time they purchase a vehicle. So when will most new-vehicle buyers make their next purchase? AutoPacific asked that as well, and the results are shown in the table below.



AutoPacific regularly sends out its survey to new-vehicle buyers. The results above were taken from a sample of 23,958 consumers-59% male and 61% female. For more information about AutoPacific, including how to obtain more data, visit www.autopacific.com.

Source: SEMA Research & Information Center

According to Ward's Auto, light-vehicle sales for the month of June are expected to fall 1.2%, averaging 57,537 units on each of 27 days. This is compared to 56,839 units during 26 days in June of 2006. The Ward's Auto article states that on a volume basis, sales should hit 1,534,650 units, a 38,687-unit increase over last year's 1,495,963, due to buyers seeking out model-year clearance bargains.

In May, car and truck sales were reasonably balanced. But Ward's Auto is predicting that passenger cars will yield ground to light trucks this month, despite high gas prices. In fact, Ward's Auto is forecasting trucks will account for 52.5% of North American light-vehicle sales, up from 50.4% in May. General Motors is expected to deliver 427,917 vehicles this month, representing a 1.1% increase over last year. The increase in sales will be driven by sales of the Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra pickups. Ford Motor Co. is expected to finish the month above Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. Inc. due to successful sales of the Escape and Edge, with 244,453 units versus Toyota's 240,258 units.

Sales for the Chrysler Group are expected to remain fairly stable with a small DSR drop of 0.5% on a volume of 213,593 vehicles, compared to 206,758 for June 2006. American Honda Motor Co. Inc. is expected to sell 126,449 vehicles, a drop of 2.2% from last year. Nissan North America Inc. has forecast 78,295 units for June, a 0.3% DSR increase over last June. The article also notes that the rest of the industry is expected to remain flat, as the Detroit Three's market share climbs to 57.7% from May's 53.3% but remains shy of last June's 58.7%.
   
The increase in overall light-vehicle sales represents a strong seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 16.44 million, up from both last month's 16.07 million and June 2006's 16.12 million. Inventories for light vehicles should rise slightly as the automakers prepare for plant shutdowns this summer as a result of model changeovers. Ward's Auto states that light-vehicle inventory for June should rise to 3,996,000 units, a 19.8% increase from May. Inventory will support a 70-day supply.



Source: Elnick, Diane. (June 8, 2007). "June Sales to Shift Toward Light Trucks." WardsAuto.com. Retrieved June 12, 2007.

One word forces you to talk about the most important person in your marketing equation: the prospect. It's the most important word you can use in your advertising, promotional copy and sales scripts, according to Larry Mersereau, a small-business consultant, speaker and author in the field of marketing and promotion. He says that too many marketers talk about themselves or their wonderful product. They want their prospects to know about their awards, and they want their prospects to know what they look like. These companies also appear in their own ads like they're the most important person in the deal.

Mr. Mersereau notes that an important point for businesses to keep in mind whenever they talk to prospects, whether it's in print, in a sales conversation, on their website, any time and anywhere: They (the consumers) don't care about you. They don't care what you look like or how you build your product or how big your building is. They care about themselves and what will be better about their life after they own what you're selling.

So, the most important word in your vocabulary is "you." Start a headline or a sentence with "you," and you must talk about the prospect. A few examples using this tactic: "You will enjoy..."; "You will experience..."; "Your family will..."; "You're invited..."; and "You could be..."

Look at your current marketing materials. Read them to yourself sentence by sentence. After each sentence, ask yourself who it was about. Was it about you? Or was it about the prospect? If it was about you, try to turn it around and make it about the prospect.

For example: "We have over 10,000 parts in our inventory" could be turned around to say "You'll surely find the exact part you need in our 10,000-piece inventory." "We deliver FAST" should be "You'll have your parts FAST." Start talking about the person who really matters: The Prospect. Start with the word "you," and you can't go wrong.

Source: Larry Mersereau (May 29, 2007). "The Most Important Word..." Bringing In More Business (electronic newsletter).  http://promopower.com.

The number of E85 refueling locations across the United States now exceeds 1,200, according to the National Ethanol Vehicle Coalition (NEVC). The Renew E85, LLC station at 1440 Horicon Street in Maryville, Wisconsin, is one of the newest E85 stations and put the total number of E85 fueling sites over 1,200. 

Jay Stoflet of Renew E85, LLC added, "It's great to reach a milestone like this, but we know there is still a long way to go for Americans to have the type of convenient access, across the United States, needed to make E85 a viable option for the masses. Being the 1,200th facility to offer E85, our hope is that it illustrates to others that there is a waiting market in this country for E85 and that it inspires them to join the cause, helping to fill the demand U.S. consumers have for alternative fuels."

Last year at this time, the number of E85 sites across the United States was less than 750 facilities. During the past year, more than 450 (61% growth from last year) new sites have been established, including E85 locations opening for the first time in Alabama and Arkansas. Currently, there are 70 privately accessed and 1,134 publicly accessed E85 sites. The NEVC has assisted with the establishment of all of these facilities, providing technical, promotional and/or financial support.

"Growth and interest in E85 fuel and infrastructure is continuing at a rapid pace," said Chairman of the NEVC and Director of Government Affairs for ICM Greg Krissek. "We are thrilled to celebrate this milestone and look forward to helping to grow the nation's E85 infrastructure even more in the coming months. Congratulations to the Renew station in Maryville, Wisconsin, and to all the retailers supporting E85."

The NEVC is currently working with our many partners to encourage that Congressional appropriations are made available to continue to grow the numbers of E85 stations across the nation.

As the number of E85 stations across the United States grows, more consumers may see that buying an E85-capable vehicle will be a practical option. Sales of alterative-fuel powertrains, including E85, clean diesel and gasoline-electric hybrid powertrains, reached 1.5 million last year.

Source: National Ethanol Vehicle Coalition (May 7, 2007). "E85 Stations Surpass 1,200 Locations!" National Ethanol Vehicle Coalition press release.