Legislation that originally sought to increase the age requirement for vehicles eligible for registration as “collector vehicles” was signed into law by Washington State Governor Christine Gregoire. Under the new law, vehicles seeking registration as collector vehicles and the one-time registration fee would still only be required to be at least 30 years old—not 40 years old as the original bill required. The law also deletes provisions that would have created penalties for violating the limited-use provisions. However, the measure still requires the Department of Licensing to establish a method for law enforcement to readily access collector vehicle information using the collector vehicle’s plate number, which will aid in ensuring a plate is being used on its properly assigned vehicle. 

For details, contact Steve McDonald at stevem@sema.org.

Legislation that threatened to prohibit the modification of any motor vehicle that altered the manufacturer's original suspension, steering or brake system unless the state highway patrol issued an inspection certificate was amended to remove those restrictions and signed into law by Governor Jack Dalrymple. The new law now only provides for a study of the state’s transportation laws to be conducted between the 2011 and 2012 legislative sessions. This amended law represents a significant legislative victory for North Dakota enthusiasts and related businesses and is a direct result of SEMA’s vocal opposition. 

For details, contact Steve McDonald at stevem@sema.org.

Legislation that threatened to prohibit the modification of any motor vehicle that altered the manufacturer's original suspension, steering or brake system unless the state highway patrol issued an inspection certificate was amended to remove those restrictions and signed into law by Governor Jack Dalrymple. The new law now only provides for a study of the state’s transportation laws to be conducted between the 2011 and 2012 legislative sessions. This amended law represents a significant legislative victory for North Dakota enthusiasts and related businesses and is a direct result of SEMA’s vocal opposition. 

For details, contact Steve McDonald at stevem@sema.org.

SEMA-model legislation that would create a vehicle-registration classification for street rods and custom vehicles and provide for special license plates for these vehicles was approved by the full Texas House of Representatives. The bill defines a street rod as an altered vehicle manufactured before 1949 and a custom as an altered vehicle at least 25 years old and manufactured after 1948. The measure also allows for the use of non-original materials and creates a titling and registration criterion that assigns these vehicles the same model-year designation as the production vehicle they most closely resemble. However, with time running out on the 2011 Texas legislative session, the bill has not yet had a hearing and vote by the Senate Transportation Committee. The bill must also pass a vote by the full Texas Senate before being sent to the governor for his signature and enactment into law.   

For more information, click here. For details, contact Steve McDonald at stevem@sema.org.

SEMA-model legislation that would create a vehicle-registration classification for street rods and custom vehicles and provide for special license plates for these vehicles was approved by the full Texas House of Representatives. The bill defines a street rod as an altered vehicle manufactured before 1949 and a custom as an altered vehicle at least 25 years old and manufactured after 1948. The measure also allows for the use of non-original materials and creates a titling and registration criterion that assigns these vehicles the same model-year designation as the production vehicle they most closely resemble. However, with time running out on the 2011 Texas legislative session, the bill has not yet had a hearing and vote by the Senate Transportation Committee. The bill must also pass a vote by the full Texas Senate before being sent to the governor for his signature and enactment into law.   

For more information, click here. For details, contact Steve McDonald at stevem@sema.org.

Looking for some of the coolest trucks and SUVs in the industry? Last year, more than 330 display trucks and SUVs made their way to Vegas for the 2010 SEMA Show. See them showing off their shiny skins in this photo collection located on www.enjoythedrive.com.

Not only does this site have a truck and SUV collection, it also contains images of the more than 2,000 vehicles on display at the Show in 2010. Looking for creation vehicles? The database of images is searchable by vehicle make, model, category and more.

Looking for some of the coolest trucks and SUVs in the industry? Last year, more than 330 display trucks and SUVs made their way to Vegas for the 2010 SEMA Show. See them showing off their shiny skins in this photo collection located on www.enjoythedrive.com.

Not only does this site have a truck and SUV collection, it also contains images of the more than 2,000 vehicles on display at the Show in 2010. Looking for creation vehicles? The database of images is searchable by vehicle make, model, category and more.

	SUVs accounted for 51.7% of all imports in China last year.

Registrations of imported cars in China surged 90.2% in 2010, according to the Japanese research company Fourin Inc., with imports topping 600,000 units last year.

SUVs accounted for 51.7% of all imports during that period, based on new-vehicle registration data, says Fourin’s China Automotive Intelligence Report No. 24, December, 2010. Why SUVs? “These models offer great performance on rough roads and higher safety than ordinary passenger cars,” says the report.

More than half the buyers of imported cars in China were young, rich men. Some 66.8% of the buyers were male; 88.3% used cash; more than 90% were private owners. Men in their 30s and younger accounted for 55% of the total, making China’s luxury-car purchase group the world’s youngest, according to Fourin. The largest portion of the imported cars—some 34.6%—cost more than 500,000 RMB ($75,900 USD).

Of China’s luxury-car consumers, Jenny Gu, a senior analyst with J.D. Power in Shanghai, told SEMA: “When demand becomes more diverse, some customers pursue trendy or niche markets. They like to be special, especially for those young elite or those who come back from foreign countries. They prefer import models. One reason is the design is the global trend. Also, there is a sense that the quality is better than locally produced models.”

Domestically, Chinese brands accounted for 31.7% of all units sold in 2010, taking top place. But that included more than a dozen local brands. Japanese brands, mainly Honda, Toyota and Nissan, accounted for 23.8% of all sales. European brands came in third at 22.7%; U.S. brands were fourth at 12.4%, according to J.D. Power.

By 2015, Chinese brands will account for 33.1% of the market; European brands 23.4%; Japanese brands 22.9%; and U.S. brands 12.0%, forecasts J.D. Power.

SEMA is organizing a trip to Beijing for member manufacturers to learn more about the Chinese market and the potential for their products. For more information or to sign up before the June 15 deadline, contact Linda Spencer at lindas@sema.org or visit www.sema.org/china.

	SUVs accounted for 51.7% of all imports in China last year.

Registrations of imported cars in China surged 90.2% in 2010, according to the Japanese research company Fourin Inc., with imports topping 600,000 units last year.

SUVs accounted for 51.7% of all imports during that period, based on new-vehicle registration data, says Fourin’s China Automotive Intelligence Report No. 24, December, 2010. Why SUVs? “These models offer great performance on rough roads and higher safety than ordinary passenger cars,” says the report.

More than half the buyers of imported cars in China were young, rich men. Some 66.8% of the buyers were male; 88.3% used cash; more than 90% were private owners. Men in their 30s and younger accounted for 55% of the total, making China’s luxury-car purchase group the world’s youngest, according to Fourin. The largest portion of the imported cars—some 34.6%—cost more than 500,000 RMB ($75,900 USD).

Of China’s luxury-car consumers, Jenny Gu, a senior analyst with J.D. Power in Shanghai, told SEMA: “When demand becomes more diverse, some customers pursue trendy or niche markets. They like to be special, especially for those young elite or those who come back from foreign countries. They prefer import models. One reason is the design is the global trend. Also, there is a sense that the quality is better than locally produced models.”

Domestically, Chinese brands accounted for 31.7% of all units sold in 2010, taking top place. But that included more than a dozen local brands. Japanese brands, mainly Honda, Toyota and Nissan, accounted for 23.8% of all sales. European brands came in third at 22.7%; U.S. brands were fourth at 12.4%, according to J.D. Power.

By 2015, Chinese brands will account for 33.1% of the market; European brands 23.4%; Japanese brands 22.9%; and U.S. brands 12.0%, forecasts J.D. Power.

SEMA is organizing a trip to Beijing for member manufacturers to learn more about the Chinese market and the potential for their products. For more information or to sign up before the June 15 deadline, contact Linda Spencer at lindas@sema.org or visit www.sema.org/china.

The specialty market in Russia is quite new. According to Fedor Svinin of the Saint Petersburg-based Tuning Inomarka Magazine, the market is only a little more than a decade old, noting that, “we may say that the tuning business started in our country in the late ’90s.” But as the market comes back from a near standstill due to the drying up of credit and an economic crisis, sales are once again growing rapidly and luxury SUV sales are one of the fastest-growing segments.

Listed below are some facts about the Russian market.

1. Huge potential for growth: with only 190 vehicles for every 1,000 Russians (compared to 800 vehicles per 1,000 U.S. citizens), this market of 140 million is far from saturated.
2. Industry experts see strong vehicle sales in the next decade: The Association of European Businesses (AEB) expects Russian annual car sales in 2011 to reach 2.3 million units (up from 1.9 million in 2010) and then a complete return to pre-crisis levels of 2.9 million units during 2012. Looking longer term, the Boston Consulting Group estimates that the annual sales volume will grow to 4 million units by 2018.
3. The Boston Consulting Group recently predicted that Russia will be the sixth-largest global auto market by 2020, up from its current 10th place position.
4. Russia should overtake Germany before the end of the decade to become Europe’s largest market. Industry experts had predicted this would occur back in 2009, but it was derailed due to the economic crisis.
5. The Ford Focus was the best-selling foreign model in 2010 with sales of 67,000 units. Ford will start Russian production of the new-generation Focus later this year and will be one of four markets (along with the United States, Germany and China) to produce the new European-designed focus.
6. GM sales in Russia in 2010 increased 12.4% to 160,000 vehicles: In the 1Q 2011, Chevrolet's top five European markets in terms of sales were Russia (31,003 cars), Uzbekistan (27,465 cars), Italy (8,112 cars), France (7,155 cars) and Germany (5,866 cars). Chevrolet continues to be a top-selling non-domestic brand in Russia, with a market share of 6.2%. Chevrolet was the most popular non-domestic brand in Russia for the fourth year in a row, with sales of 116,233 vehicles and 6.2% market share.
7. Approximately 36% of the cars sold in Russia were imported in 2010, and 33% of those manufactured in Russia were foreign brands.
8. Smaller, low-cost cars increased sales by 41.7%, selling a total of 306,118 units, according to JATO Dynamics. An ongoing scrappage plan spurred on the growth of these smaller-sized vehicles. JATO noted that larger, luxury cars also had a good year with the large and executive segment increasing 50.9% and luxury SUVs up 34.1% vs. 2009. Last year, 385,760 SUVs were sold, according to JATO.
9. One of the biggest opportunities for SEMA members is products for SUVs, according to three Russian-based enthusiast journalists, though all of the journalists noted that pickups and, thus, products for these vehicles, are not much in demand.
10. Wheels are the most visible element of exterior design, and guys here in Russia love big wheels, noted a journalist from Maxi Tuning Russia.

For more information on SEMA resources in selling to 95% of the world’s consumers outside of the United States, contact Linda Spencer at lindas@sema.org.