SEMA News—April 2023

INTERNET

Hyper-Personalizing Newsletters With All-Seeing Databases

By Joe Dysart

Marketers are using “all-seeing” databases to help ensure their marketing newsletters are hyper-personalized.

Marketers looking to hyper-personalize their newsletters to customers are using new technology—enhanced Customer Data Platforms (CDPs)—to ensure the personalized details they have on each customer is maxed-out.

The solutions are here.

Says Chris Jones, chief product officer, Amperity—a provider of an enhanced CDP: “As a brand, you need to capture the memory of your customers as data—and then make that data available to everyone at the company.

“Your CDP should be the data infrastructure that not only touches every customer-facing system in your company, but delivers unified data that brings all the systems to life.”

Unlike traditional customer databases, enhanced CDPs work overtime, drawing in details about each customer from multiple databases that are scattered throughout an organization—databases that used to exist as single-use, limited access silos.

A best-of-breed, all-seeing CDP, for example, can automatically import personal details about customers as they interact with a business by email, chat, text, phone, social media, clicks in newsletters, clicks on websites, in person—and virtually every form of customer interaction that is either digital, or can be digitized.

Prior to the advent of the CDP, amalgamating all that insightful data was extremely tough—if not impossible—given that so much data was locked in siloed databases.

Meanwhile, aggressive users of CDPs are also continually experimenting with ever more novel ways to record ever more insights about customers.

Those include tasking trusted chat and phone reps to add their own insights about customers and how they interact with them, for example, or encouraging customers to fill out detailed profiles about themselves in exchange for a chance to win a gift card.

The result? CDPs brimming with insights about each customer, can be continually analyzed by AI to identify lucrative opportunities for marketing and sales, such as:

• Which customers are responding most favorably to my hyper-personalized newsletters?
• Which customers have made purchases after viewing videos embedded in my newsletters?
• Which customers have made purchases after they read a detailed, long-form article on my product or service?

And those insights are just for starters. Essentially, once marketers amass a hyper-detailed, continually evolving, all-seeing view of each customer, they can use AI analytics to ask as many questions as they’d like about that data from virtually every perspective.

In a phrase, marketers armed with AI-powered CDPs have a perpetual-motion marketing machine—collecting ever more data on each customer, using that data to create an ever more personalized marketing newsletter for each customer, studying customer interaction with that ever more personalized newsletter, implementing refinements to create an even more personalized newsletter, studying the results of that even more personalized newsletter—and so on.

Take Accenture’s Consumer 360 Platform, for example.

Using Accenture’s CDP, a manufacturer was able to stream data from 35 different databases scattered across its organization into a single master database.

That capability enabled marketers there to simultaneously analyze what videos a customer viewed on their products, what that customer said about the company’s products on social media to their friends and acquaintances, what retailers the customer visited online to learn more about the product and how that same customer interacted with marketing for those products on the company’s website.

Consequently, based on those insights, the manufacturer was able to use the Consumer 360 Platform to predict when that customer would make a purchase, along with the specific product they would most likely buy.

That’s valuable information if you’re looking to hyper-personalize a newsletter promoting a service or product you think will most likely result in a purchase.

And those insights are also extremely handy if you’re looking to personalize a newsletter with text, images, audio and video of related services or products that customer may also decide to purchase.

For the company that used the Consumer 360 Platform in this way, customer engagement with company marketing materials jumped 25% and average revenue earned per visit shot up 10%, according to Accenture.

Need another example? Consider Amperity, another CDP vendor, which reports similar results with Alaska Airlines, after it worked with the business to stream data from databases in various departments at the company into one master database.

After all that information—from bookings, reservations, customer interactions on the airline’s smartphone app and customer interactions with the airline’s loyalty program—was centralized, it was simply a matter of unleashing analytics on the master database to come up with insights.

Alaska Airlines’ specific analytical goal was to use data insights from Amperity to send customers personalized marketing messages to upsell them before their flights. For instance, marketers tapped Amperity’s insights on their customers to send those customers upgrade offers, such as invitations to join the airline’s loyalty program, cabin upgrades and similar upgrade opportunities.

The result: The business saw a 198% jump in sign-ups for its loyalty program and a 61% jump in message open rates, according to Elliot Pesut, director of marketing, Alaska Airlines.

Fortunately, if you’re looking to explore the idea of CDP platforms further, market research analyst Forrester released an in-depth report earlier this year that offers a complete rundown on who’s who in CDP, entitled “Now Tech: Customer Data Platforms, Q1 2022.”
(https://reprints2.forrester.com/#/assets/2/644/RES177030/report).

In the report, you’ll find Forrester’s take on 34 CDP providers, including providers that specialize in centralized databases that are specifically designed to use insights for newsletter personalization and similar message personalization.

Meanwhile Adobe—another provider of enhanced CDPs—has a handy checklist you can use when shopping for the ultimate CDP solution (https://business.adobe.com/blog/how-to/choosing-the-right-cdp-for-you).

While Adobe’s CDP product excels at all the features considered critical on its list (surprise, surprise), the list will nevertheless be useful as a conversation starter with any CDP vendor you’re considering.

The following are Adobe’s take on the top features to look for in any CDP:

Real-Time Data Streaming and Data Ingestion: For maximum efficacy, ensure that the database consolidation you use offers real-time updates from all data streams you’re sourcing.

Purpose-Built as a CDP by a Trusted Organization: Many CDPs in the marketplace are cobbled together from disparate technologies. Make sure you choose a solution from a reliable company that built the CDP from the ground up.

Complete, Unified User Profiles: One of the principal benefits of a CDP is personalization on an individual basis. Make sure this is standard with any system you’re considering.

Robust, Native Data Governance Tools: Your CDP should make your data governance simpler, not more complex.

Real-Time Data Activation: Ensure that any data you use for newsletter personalization or other tasks is always the latest available.

Easy for Marketers to Use: CDPs democratize data. An ideal CDP will be built for marketers, with an interface, tools, and workflows structured to work seamlessly with marketing departments.

Scalable, Flexible and Extensible: Your CDP should integrate seamlessly with your existing marketing and advertising technology stack—without putting extra strain on IT.

Joe Dysart is an internet speaker and business consultant based in Manhattan

646-233-4089

joe@customtechadvisor.com

www.dysartnewsfeatures.com

SEMA News—April 2023

HERITAGE

Moving On

By Drew Hardin

Photography Courtesy: Eric Dahlquist, Petersen Publishing Company Archive

2023 marks the 100th anniversary of Carroll Shelby’s birth. The milestone will be celebrated in a number of ways, from a Centennial-Edition Mustang by Shelby American to a tribute to his life and cars at the Goodwood Revival in England this fall.

Volumes have been written about Shelby’s life, from the successful ’50s racing career cut short by a heart condition to the organ transplants that kept him alive far longer than his OEM parts would have sustained him. There were the Cobras, Mustangs, Omnis, Chargers and other cars—and trucks—that bore his name. There were SCCA championships and the Le Mans efforts that would ultimately see Ford win the “Ford vs. Ferrari” battle put on film a few years ago. He was funny and charming but also litigious, using a scorched-earth strategy to protect his name from countless Cobra imitators and others.

Type the word “Shelby” into the search field of the digitized Petersen Publishing photo archive and the result is nearly 3,000 images, from photos of magazine editors testing the first Cobra in 1962 to a snapshot of him at the 2010 SEMA Show sitting on a sofa joking with Speedy Bill Smith and Linda Vaughn. Only a fraction of those results are photos of the man himself; the majority are shots of cars taken during vehicle road tests, for build-up or restoration articles, and at vintage races, Shelby club conventions and other events. To get an accurate count of how many photos of Shelby himself are in the archive would take a fair amount of sleuthing. He was a prolific racer in his prime, driving sports and Formula 1 cars, earning Sports Illustrated magazine’s Driver of the Year in 1956 and winning Le Mans in an Aston Martin in 1959. We recently, and by accident, found a photo of him at the wheel of a 4.9L Ferrari at the 1957 Daytona Speedweeks.

So why choose this photo of Shelby for his 100th birthday tribute? We found the image, taken by Motor Trend’s Eric Dahlquist at a November 1968 press preview of the ’69 Mustang GT350 and GT500, remarkably prescient. By this time Shelby had little to do with his namesake Mustang. Production of the ’68 models had moved from Shelby American’s LAX-based facility to Michigan; and the ’69 models, as Shelby historian Greg Kolasa described them, were becoming less “Shelby” and more “Ford.” Just a few months after this photo was taken, Shelby brought an end to the Mustang program. The ’69 cars were the end of the era, though several hundred unsold ’69 models were retagged with new VINs and marketed as ’70 models.

In Dahlquist’s photo, Shelby seems distracted, disinterested in the Mustang he’s sitting on, instead looking off in the distance to a future yet to be written.

SEMA News—April 2023

FROM MIKE SPAGNOLA

New Specialty-Equipment Market Research Now Available for Download

By Mike Spagnola, SEMA President and CEO

Along with SEMA’s work in government affairs, trade events, and professional advancement programs, it’s long been a top priority to help businesses make data-driven business decisions by means of targeted research. The goal is to help members understand the size and scope of the industry, and help define investment opportunities, segment by segment.

The recently released “2023 SEMA Future Trends Report” illustrates the commitment the association has made to providing professional research to the industry, one of a series of reports to be released this year. The 69-page report includes not only proprietary SEMA industry survey tabulations but also detailed metrics derived from a broad range of economic indicators. These include new vehicle sales trends, rates of unemployment, consumer confidence, and overall retail sales in segments relevant to our industry.

These elements and others in the report offer a forward-looking perspective, and an opportunity to make informed projections as to probable business conditions in the months and years ahead. It’s a must-read report for retailers considering how much inventory to carry, manufacturers managing production rates and new product development, distributors anticipating supply chain challenges, and for jobbers who need to foresee what technologies will affect the types of vehicles they will soon be working with—and the equipment that might be needed.

One particular segment of the “2023 SEMA Future Trends Report” allows readers to keep an eye on growth rates of electric vehicles, and the factors that will affect opportunities in that segment in the years to come. Another section details shipping and freight prices, and charts truck and container ship activity in ports. And yet another section looks at aftermarket-specific trends and opportunities in segments like muscle cars, tuner cars, off-road vehicles, racing and classic cars.

The “2023 SEMA Future Trends Report” is not the only research tool available to businesses in the specialty automotive sector. Later this spring, and again in the fall, a “SEMA State of the Industry Report” will be published, the “SEMA Market Report” is released in the summer, and other consumer-focused studies are available to provide insights into end-user types and buying habits. Another upcoming series of reports is based on specific lifestyle groups and how those communities interact with our industry. These and many other reports are available for download, free of charge, at www.sema.org/
market-research.

While the reports provide considerable detail, research support for SEMA members is not limited to the reports themselves. The SEMA research team is always available to provide clarifications, and act as consultants when it comes to interpreting the available market data.

SEMA News—April 2023

BUSINESS

In Perfect Harmony

#GRIDLIFE Provides Young Automotive and Music Enthusiasts A Thrilling Mashup of the Two Worlds

By Eric Colby

The self-taught Formula Drift champion racer Chris Forsberg (and his 2,000hp, Valvoline-sponsored Nissan Altima “Altimaniac” drift car) is among the big-name heroes of car culture to be found at GRIDLIFE events.

Chris Stewart was walking out of a concert in Grand Rapids, Michigan, in 2003 when a lowered white Honda Civic ES hatchback caught his eye. He was running a car club for import-car owners out of the house he rented while attending college and thought the car’s owner could be a good fit.

“I left a note on this white Civic, and every January we would borrow a buddy’s dad’s stake truck and drive from Grand Rapids to bring imported motors into Michigan,” said Stewart.

It turned out that the owner of that white Civic was Adam Jabaay, who joined Stewart’s club called West Michigan Honda. The two shared a love of modifying and racing import cars and got into road racing and autocross. In 2004, they rented the GingerMan Raceway in South Haven, Michigan, for the first time, inviting their friends to come out for a day at the track. “If you were trying to get into track racing or autocross, you didn’t have many paths forward,” said Stewart.

They attended other track days held by more “traditional” organizations, but “it didn’t “feel like our people or our scene,” explained Stewart. “We started to organically grow a group of younger individuals to get into the track scene.”

In addition to being car enthusiasts, Stewart and Jabaay had moved to Chicago while working for an advertising agency. Stewart spent many evenings at local clubs enjoying a variety of musical performers.

Oftentimes the simplest ideas can lead to the greatest success. Stewart and Jabaay started talking about how to bring together three elements: young people who enjoy various auto-racing disciplines, car-culture enthusiasts and those with similar musical interests.

The result is #GRIDLIFE, a grassroots racing organization that invites car and music enthusiasts to a track for weekend-long festivals and track days. The events feature a diverse collection of on-track competition, car culture and sometimes a Saturday-night concert all in one place. Think of it as Lollapalooza meets Nitro Circus.

“GRIDLIFE was birthed out of the intersection of my passions,” said Stewart. “How do I create a community that glues together all my friends,” he asked. “It’s not just a track event with drifting in the corner. Our mission statement is motorsports inclusion.”

Overall, GRIDLIFE had 14 events around the country last year, mostly at road courses where drifters get a unique opportunity because they run on the same track as the sporting categories.

“The barrier between road racers and drifting has been there for a long time,” said Stewart. “A road-race driver can look at the brake marker and see where they initiate the turn.”

You can’t deny that the group is growing—and introducing a fresh demographic of enthusiast consumers to the racing-performance and specialty-equipment industries. Last summer, GRIDLIFE celebrated the 10th anniversary of its flagship Midwest festival, and the company held events around the country in 2022. Partners include some of the best-known names in motorsports, car culture and the aftermarket, including MOMO, Valvoline, Falken Tires, eBay Motors, Sta-Bil, Advance Auto Parts and more. The organization has also exhibited at the recent SEMA Show and Performance Racing Industry Trade Show.

GRIDLIFE is the largest time-attack organization with more competitors than any group in the United States. GRIDLIFE held events in California the last two years and another in Texas. In addition, 2022 was the first year that GRIDLIFE held an event in New England, at Connecticut’s legendary Lime Rock Park. The Midwest Festival drew 2,200 people 10 years ago, but last summer 20,000 people attended with well-known EDM performer Kaskayde entertaining the crowd Saturday night. Other noteworthy musical guests have included rappers Waka Flocka and T Pain and alternative-band Taking Back Sunday.

Drift car racer and Youtube influencer TJ Hunt (center) has gained a huge following among the young crowds at GRIDLIFE events.

“Almost all of our events are sold out,” said Stewart. The GRIDLIFE website encourages guests to spend the weekend camping onsite for the full experience. The average cost for a weekend is $550, including track time and the concert. For smaller events, a single track day can cost as little as $110 per day. “We punch above our weight in terms of experience within the category of club racing,” said Stewart. “We’re looked at and compared to a Formula Drift or an IMSA—that’s not what we are.” Between on-track racing, drifting, interactive experiences and the concerts, GRIDLIFE has 17 hours of programming per day during a festival weekend.

Falken has two time-attack classes that GRIDLIFE wrote the rules for, and Stewart said the corporate sponsorships are evolving. “We’re still trying to figure out partnerships. It’s kind of an ever-flowing thing,” he said. “We don’t do a lot of presented-by or series titling.”

Cheralyn Smith, director of motorsports marketing for MW Company, the parent of MOMO, Weld and other brands, called GRIDLIFE the best of both worlds. “One of the things that’s really unique is the motorsports festival,” she said. “It’s nice to have car enthusiasts and non-enthusiasts at one event.”

For MW, which is based in Gardena, California, GRIDLIFE events present the possibility to revive interest in the MOMO name, which is well-known to sportscar enthusiasts, as well as Forgestar, a newer company.

“MOMO is a brand that’s been around 60 years and GRIDLIFE lets us relaunch the brand in the United States to many different consumer bases,” she said. “We’ve seen growth with Forgestar through partnerships with events like GRID.”

Through Forgestar, the company is reaching a new customer base with the drifters. “One of the things we can make is wheels to the spec they need without spacers,” she explained. “We’re finding traction within that area because we offer a product that makes sense to them.”

In addition to product, companies like MW and Valvoline can put their professional drivers in front of their fans in the informal environment that GRIDLIFE provides. Beyond the racing and product displays, there are also other attractions and activations, including ride-alongs and iRacer simulators.

The simulators represent an especially novel immersive-racing concept also aimed at stoking grassroots enthusiasm. According to Stewart, the simulator competitions open motorsports to a gaming audience while instilling valuable track skills. Ultimately, that can build newcomer confidence to join in the racing lifestyle at live GRIDLIFE track days and programs.

Names known to the car-culture world who appear at GRIDLIFE events include Robert Thorne, who also just won the Pro Drift championship, Chris Forsberg and Rob Dahm, who is one of YouTube’s best-known influencers with his quad-rotor Mazda.

There are no membership charges for GRIDLIFE, but drivers must be licensed. The lack of a membership fee is by design; it ensures the racing remains affordable. Stewart said there were 1,600 licensed competitors in 2022 and most ranged from 23–36 years old.

Don’t let the casual atmosphere and the weekend-capping concerts make you think the competition isn’t serious, though. Pro drivers come in to compete in various classes and everyone wants to win. “If you look at any of our events from 20,000 ft. in the air, it would still look like cars going around a racetrack,” said Stewart.

Because Stewart spent time in advertising, he understands the importance of social media and a variety of outlets for people who can’t attend in person. “We livestream and present and broadcast six races per year,” said Stewart. “These aren’t IMSA teams. They are people building their programs. We bring in partners so we can do that broadcast so they can bring in sponsors and continue in the hobby.”

In addition to welcoming myriad racing disciplines, GRIDLIFE is one of the most inclusive motorsports organizations. More than 25% of the attendees and competitors are women, and the group works with LGBTQ organizations like Racing Pride and Out Motorsports.

“We just try to be allies to groups to make them feel welcome,” said Stewart. “It’s not just general acceptance, it’s celebration of those groups.”

Perhaps no one can fully understand the value of the audience that GRIDLIFE draws more than Patrick Daugherty, associate brand manager/sponsorships at Valvoline. In addition to bringing in influencers sponsored by the lubrication giant like TJ Hunt, Forsberg and Dahm, Daugherty gets the viewpoint of GRIDLIFE racers because he’s one of them. Daugherty competes in Street Class with a ’21 Honda Civic Type R. “It’s fun to be one of them and see things from a different perspective,” said Daugherty.

He’s been competing in sports cars since 2008, starting in Autocross, and he has run a time-attack car.

“When we first started sponsoring GRIDLIFE, I was already in time attack and I started competing at the events I could drive my car to,” said Daugherty.

Valvoline kicked off its sponsorship with GRIDLIFE in 2012, and Daugherty says the group “renewed a lot of excitement around car culture and motorsports.” He added, “Their concept to marry music and these automotive festivals is pretty awesome.”

From the Valvoline side, Daugherty said GRIDLIFE events let fans interact with influencers like Hunt and Forsberg. “There will be a huge line to meet with T.J. and he’ll spend however long the fan wants to chat with him,” said Daugherty. “They’re not only getting the GRIDLIFE experience, they’re getting content.”

GRIDLIFE iRacing simulator competitions open motorsports up to a gaming audience, instilling newcomers with the confidence to join real-life track days and other events.

The influencers also give attendees the chance to experience the crazy machines they see on YouTube. Hunt is building a quad-rotor Mazda for time attack and has a huge following on the video-hosting site. Forsberg built the Valvoline-sponsored Altimaniac, a 2,000hp four-seat Nissan Altima drift car. Show attendees can enter a lottery to go for a ride with him at a GRIDLIFE event.

While he couldn’t put a number on the “value” of Valvoline’s participation in GRIDLIFE, Daugherty did say, “Event-wise, it’s the best place for us to gain exposure and brand awareness with our influencers. The events tick all the boxes. It’s engagement, reach and their content is the best.”

Moving forward, Stewart said that GRIDLIFE is looking at electric propulsion and Mountain Pass Performance that caters to vehicles that compete in events like the Pikes Peak Challenge.

“We have so many facets to our world. The competitors make the series,” said Stewart. “All we do is provide structure, experience and friendships.”

SEMA News—April 2023

BUSINESS

“A Message From You, the Sponsor”

Automotive Podcasts Are Undervalued Despite Astronomical Growth. Sponsor One While It’s Still Affordable.

By Chris Shelton

John “CustomCarNerd” Meyer (right), producer Joann Meyer (not shown), and Jason “OldeCarrGuy” Carr (left) joke that they deliver everything you never thought you’d want to know about cars on “Get Out N Drive.” As the title suggests, they encourage listeners to use their vehicles as intended, which drives traffic to their sponsor’s collector-car classifieds and content.

A pattern began to emerge while researching “Your Message Here,” our October 2022 SEMA News article explaining why and how industry professionals should contribute to automotive podcasts as guests: It felt impossible to talk about the marketing potential of appearing on a podcast without examining the virtues of sponsoring one.

What the experts we consulted urged had nothing to do with paying to appear as a guest. Rather, they described a frontier market where cost may not always reflect the true value of the medium, or at least what that medium may be worth one day. To summarize, the automotive segment of the podcast market is growing by leaps and bounds in titles and listeners alike. And so far, sponsors/advertisers seem slow to seize the opportunity.

It’s hard to blame them: Podcasts don’t really fit the marketing model that most people think of. In that model, quantity is king. Take the once-vast print market, where even a niche title could reach tens or even hundreds of thousands of people. When talking potential customers, more is better—right?

Giants like “Collecting Cars” and “The Smoking Tire” notwithstanding, podcasts typically don’t pull the audience numbers that we’ve come to expect from other formats. Yes, there are more listeners by the day; but there are also more podcasts vying for their ears.

What distinguishes podcasts is the quality of their audiences. “The fan base that you get is very dedicated and loyal, a base that specifically sought you out,” says “Get Out N Drive” producer Joann Meyer. “It’s not like they’re just flipping on the TV and we happen to be on. They’re looking for this type of content. So, we have a very loyal base that’s very specific in the niche that we’re in.”

And the niches can get narrow. “For example, we are involved with a number of podcasts and one of them focuses solely on road racing,” explains Mark Menadier, business-development manager for online marketplace RacingJunk.com.

Every week since 2017, “Everyone Racers” Christopher Abbott, Christian “Mental” Ward, Jeff Wakemen and Chrissy Mittura meet to dish about amateur endurance racing. By minimizing production cost and optimizing relationship value, they’ve established a modest-but-dedicated following that overlaps almost perfectly with RacingJunk.com’s marketplace.

Targeted Reach

“We may not have a large fan base, but you’re reaching every single one of those people that’s downloading our information,” says Christian “Mental” Ward, co-host of “Everyone Racers.” “Podcasts don’t play in the background. It’s not something that’s, you know, on the radio. It’s nothing like that. It is very targeted. So, it is super engaging.”

“You’re getting engaged with people in a way that you don’t ordinarily,” Meyer adds. “This is the kind of stuff you hear when you’re talking to somebody at a car show.” With that comes a kind of trust that’s rare in the marketing world. “I think from a consumer standpoint, it’s you know, ‘I’m going to find someone who thinks like me and acts like me, and they’re going to give me an honest review of this particular product,’” Ward says.

They’re far from wrong. Earlier this year, iHeart Media released the results of a study that indicates that “consumers perceive radio and podcast personalities as highly relatable, trustworthy and authentic.” According to “Exploring the Brand Benefits of Trust and Companionship in Audio,” “These findings present rich opportunity for advertisers to build brand affinity and favorability, and drive purchase in audio environments.”

And it’s a good audience to have: According to the Westwood One 2021 Audioscape, 53% of podcast listeners have white-collar occupations, 39% have management positions, 55% have a household income of $75,000 or higher, and 39% have incomes of $100,000 or more. Take “Everyone Racers,” Menadier says. “That audience tends to be more affluent. The participants are generally self-sponsored. There’s not a whole lot of spectators in road racing, so there’s not a lot of sponsorship opportunity. So, the road racers themselves tend to be great customers because they have the means.”

Obviously, fit is crucial to a good relationship. And like most crucial things, that isn’t always straightforward. In fact, the best option for some would-be sponsors is retaining a conventional marketing firm that knows your industry and buyer’s demographics.

Regardless of the choice, it pays to understand some of the mechanics behind the decisions essential to finding a good match. “Let’s go back to one extremely crucial element,” Menadier says. “Does their audience line up with your target customer base? That’s the first thing, right?

“Let’s say that I sell dirt-car parts,” he continues. “I want to get involved in a podcast that only talks about dirt, and there are podcasts that are that esoteric. Having the ability to hyper-target your audience—especially if you’re a company that focuses on a specific automotive niche—is a great thing about podcasts.”

But according to Ward, perfect alignment isn’t always the best option. “You don’t necessarily want to go to the direct market,” he says. “If it’s exactly your demographic, then there’s a 90% chance the listeners already know about your product.” Solution? Adjacent marketing. “You can start finding the mutually beneficial cross promotion adjacent to your audience. In our case, we’re endurance road racers [and] there’s a lot of crossover to the vintage road-racing crowd.”

Menadier urges would-be sponsors to study their prospective outlets. “Do they come across as professional? Do they have good content? Do they bring in quality guests? How often do they publish? Do they do remote, on-site recordings? Do they go to industry events? Are the engagement stats, audience base, reviews, comments and interaction skills good? Those factors play into the decision-making process.” He also recommends contacting the podcast’s current and past sponsors to get a take on their experience.

At the same time, he underscores the value of underdogs. “If I see a podcast that’s got potential, and after talking with them and looking at how they present themselves, I’ll pay attention. If I see potential for growth within a year or two, then I’ll jump on board with them and do everything I can to help them gain downloads. If you see potential in a yet-to-be-known podcast and you can get your foot in the door, your value as a sponsor is going to be higher down the road.

“So just to round out the thought, what I saw in ‘Get Out N Drive’ were the things that I look for in a successful podcast, and they were just barely getting off their feet,” Menadier continues. Host John Meyer was at the tail end of a decades-long career turning wrenches and Joann runs a successful catering business. “They had the background [and] she had the organizational and administrative wherewithal. So you know, they’re a good example.”

As counterintuitive as it sounds, there’s also such a thing as a market that’s too big. “Good example is the very first podcast that we got involved with,” he recalls. “He’s an off-road racer, super well-known in the off-road world. We got on with him and he already had a substantial following, but it got to the point that we just got swallowed up. We were, in that podcast’s eyes, a little fish in a very large ocean.”

The common denominator to these podcast titles and RacingJunk.com is Mark
Menadier. As business development manager for Internet Brands, parent company of a dozen automotive-themed online entities, he handles the company’s partnerships and special projects. He’s a driving force behind the company’s push into niche markets by way of engaging grassroots podcasts.

Message Placement

How producers work sponsor messages into episodes varies across the industry, but most fall into a few very familiar formats. Our October 2022 SEMA News “Your Message Here” article likened podcasts to old-time radio shows. The familiar “message from our sponsor” delivered by a program host or cast falls under the broad heading of host-read ads.

But these aren’t necessarily the formal spots of yore. “We ask [producers] for our messaging to contain an idea, but we don’t script it,” Menadier says. “We ask them to work it in organically, however they can. And most of them do it. That’s something that ‘Everyone Racers’ does well.” For example, “Everyone Racers” works
Racingjunk.com into a piece called “What I Found on RacingJunk.com.”

“When we started this relationship, they really kind of didn’t place any expectations on this,” Ward explains. “All of us go on RacingJunk.com anyway. We find something interesting and just talk about it.” What exists to promote a sponsor turns into an entertainment segment. “That gives us more than the typical 30- or 60-sec. spot,” Menadier says. Furthermore, listeners are more likely to hear a message from a sponsor if it includes novel and entertaining information.

Whether host-delivered or sponsor-generated, sponsorship messaging appears in one of three places in a podcast: pre-roll, or before the episode starts; mid-roll, or anywhere during the episode; and post-roll, or after the episode ends. And not all messages are baked into the program. Many producers essentially leave blanks in the programming that they fill at will. Dynamic ads, as they’re known, are a great way to sponsor evergreen episodes that see frequent downloads long after their initial publishing date.

Because podcasts rely on the internet for dissemination, they leave a digital paper trail. Producers then mine that trail for valuable information about listener habits that they can use to court sponsors and determine the podcast’s marketing value.

The basic marketing metrics include cost per click (CPC), cost per mille (CPM), cost per lead (CPL) and cost per action (CPA). CPC explains itself: the producer charges a set amount per click, in this case per-episode download. CPM amounts to the same thing, but in blocks of a thousand clicks.

CPL represents the amount a sponsor pays whenever a consumer follows a lead to a sponsor’s business; CPA represents the amount a sponsor pays whenever a consumer purchases a product.

CPL and CPA make up the backbone of affiliate marketing. Though affiliate marketing comes in many forms, you’re probably most familiar with it in review websites. The “See price at XYZ” buttons that usually accompany a product or service send users to a unique page on the sponsor’s site. If the arrangement pays based on CPL, the producer earns commission on every click that lands a user at the sponsor’s unique page. And in the CPA model, the sponsor pays every time a user buys the advertised product.

Naturally the audio-only format precludes counting clicks beyond the one used to download the podcast episode. But operators in the podcast sphere have developed a workaround, creating unique coupon codes that let the sponsor know where the users heard about the sponsor’s products or services.

Asking how much it costs to sponsor a podcast is akin to asking how much it costs to buy a car or a house. The variables are so diverse that it’s impossible to put a blanket figure on it. Thankfully those are questions that a well-maintained media kit can answer.

But even in some of the most successful arrangements, podcast sponsorship can often cost very little—and in some cases literally nothing, depending on the sponsor’s presence in the industry. “This movement is in such an emerging stage that people are basically bartering for exposure on each other’s platforms,” Ward reveals. In their relationship, ‘Get Out N Drive’ and ‘Everyone Racers’ lead traffic to RacingJunk.com. “With RacingJunk.com, they feature us in their newsletter quite often, which is good for us because it opens us up to a bigger market,” he continues.

“The more we promote them, the more they’re promoted, and the more we get promoted,” Menadier says. It’s a synergistic circle, there’s no question about it. It’s almost like you can’t wash your right hand without your left hand. Our arrangement with them is a perfect example of that.”

“RacingJunk.com has been a huge help to us,” Joann Meyer says. “I met Mark on LinkedIn, and we have gone from there. They have provided us with a wealth of guests and potential sponsors. We’re not in the getting-paid-to-sponsor gig, but we’ll be there someday.”

Menadier says adding a podcast to the mix is the next logical step for a few reasons. “The first one being you’re potentially tapping into an audience that has not heard your message and has maybe not heard of you as a company, your business.”

“The second, and almost as important reason, is because you’re reinforcing whatever other messaging you have going on in your mix,” he continues. “What if that person listening to the podcast happens to be someone that follows you on social? Hearing your name mentioned on a podcast just reinforces what you’re already doing.”

For now, podcast sponsorship represents one of the more affordable means to deliver a company’s message to a very specific audience. But not for long, Mark Menadier predicts. “Podcasts really have taken off not only in popularity with the listeners, but popularity with people who are finding another way to make a dollar,” he says. It’s only a matter of time until more businesses discover the potential to access target markets, at which point the value will reflect the medium’s power. “It’s best to get in early,” Menadier observes, “because then you get favorable treatment down the road.”

SEMA News—April 2023

EDUCATION

Women Who Build

A SEMA Education Seminar Delves Into the Inspiring Backstory of the SBN All-Female Ford Bronco Build Project

By Mike Imlay

From left to right, the SEMA Show’s “Women Who Build” seminar included Rebeca Olavarrieta, Kathryn Reinhardt, Sherry Kollien, Sara Morosan and moderator Jennifer Petraitis.

Women vehicle builders are on the rise, and successive generations are now flexing their garage prowess in growing numbers. That fact was especially demonstrated in the recent SEMA Businesswomen’s Network (SBN) All-Female ’21 Ford Bronco Wildtrak Build, unveiled at the 2022 SEMA Show in Las Vegas.

The project proved transformational—not just for the Bronco but for the 157 female volunteers who made it happen. Built primarily at the Diamond Bar, California, and Detroit SEMA Garages, the venture encompassed modifications to all the Wildtrak’s elements, from suspension to body utility and appearance items. The volunteers hailed from every segment of the industry, and for many, the project opened new doors in teamwork, networking and skills training.

To highlight the build and what it meant for the women involved, the SEMA Education presented the “Women Who Build—Powered by SBN” panel discussion just prior to the Bronco’s unveiling at the Show. The panelists included moderator Jennifer Petraitis of Driven Lighting Group, and Bronco task-force leaders Sherry Kollien of Motorcity Solutions, Sara Morosan of LGE-CTS Motorsports, Rebeca Olavarrieta of Roco 4x4, and SEMA Board of Directors member Kathryn Reinhardt. The following are some educational highlights from the presentation, which is also available for on-demand viewing at www.sema.org/education.

Finding Inspiration

As moderator, Petraitis kicked off the session by asking the panelists how the project had inspired them and other women on the build team.

“I think that it means a lot of things,” responded Olavarrieta. “It’s like the emancipation of all that it means to be a woman in the industry. We had women in marketing, in logistics, renting, painting, sanding…” Just being able to gather women from across the United States, and even Canada, representing these and many other disciplines, made a powerful statement about the skills and experience they bring to the industry, she said.

Reinhardt emphasized the tremendous growth in female industry participation that the project represented. “I remember the first [SBN] build 10 years ago, the Ford Mustang. I was still green at my company. I didn’t know a lot. I had heard of SEMA. I was participating and volunteering, but I didn’t have the ability to really be a part of that Mustang build, and I was really jealous because I thought, ‘Wow, look at all these badass women that are pulling together and creating this vehicle…”

Presented with the opportunity to join the Bronco build this time around, Reinhardt jumped at the chance—and was pleased by how many other women did likewise. “I’m so excited about it. To see the evolution over 10 years, [to] be able to do this again and with even more women—I know there were more than 150 volunteers this year.” (By comparison, the Mustang build had involved about 55 participants.)

Olivarrieta said she had a confession to make about the Mustang build. She had volunteered to work on the vehicle’s drivetrain, but back then only had experience with Jeeps and trucks. So she rented a Mustang and practiced on its drive components. “I was like, I can’t make a mistake,” she said, noting that she gained a lot from the experience. The thrill she felt from her success back then made such an impact that she decided to take on a more facilitative role for the Bronco. “This time around, I didn’t want to wrench because I wanted to give that opportunity to other volunteers,” she explained.

The end result of the SEMA SBN All-Female Build is this stunning ’21 Ford Bronco Wildtrak, which combines go-anywhere ruggedness with the utility features trailblazing women demand.

Developing New Skills

In fact, the SBN select committee carefully planned the Bronco build to offer volunteers a wide range of skills-development opportunities. This frequently meant pushing team members beyond their comfort zone, which in turn boosted their esteem.

“Every week it was a different set of challenges that we had. But you know what? They came together to persevere and jump the hurdles and make it happen,” said Kollien, adding that team leaders encouraged volunteers to overcome any anxieties that arose as they tested their skills.

“We made them face their fears!” she quipped. “And you know what? The look on their face when they faced their fear—it was just empowering… It was amazing seeing that empowerment of them getting to just wrench on a vehicle, and they’ve never done it before, or whatever it was. It was just amazing to see that [and] be there for them for that first time.”

Reinhardt agreed. “Some of these women never thought they could do driveshafts, right? They never knew that they could pull off a bumper. But now they have that skill set, and now they have that confidence, and they know that their company is supporting them as a result of that,” she said.

Morosan observed that the build also involved more than wrenching. Many volunteers were needed to document the project’s progress and disseminate images and information to the media and wider industry. Plus, team members were called upon to source parts, handle logistics, supervise e-mail campaigns and much, much more.

“I thought it was kind of cool to see everybody step up and really be able to be involved and get to know other women in the industry,” she said. “I think that a lot of times we forget [that when] you see cars out here or companies out here, it takes a whole team for [those] things to happen.”

Much of that team labors behind the scenes to pull things together, she continued, and “seeing all the moving pieces is really pretty awesome.”

Olavarrieta said the skills that team members developed on the project went a long way toward battling negative self-perceptions that many women may have internalized in their careers.

“I think that there’s a lot of self doubt and imposter syndrome in women in general across different industries,” she explained. “I think it’s [about] understanding that shortcomings are temporary... You know, if you raise your hand and you volunteer and you accept the fact that you’re here to learn—that’s what life is all about.”

“The industry is always evolving,” she continued. “There’s always new applications, so there’s always something new to learn. So just embracing that—I think that seeing all the women learning something new and being excited about really transferring that knowledge again when they got back to their homes and offices [was] just really exciting.”

Members of SBN build team and their allies gathered to celebrate the Bronco’s unveiling at a 2022 SEMA Show media conference. All in all, nearly 160 industry women were involved in the project.

Grit and Resourcefulness

Regardless of background, every industry builder can relate to the sorts of speed bumps the SBN team encountered along the way. For the women of the Wildtrak build, the obstacle course began almost the minute they settled on the vehicle that would serve as their creative canvas. “When we started conversations with Ford about two years ago, there was no Bronco inventory, so it was it was a task to get a Bronco for free,” explained Olavarrieta. “[Even] if you wanted to pay for a Bronco, you couldn’t get one.”

When the platform was finally secured, the next hurdle was setting the criteria for participation in the build and assembling the team. “A lot of companies wanted to volunteer, and we really wanted to make sure that we gave an opportunity to companies that were women-owned or that had women leadership because we this was what the project was about—to promote the advancement of women in the industry,” said Olavarrieta.

Next, of course, followed the usual build conceptualization. The team opted for a tough, trail-ready Bronco designed specifically for women that avoided any “pink-
vehicle” stereotypes. The concept came to include power steps and removal of the back seat to make room for a gear platform and inflatable mattress for a secure car-camping environment. The vehicle also included a built-in kitchen for overlanding. The final design was chosen from approximately 15 entries by SBN membership at large.

With the concept dialed in, the build’s task force set about mobilizing a host of different mechanical and non-mechanical work groups to move the project forward. “You know, wrenching is fun, welding is sexy, but there’s a lot of work that happens in the background for all of the companies that are exhibiting in the SEMA Show. That is, you know, work that’s not so sexy,” Olavarrieta observed.

Of course, a lot of thinking on the fly took place when several product installations failed to go as planned. According to Kollien, that’s when the many examples of teamwork and determination really showed forth.

“The first one that comes to mind was in Detroit, [where] we had some fitment issues,” she said. “And the ladies, when we were trying to adjust things on the bumper, had to pivot and fabricate. It happens all the time. And I got called away to do something else. And I come back and these ladies are getting cardboard out, drawing things, doing all this stuff.”

“I’m like, ‘Dang! They know what they’re doing! I don’t need to help them. I don’t need to coach them.’ So I think everyone just got creative. It’s like, what’s the problem? Let’s look at it. How do we do it? How do we fix it? We would powwow and then figure out a game plan.”

The build apparently resonated deeply with the overall industry as well. Many SEMA-member companies stepped forward as sponsors, supplying product and other resources. And although the builders were all female, the group gained a lot of support and encouragement from male allies in the aftermarket. Moreover, the panelists all agreed that it was exactly the right kind of male support. Men may have assisted here and there in providing information and know-how to the group, but only in a mentoring capacity. From start to finish, the project belonged to the SBN team—as did the heavy lifting.

“There were many male allies,” said Kollien. “And I’m going to start where I am currently at, Motor City Solutions. If it wasn’t for the owner and my boss, I wouldn’t be able to be here and be a part of this. So I’m very gracious [for] that.”

“They were, ironically, thinking about doing a female build and sponsoring that. And I said, ‘Well, guess what? I’ve got the right project for you.’ So they blessed me to be a part of it. And guys like that are the ones that you want to have in your corner. We’ve got the team at Ford because there’s men there that were part of that help [and] support from Ford on the Bronco and moving that through the system so that we could get that Bronco.”

In a particularly memorable example of allyship, Morosan recalled a “father-daughter moment” when a dad brought his daughter to the build site, explained the steps involved in an installation, and expressed total confidence in her taking it from there.

“The cool thing about that story is he said, ‘Okay, you got this, and I’m leaving, and this is what you do, and he left,” added Kollien.

“For us, like we said, male allies are huge,” Morosan underscored. “SBN is actually starting an ally program because of how many guys there are that do support us in this industry. I know my sister and I have a lot of male mentors that have helped guide us…so I think that’s really important that we have them.”

The SBN All-Female Bronco Build’s aim was to empower women builders while raising awareness of their many contributions to the aftermarket industry.

Fostering Involvement

As a group, the “Women Who Build” panelists expressed the hope that the SBN Bronco project would inspire more women to deepen their industry involvement, whether through the SBN or SEMA at large. According to Reinhardt, it’s not as intimidating as one might think.

“I think the first step is just raising your hand and saying you want to volunteer,” she explained. “One of the things that I love about SEMA is it’s an association. It helps small businesses prosper. There’s more than 7,000 SEMA business members, a part of the association, and SEMA works hard to make sure that every single one of them has an opportunity to sell their products and then grow. And having all these people support the build as companies, as sponsors—[many] of these companies not only sent women representatives from their own company, but said, yes, we want our women to excel and learn new skills. And being a volunteer on this build gave them new skill sets that they never thought they
could do.”

“This is where networking is very important in SBN,” added Kollien. “And I’m going to keep saying this if you talk to me: network, network, network!”

She explained that not only is networking crucial to personal and professional growth, it was often a key to the Bronco project’s success. Being able to reach out to others in the industry for resources, advice and solutions when sudden problems arose made a world of difference.

“This is what helps later on in life,” she noted. “We didn’t have some of the tools because the Detroit garage was new and upcoming and they’re still building some of their stuff and getting their tools. And the neighboring company behind in the parking lot, I knew. Actually, she was my boss when I was at Ford, and I’m like, “I know where we can go get this painted and powdercoated, and we can go grind this.”

Morosan said the Bronco project presented an ideal networking opportunity. “So to me, it’s finding those women that share that passion, or those men that are mentors as well, and they share those passions with you, and they get just as excited about it. Or when you’re going through something hard, they can be like, you know, ‘Girl, you got this. You totally got this.’ And just seeing that next generation of women coming together…to me is just amazing. And that’s why we do it, right?”

Final Takeaways

The panelists also hoped that the all-female Bronco build would continue to be a meaningful symbol for industry women. For Olavarrieta, the vehicle embodies “what women are good at, and that we are here to learn, and that we’re here to work hard, and that we are part of the force that’s really pushing this industry to the next level.”

“Knowing that this particular build was an impact on young women, [and] knowing that this is actually affecting an entire group of SEMA companies, whether you are a sponsor, whether you donate time or product, or even your people, what I love about this is there is a great opportunity for more people to get involved. All you have to do is raise your hand,” she emphasized.

Looking out at the presentation’s audience, many of whom were involved in the build, Kollien summed up her pride in what they had accomplished. “I get goosebumps every time I talk about it because the ladies came together and they surprised me—surprised me every single week—what they could do and get done,” she said. “I have a confession: I am always self-doubting like, ‘Oh, are we going to do this, are we going to do this?’ But you ladies just pulled it off. And I feel like I could just all hug you every week at the end of the week. We just got through it, and it was just so inspirational.”

View the Entire Seminar

Part of SEMA Education’s commitment to highlighting industry diversity, the full SEMA Show “Women Who Build—Powered by SBN” seminar is now available as an on-demand video. To view the session, go to https://learning.sema.org/products/women-who-build-powered-by-sbn.

SEMA News—April 2023

INDUSTRY INSIDER

10 Questions for Mike Burns

By Douglas McColloch

Mike Burns came to the specialty-equipment market after launching a successful career in finance. A holder of an MBA from the University of Colorado, he has worked as an analyst for energy companies such as ConocoPhilips and as a budget and resource director for the U.S. Air Force. A 2018 SEMA Launch Pad semifinalist, Burns developed his ValvoMax Quick Twist Valve to facilitate easy oil changes without the use of tools. The ValvoMax has sold more than 50,000 units to date, and for his efforts, Burns was named SEMA’s 2022 Gen-III Innovator of the Year at last year’s 2022 SEMA Industry Awards Banquet. The award recognizes young entrepreneurs (age 40 and under) for their innovations in the specialty-equipment market.

We spoke with Burns recently to learn some of his secrets of success. What follows has been edited for clarity and length.

SEMA News: What’s your latest project? What’s in your garage/driveway/studio?

Mike Burns: Our latest project is a tool for oil filter removal. Others have attempted to solve the problem with an accordion-style device, a puncture device or a filter funnel tool, but these all fall short because they still leave a mess, are difficult to operate or are too expensive. Look for the product release in the first quarter of this year.

SN: What was your very first job, and what did you take away from it?

MB: My first real job was at Owasso Lawn Care in Oklahoma. These were long days working in the summer heat with friends from my church, but I learned the virtues of hard work and discipline.

SN: What was the inspiration for the ValvoMax Oil Drain System? How long did it take to devise a working prototype?

MB: I was changing my oil back in 2013 and it spilled in my hands, ran down my arm and poured on my driveway. To make matters worse, I stepped into the used oil pan up to my ankles. Then I had no easy way to transport what oil was remaining to a recycling center. After this horrible experience, I visited every automotive retail shop in my hometown looking for a better solution. But to my surprise, no solution existed. So I hired an automotive engineer, and we came up with a set of drawings. We made a few prototypes and I gave 10 samples to family and friends to test. We iterated several times and about two years later had a workable product.

SN: You were a semifinalist at SEMA Launch Pad a few years ago. What lesson(s) did you learn from the experience, and how valuable was it in developing your business?

MB: Launch Pad was a game-changer for me. For the first time, I got my product out into the open where it was exposed to critiques and constructive feedback. As of today, I still talk frequently with the other Launch Pad attendees I met back then.

SN: Describe your first SEMA Show. What do you remember most about it?

MB: My first SEMA Show coincided with being a semi-finalist at the SEMA Launch Pad in 2018, and it was an eye-opening experience. The scale of the Show is simply mind-boggling. I’ve been back to the Show each year since then.

SN: You’ve worked on the finance side for a number of different companies. How much help was that experience when you were first developing a business model for your own company?

MB: I couldn’t have asked for a better background than finance to run my company. At the end of the day, every business comes down to a set of numbers. Flows of money, assets and ideas are all governed by price, and to be successful you must be able to determine the worth of things.

SN: What’s your daily driver, and what do you like most about it?

MB: My daily driver is a Ford F-150. Being the owner of an oil-change products company means that oftentimes your daily driver is the first test vehicle for new product ideas. I can say with confidence that no other vehicle in the state of Texas has had its oil changed as often as my truck!

SN: What does winning the Gen-III Innovator of the Year award mean to you, and to your business?

MB: I was humbled to win the Gen-III Innovator of the Year Award, especially considering those who were also in the running for this award. My friends Alex Kay of RestorFX and Dustin Woolf of Woolfpack Racing, both finalists for the award, were equally deserving. They are both running great companies with cutting-edge products.

SN: For someone who’s thinking of starting their own automotive business, what advice would you offer them?

MB: As Oscar Wilde said, “Be yourself; everyone else is taken.” First, build your education foundation. I believe your degree should be of an analytical nature. Second, think big. Create a vision as to what problem you want to solve. Third, don’t look in the rearview mirror. Look forward, not behind you. Fourth, take risks and bet on yourself. Helen Keller wrote, “Life is either a daring adventure or nothing. Security is mostly a superstition.” Finally, persevere against all odds. Calvin Coolidge wrote, “Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence.”

SN: When you’re not working, where will we find you, and what will you be doing?

MB: I am active in my local church and our children’s school. I think it’s important to be involved in the community and give back to others. Aside from being involved in our church and school, I enjoy reading and spending time with family.

SEMA News—April 2023

FROM THE HILL

The Battle to Save Oceano Dunes Continues

SEMA Fights to Protect California’s Only Coastal OHV Park

By Eric Snyder

Oceano Dunes State Vehicular Recreation Area is a unique resource for the motorized recreation community. It is California’s only off-road park on the Pacific Ocean.

For decades, recreationists and off-roaders have been able to enjoy riding all types of motorized vehicles from trucks and SUVs to dune buggies and quads on a California beach. That thrill will soon vanish if the California Coastal Commission has its way. The Commission issued a plan to abolish off-highway vehicle (OHV) access to California’s Oceano Dunes State Vehicular Recreation Area (SVRA) by 2024. SEMA is challenging the Commission’s extreme plan in California Superior Court for San Luis Obispo County. SEMA’s joint lawsuit with Ecologic Partners—a legal collaboration between the Off-Road Business Association (ORBA), American Sand Association, and American Motorcyclist Association District 37—is scheduled for a June 15, 2023 hearing and will be a key moment in the fight to protect motorized recreational access around the country.

Oceano Dunes SVRA is a unique resource for the off-road community. Located about two hours northwest of Los Angeles near San Luis Obispo, it is California’s only OHV park on the Pacific Ocean. The SVRA adjoins Pismo State Beach, which is popular among outdoor enthusiasts who beach camp, surf, swim, fish and bird watch.

Oceano Dunes became a state park in 1974, originally encompassing 3,600 acres. Today it is less than 1,500 acres due to restrictions imposed as a result of advocacy from local residents who have sought to scale back motorized recreation at the park.

While Oceano Dunes has been a state park for nearly 50 years, enthusiasts and campers have been driving motorized vehicles there since the early 1900s. The flat, hard sand near the ocean was ideal for land speed racing, and the dunes were the perfect place to go four-wheeling. Jeeps became commercially available to the public shortly after the end of World War II, and it wasn’t long after that they started showing up on beaches throughout California, including Oceano Dunes.

Today, Oceano Dunes is a major attraction, drawing more than 2 million visitors each year, including enthusiasts and tourists from California and across the nation who are eager to ride four-wheel drives, motorcycles, ATVs, UTVs and dune buggies in the park. Motorized recreation at Oceano Dunes is an integral driver of the local economy, generating more than $200 million annually—money spent at area stores, including hotels, restaurants, and gas stations. Beyond financial considerations, motorized recreation at Oceano Dunes has brought together families and friends for generations.

“Oceano Dunes is a special place for my family and thousands of other families,” said Melanie White, president of Hellwig Products. “My father had fond memories of riding dune buggies there when he was young, so he took our family to Oceano Dunes when I was growing up. We camped in our motor home and rode ATVs on the dunes. When my son was three, I took him with me to test out a project vehicle at Oceano Dunes. He was amazed that you can drive on the beach and absolutely loved it. I want to make sure my son can ride there when he’s a little older. Protecting access to Oceano Dunes is about enjoying the outdoors with family and providing a way for future generations can make memories. It’s also one of the few affordable places to stay along the California Coast, which is critical to ensuring that everyone can recreate on the beach.”

The Coastal Commission’s plan to phase out motorized recreation at Oceano Dunes is unreasonable and unlawful, which is why SEMA and its partners in the motorized recreation community are doing everything in their power to stop it. Although Oceano Dunes has been under threat of closure for many years, primarily by groups that object to motorized recreation on the 8-mi. strip of land, the Commission’s unanimous vote in March 2021 to close the park within three years was the most brazen effort to date. Opposition is largely based on environmental and health arguments against airborne particulate matter (dust). SEMA has worked with its partners in the off-road community for many years to challenge the scientific basis for the claims along with highlighting the importance of the area for the enthusiast community and the local economy.

Hellwig Products tests a Ford project vehicle at Oceano Dunes.

The California Coastal Commission and the California Department of State Parks and Recreation (more commonly known as California State Parks) have been locked in a jurisdictional dispute over Oceano Dunes for many years. The Commission contends that it has primacy with respect to environmental concerns, while State Parks cites a mandate from the state legislature to manage the area for OHV use.

In 1982, the Commission issued a Coastal Development Permit to State Parks for the construction of entrance kiosks and fencing. Over subsequent decades, the permit was amended so that State Parks could better protect the site’s natural resources. Changes included reduced acreage for RV camping and OHV riding. The permit was deemed to cover “development,” a designation that the Commission has used as a basis for withdrawing the permit over OHV use.

The Commission recommended that State Parks prepare a Public Works Plan (PWP) to pursue a new management plan for the area in 2017. Over the next few years, State Parks developed a draft PWP and an accompanying Environmental Impact Report. However, the Commission was dissatisfied with how long it was taking State Parks to prepare the PWP and its plans to allow OHV activity to continue.

In 2019, the Commission issued a staff report that recommended OHV riding at Oceano Dunes be scaled back and eventually prohibited. Commission staff also proposed to amend the permit to prohibit night riding, add more fencing to restrict OHV use, eliminate unlimited OHV use on holidays, and increase enforcement efforts focused on vehicle use and speed limits. In the days leading up to the Commission’s July 2019 vote, SEMA and the motorized recreation community rallied a grassroots campaign that led to thousands of OHV enthusiasts making their opposition to the proposal known via email and through letters. The campaign was successful, resulting in the Commission voting 8 to 2 against staff recommendations to restrict and eventually eliminate motorized recreational access at Oceano Dunes. The Commission also voted down a proposal to provide year-round protection to a 300-acre endangered species area, which was previously protected on a seasonal basis, and future closures for the purpose of dust control.

The Commission’s 2019 decision was a decisive victory in the fight to protect motorized access at the SVRA, although the next battle was just around the corner. In February 2021, the Commission voiced its displeasure that State Parks intended to allow OHV activity to continue at Oceano Dunes, albeit within a reduced space. Despite fierce opposition from SEMA and OHV enthusiasts, the Commission unanimously voted to shut down OHV access within three years (by March 2024). The Commission’s unilateral action was inconsistent with the efforts of State Parks to review public comments on its PWP that outlined long-range management of the SVRA to include continued OHV access. The decision left SEMA and Ecologic Partners no choice but to file a lawsuit asking the court to throw out the Commission’s decision to eliminate OHV access to Oceano Dunes.

The Commission reached an agreement with SEMA, Ecologic Partners and Friends of Oceano Dunes in December 2021 to not pursue several of the projects it had announced earlier that year until the ongoing litigation was resolved. Specifically, some camping was permitted immediately, and the Pier Avenue vehicle entrance to Oceano Dunes would remain open after July 2022. However, the Commission continued to assert its authority to reduce OHV access to Oceano Dunes. In December 2021, it voted unanimously to approve State Parks’ proposal to remove 108 acres of motorized access and 22 acres of camping areas as part of the ongoing dust control mitigation and dune habitat restoration effort.

Stay tuned, as the next few months will be critical to protecting motorized recreation at Oceano Dunes. SEMA will ramp up its public relations efforts surrounding the joint SEMA-Ecologic Partners lawsuit, which argues that the Commission exceeded its authority under the California Coastal Act with its March 2021 decision that placed new conditions on State Parks’ 1982 Coastal Development Permit 4-82-300 for Oceano Dunes SVRA. The lawsuit also argues that the Commission’s decision violates the California Environmental Quality Act. The case is scheduled for a hearing in California Superior Court on June 15, 2023.

Oceano Dunes draws enthusiasts and tourists from across the nation who are eager to ride four-wheel drives, motorcycles, ATVs, sun buggies, HMMWVs and UTVs in the park.

Dust Mitigation Efforts

California State Parks uses wind fencing and vegetation plantings as dust mitigation methods at Oceano Dunes SVRA with off-roading prohibited in those areas. More than 700 acres of the park are permanently off-limits to motorized vehicles, and 35 acres are fenced off from March through October. A 2019 stipulated order of abatement between State Parks and the San Luis Obispo County Air Pollution Control District required State Parks to reduce dust emissions at Oceano Dunes by 50% compared to 2013 levels. However, a scientific advisory group that guides the dust mitigation work released a 2022 report that factored in naturally produced dust and recommended a 40.7% reduction instead, which is close to the reduction that State Parks is achieving. As a result, the court order was modified to the 40.7% reduction target, with State Parks required to further study the dunes and confirm attainment by October 2024.

SEMA News—April 2023

BUSINESS

Truck and Off-Road Market Trends

Small Trucks Log Sales Gains, Larger Pickups Lag; Classic Trucks Surge in Popularity; Overlanding Remains a Market Mover; EVs Dominate Upcoming Releases

By Douglas McColloch

Pickups, Jeeps and off-road vehicles filled the West Hall at the 2022 SEMA Show. Leading products trending from the specialty-equipment market included bed and exterior accessories, wheels and tires, and overlanding gear.

Consumer trends and preferences may change over time, but in the automotive sphere, pickups never really fall out of fashion. They’re the ideal multipurpose vehicles that function equally as daily commuters, job-site workhorses or recreational trail toys. For sheer versatility, nothing compares to them, and that’s probably why the bestselling vehicle in the United States for more than 40 years in a row has been a pickup.

More than half of all vehicles on the road in the United States are either a pickup, an SUV or a crossover CUV. According to the most recent issue of “SEMA Future Trends,” the light-truck segment—which includes pickups, vans, SUVs and CUVs—is forecast to account for close to 80% of all new-vehicle sales by 2027, with pickups alone making up nearly 50% of all new vehicles sold.

Healthy truck and SUV sales generally augur well for the automotive aftermarket. Parts and accessories for pickups alone account for 31% of specialty equipment sales, according to the latest “SEMA Pickup Accessorization Report,” with $16 billion in annual sales. Throw in SUVs, crossovers and vans, and that sales number grows to more than $30 billion yearly. More than half of all late-model pickups on the road have been modified with specialty-equipment parts, with HD models more likely to receive upgrades, and more than a quarter of pickup drivers purchase aftermarket equipment for their trucks each year.

While consumer demand for late-model truck parts remains high, new-truck sales—like new-car sales overall—faced tough sledding in 2022. The combination of persistent semiconductor shortages, COVID-related supply disruptions, spikes in fuel prices for much of the year, and low inventory on dealer lots combined to make new trucks more difficult to obtain and more expensive to operate. While eight of the top-selling vehicles sold in the United States were either pickups or SUVs, nearly all posted sales declines in 2022 over the previous year. Ford’s F-150 was again the nation’s best-selling vehicle but reported sales of 653,000 units, which marked a 10% decline over 2021. Among the top 10, the RAM 1500, Toyota Highlander and Jeep Grand Cherokee all posted double-digit declines, with the Tesla Model Y compact SUV the only top 10 vehicle to log a year-over-year (YOY) sales increase with an impressive 40% YOY gain.

There were still some bright sports. The Ford Bronco, in its first full calendar year on the market, reported 117,000 units sold, a 233% increase over 2021. Similarly, the Ford Maverick compact pickup, also in its first year on the market, logged a whopping 687% sales increase from 2021. Additionally, the midsize Chevrolet Colorado logged a 22% sales increase, and the Jeep Compass compact SUV reported a 14% gain for 2022. Noticing a trend here?

While CUVs continue to gain overall market share in the sector, smaller trucks and compact SUVs are seeing a resurgence in popularity, perhaps reflecting higher fuel costs. Midsize trucks accounted for only 15% of U.S. pickup sales in 2015 but have gained ground since then and are forecast to comprise 30% of U.S. pickup sales by 2025.

But in any event, consumer demand for trucks remains high, and if consumers can’t find them new, they’ll buy them used. According to a January 2023 survey of three-year-old used cars conducted by iSeeCars, eight of the top 10 most used vehicles purchased last year were either a truck, an SUV or a crossover, with F-150, Silverado 1500 and RAM 1500 leading the pack. Depreciation rates plummeted by more than half from 2020 to 2022, according to a report from Wards Auto, suggesting future high resale values for many models.

For this article, we consulted several industry leaders for their perspectives on the overall state of the marketplace. What follows is a summation of their views.

Long anticipated, the Chevrolet Silverado EV is slated to go on sale this year with a claimed range of 400 mi. and a tow capacity of up to 20,000 lbs., depending on trim level. Photo courtesy: Chevrolet

What’s in The Pipeline: New and Notable Vehicles

While supply-chain issues could delay some releases, the following pickups, SUVs and crossover were tentatively scheduled to enter production within the next 18 months at the time this story was published.

Ford: Introduced globally in 2018, the Ranger Raptor comes to the United States with (most likely) a 3.0L EcoBoost V6 and a 10-speed transmission. Full-time four-wheel drive and 33-in. BFG tires are expected to be standard offerings.

General Motors: Long anticipated, the dual-motor Chevy Silverado EV is slated to go on sale later this year. The truck will be available as a base W/T sporting 510 hp, and a top-line RST First Edition that comes with 660-plus hp (and a six-figure price tag). Four-wheel steering will be an option, and the truck is said to offer a 400-mi. range between charges and a tow rating of up to 20,000 lbs. A Trail Boss version of the EV is in the works as well. The GMC Sierra Denali EV, set to launch early next year, will offer a similar cruising range and up to 750-plus hp.

Also new from GMC is the Hummer EV SUV, which has a claimed range of 250–300 mi. Consumers have already made 90,000 reservations for the EV, which has a base MSRP of $84,000.

Jeep: Two new Jeep BEVs are slated to start production within the coming year: The three-row Grand Wagoneer EV and the Recon EV, which will offer a power folding roof and removable doors. (It’s still a Jeep, after all.) Jeep aims to offer the three-row with a 400-mi. range, 600 hp and a 3.5-sec. 0–60 time. Little is known about the Recon at this point, though renderings of the vehicle suggest a strong enthusiast appeal.

Land Rover: The luxury automaker enters the electrification space with the all-new Range Rover EV. The rear-wheel-drive ’Rover is said to accommodate three rows of seating and an all-new chassis architecture that can be adapted to gas, hybrid, or full-electric drive configurations.

Mercedes-Benz: The current rage of the adventure van market, the M-B Sprinter EV will be manufactured and sold in the United States with a claimed range of around 300 mi. and a GVWR of 8,500 lbs.

RAM: Set to arrive in 2024, the 1500 Revolution EV, which debuted at the 2023 Consumer Electronics Show, marks the truckmaker’s first foray into full electrification. The 1500 will utilize the new STLA-dedicated EV chassis architecture that will support both light- and heavy-duty RAM electric pickups; cruising range is a claimed 500 mi. and tow capacity is said to be as much as 10,000 lbs.

RAM also re-enters the already-crowded midsize pickup segment with the introduction of the all-new Dakota. It’s still not clear if the truck will be based off the Jeep Gladiator or RAM 1500 platform, but it will almost certainly be powered by the 3.6L engine that’s ubiquitous across the Stellantis product line; a 3.0L diesel Six is another possibility. Rear-wheel- and four-wheel-drive versions will be offered, and a Dakota Rebel off-road trim package is a likely future option.

Tesla: Long delayed, Tesla’s already-iconic Cybertruck is expected to enter production in the second half of 2023. The truck will be produced in both three-motor and four-motor powertrain configurations that are said to enable 0–60 acceleration in under 3 sec. and tow capabilities of up to 14,000 lbs. Rear steering is said to be an option, and cruising range is a claimed 500 mi. between charges.

Toyota: Unchanged since a 2020 facelift, the fourth generation of the Tacoma midsize pickup is expected to debut in mid-2023 with a choice of powertrain options: a turbocharged 2.4L four-cylinder that’s rated at 265 hp in the current Highlander, or the Hybrid Max gas-electric system found in the all-new Crown sedan that replaces the Avalon in Toyota’s product line. The truck will ride on a modified version of the TNGA-F global chassis architecture and is expected to switch over to a rear coil suspension à la the current fullsize Tundra. Additionally, an all-electric version of the HiLux pickup debuted in Thailand last winter, so a Tacoma EV may be in the offing as well.

Also new from Toyota is the three-row Grand Highlander SUV, which debuted at the 2023 Chicago Auto Show and will be built at Toyota’s Indiana assembly plant. The Grand Highlander is expected to receive the same powertrain options as the Tacoma pickup; a Lexus version of the SUV, known as TX, will also roll out this year to replace the GX. A new midsize electric Toyota SUV, the bZ4X, is available for a base MSRP of $42,000 and with a claimed range of 250 mi. Finally, the boxy, off-road-oriented Compact Cruiser EV will look to compete against the Ford Bronco Sport in the compact off-road segment.

Volkswagen: While not a truck or SUV per se, the ’24 ID. Buzz microbus presents an intriguing platform for the evolving overlanding market. (Volkswagen must think so, too; the company plans to roll out a Campmobile version, dubbed “ID. California,” the following year, though it isn’t clear if the vehicle will be sold in the United States) Riding on the same MEB platform shared with the other BEVs in the ID series, the retro-styled, rear-wheel-drive Buzz uses a 150kWh battery that produces some 200 hp.

Overall, the members of our industry panel were generally upbeat about the current condition of the marketplace, with some notable caveats. Specifically, the microchip shortage that has repeatedly sidelined production at OE assembly plants for the past two years has exerted a ripple effect on the specialty-equipment market.

“Right now, it’s very difficult trying to get vehicles,” said Karl Harr, director of sales and marketing for Liquid Spring. “That’s probably been the biggest issue that we’ve had—just getting the truck or chassis to build on. Clients have been waiting up to a year for a vehicle.”

“We’re seeing low inventory at dealerships,” said Rachel Deere, outside sales—light-truck products for Merritt Products, “so it’s a little bit slower just trying to get some of our accessories to our dealers.”

“We also had an issue getting new vehicles,” said Mike Hallmark, marketing and international sales manager for Hellwig Products, “but with production picking back up, we’re seeing more brand-new ’23s on the lots.”

While the limited supply of the late-model trucks continues to pose difficulties, the old-school classic-truck market, by contrast, has seen a surge in popularity in recent years.

“It’s booming,” said Jay McFarland, director of business development for Holley, who also noted that the number of build platforms in the ‘classic-truck’ segment continues to expand. “The ’67–’72 Chevrolet/GMC trucks have always been really popular, but it seems like there’s a shift going on to the square-body ’73–’87 trucks, and now, even the ’88–’98s. I’ve seen the values of those trucks just skyrocket lately.”

D. Brian Smith, marketing copywriter for Classic Industries, concurred. “I don’t know that we’ve seen the boom as big for classic trucks for so long. We’ve been supporting the ’73–’87 trucks for at least 10 years now, and similarly for the ’88–’98 trucks, so we were already had our foot in that market before interest grew. But we’ve definitely seen a major uptick in interest and sales.”

At the grassroots shop level, what are enthusiasts building?

“The ’90s vibe is coming back,” said Theresa Contreras, president of LGE-CTS Motorsports at a recent SEMA Education seminar. “We’re seeing a lot of the ’90s Chevy trucks, and all the phone calls I’ve been getting lately from customers are saying ‘I want to bag and body-drop
my truck’.”

“It’s come full circle to the point that vehicles that were in the early ’90s are on their third owner now, and the ones that weren’t modified are now coming back,” added Sean Holman, co-host of “The Truck Show” podcast. For veteran builders, “If you wait long enough and things become popular again, you might be the only person who can service the vehicle if you’ve done that in the past.”

According to Matt Dinelli, owner of Attitude Performance, modern-day truck builds seem to fall into one of two categories: mild or massive. “What we’re seeing at our shop right now,” he says, “is either a basic lift and 35-in. tires, no matter what the platform is, or an absolutely over-the-top, astronomical, down-to-the-frame, motor swap, 1-ton axles and coilovers. Our jobs are either small lift kits and leveling kits, or stuff that’s at the shop for six months. There’s not really a middle ground anymore.”

As the segment expands and more newbies enter the accessorization space, hands-on education at the shop and retail level becomes an important part of customer outreach. “One of our biggest sales tactics is to educate people about the product that they want to purchase and let them make the choice on which brand they end up going with,” said Contreras. “Whenever something leaves our shop, one of our salespeople will go over the vehicle and show the owner how to disconnect the sway bars or how to engage four-wheel drive. There are a lot of people who just don’t know.”

Dinelli concurs, suggesting that shops consider tailoring education sessions to specific audiences. “We’ve had women education classes at our shop where they don’t want to ask their boyfriend, they don’t want to ask their significant other—they want to learn about their vehicle because it is their vehicle and they want to know what you have to do after you drive through water and what have you.” On the other hand, “A lot of our customers are male, and they don’t want to listen to anybody else because they think they already know it.”

All of our sources stressed the importance of maintaining a robust multi-platform digital media presence, with Instagram and YouTube most commonly cited as generating the most user engagement. “Right now, it’s people going on social and just trying to find a very specific thing for their truck,” said Stewart Webb, vice president of marketing at PRYNT Digital. “If you can post whatever you’re building and do it consistently, you’re able to speak to a broader audience and able to bring in more customers as well.”

Targeted search is another viable outreach tool for manufacturers looking to connect with a niche buyer demographic. “We do quite a bit of Google search,” said Cort Charles, western regional sales manager for Auto Meter. “When we’re trying to push specific product lines, we have a lot of targeted ads that are in place. Because some of our newer products are platform-specific and vehicle-specific, it allows us to hone in on a specific group.”

In any event, companies are well advised to invest as heavily as possible in new media. “We have a full digital media department,” said Holley’s McFarland. “We’ve got a social-media department, a department that deals specifically with just videography, and a department that specializes specifically on email and things like that. You’ve got to make that commitment. Otherwise, you’re going to be left behind.”

If this rendering is any guide, the all-new Jeep Recon EV aims to compete against the Ford Bronco Sport in the compact off-road segment. Old-school removable doors are said to be a standard feature. Photo courtesy: Jeep/Stellantis

Overlanding: Still Trending Upward

Nearly all of our experts agreed that the future of overlanding—which has gone from a fringe marketplace to a major industry player in slightly more than a decade—continues to look bright.

“That’s where we have seen a lot of growth,” said Harr. “We do a lot of what we call the ‘habitat builds’ on the Ford F-550 and RAM 5500, and now it’s pushed us into the smaller truck market in the overland space. Right now, we’re also looking at developing product for Mercedes Sprinters and the Ford Transit.”

“I don’t think we’ve hit the plateau yet,” said Steven Shearer, senior marketing manager, communications for Toyo Tire. “There are still manufacturers in the aftermarket space creating product to support that market, and the OE manufacturers are still creating vehicles that are specific to that segment.”

The exact size of the overlanding market, in terms of sales, remains elusive, but the outdoor recreation segment of which it is a component continues to see robust growth. New data released by the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) shows that outdoor recreation generated $454 billion in economic output and supported in excess of four million jobs in 2021. According to the BEA report, inflation-adjusted GDP for the sector increased 21% over the previous year.

While overlanders, in the aggregate, tend to be older and more affluent than other automotive consumer bases, several of our experts saw growth opportunity among a younger demographic.

“For the foreseeable future, there will still be upward growth, especially among the younger generation that’s big on traveling outdoors,” said Hannah DeWeese, brand leader for Terra Rover. “Some of these people are adopting it as a new hobby, so it will just keep going as the years go by.

“Our primary target market is Gen X and Millennials,” DeWeese continued. “People who have established incomes that allow them to invest in a nicer trailer for longer trips. They might also have kids, so they’re looking for something bigger. That’s who we’re targeting.”

Some of our experts pointed toward all-wheel-drive crossovers as a future growth segment, particularly to younger “weekend warrior” enthusiasts with limited build budgets.

“RAV4 adventurers seem to be the newest entry,” Holman noted. “I’ve seen so many of those things out in places they shouldn’t be.” Contreras similarly mentioned Kia SUVs such as the Telluride as a source of potential new aftermarket sales. “We get a ton of customer calls because we do stuff with Kia,” she says.

Companies that previously hadn’t catered to the overlanding market have taken notice of the segment’s resiliency and are adjusting their business models accordingly.

“We started in the heavy-duty commercial world,” said Rachel Deere. “We’ve been in the accessories world for years and years, with heavy-duty products, but a lot of our products—ladder racks, headache racks and side boxes—are applicable to overlanding, so in the next year or so, we’re going to be launching new products for that market.”

“Bed accessories are huge right now,” Holman agreed, “and cargo systems such as racks, slides, and things to support rooftop tents and light bars.”

“We’re seeing a slowdown on the side of rooftop tent sales,” Contreras observes, “but the rack systems and multipurpose cargo stuff that make your vehicle more versatile for everything that you do is becoming way more popular, especially for people who want to use the truck for work.”

DeWeese sees additional growth opportunities among the traditional “outdoor lifestyle” sector of recreationalists.

“Another market that hasn’t been mentioned, which we would look to capitalize on, would be the hunting or outdoor sector—people who aren’t just traveling for leisure, but who are going to do something specific. They need storage, and they may need a trailer to be able to get there.”

The increased popularity of overlanding, and other forms of off-road recreation, comes at a potential cost. Public lands saw a surge in visitations in the wake of the COVID pandemic, and the increase in vehicle use poses numerous possible threats to the integrity of fragile ecosystems—and with it, continued access to public lands. To ensure public lands stay accessible, therefore, our experts agreed that newer users need to be educated on the proper principles of off-road etiquette and responsible sustainability practices.

“Education is what changes actions and attitudes, and that’s really where we need to get to,” said Matt Caldwell,” president of Tread Lightly!. “And I think the industry can do that by making sure people understand what their equipment is capable of—both good and, sometimes, bad. Make sure that people understand that just because their vehicle can go anywhere, it’s not supposed to go everywhere.

Also long awaited, the retro-styled Volkswagen ID. Buzz offers an intriguing potential overland build platform with a particular appeal to younger Millennial and Gen Z buyers. Photo courtesy: Volkswagen AG

“There’s a lot of discussion about performance, and performance is great, but focusing on positive performance rather than those things that are going to cause issues down the line—this is where the industry can support us.

“Look at it an organization like Overland Expo. They have a very strong educational component. We need to continue to get people to attend events like these so that we can educate them appropriately. We need to be proactive and make sure that people understand that, ‘Hey, this is land that we’ve worked and fought for for years.’ We need to make sure that we’re continuing that and share the kinds of information that the new person on the trail might not know.”

The Outlook Ahead

Several of our experts expressed concerns about fuel prices and rising interest rates as potential hindrances to growth in 2023.

“Inflation is going to be one of the biggest things,” said Deere, “so we’re probably looking at a little less [consumer] spending.”

The trend toward electrification was cited by several experts as both a potential short-term challenge and a promising long-term opportunity.

“We are broadening our offerings and going into EV platforms,” said Hallmark. “We just released a sway bar for the Tesla Model 3 and Model Y, and we’re looking at the Rivian and any other electric platforms that are there. We’re releasing a front swaybar for the F-150 Lightning as well, so we’re trying to stay ahead of the curve for the adaptations and changes that are coming to the market with EVs.”

On the other hand, electric drivetrains raise compatibility issues for certain specialty-equipment manufacturers, as Auto Meter’s Charles explains: “When you talk about our instrumentation, unless there’s some additional data that their computer is not going to provide, it’s going to be tough for us to find a way to get in there and be a part of it.”

Still, the consensus among our experts was that ICE engines would continue to be the powertrain of choice for the vast majority of truck and SUV owners for the foreseeable future.

“You can’t run the Baja 1000 on an electric vehicle,” said Ben Anderson, product development manager for Mickey Thompson Tires & Wheels. “Gas vehicles are going to be around for quite a while—in the United States, anyway.”

A number of our sources pointed to overseas markets as growth opportunities, with the Middle East and Australia being repeatedly singled out. “They’re our two strongest,” said Hellwig’s Hallmark, “the main reason being is that we’ve seen an influx in USDM [U.S domestic manufacturer] left-hand drive vehicles being sold there. It’s a platform that we’re used to.”

“What’s kind of neat about the international markets is they have a number of applications that we don’t have here in the States, but which may be shared across various countries,” said Ben Anderson, “so globally we can we can cover a lot of area.”

Despite potential economic headwinds, most of our insiders expressed optimism for the future, primarily due to strong consumer demand. “As far as the growth of the industry goes, people are still going to want their accessories,” Deere said. “People really do like that and they like their vehicles, so they’re always looking at the opportunity to upgrade.”

The near-term outlook for overlanding in particular appears to be especially promising. “You know, COVID has been around for more than three years now,” DeWeese concluded, “and the market doesn’t seem to be declining, only growing. It’s definitely not a passing fad.”

About the Truck & Off-Road Alliance

Members of the Truck & Off-Road Alliance (TORA) represent the collective interest of its members through a single, powerful voice that can play a significant role in shaping the industry. They are joined together to form a potent coalition whose mission is to determine the shape and future of the truck and off-road accessory industry. TORA is a SEMA council whose member companies manufacture, distribute, sell and/or install accessories for off-road vehicles, light-duty pickups, ATVs or provide services to the off-road or truck accessory industry. To learn more about TORA and SEMA’s other industry councils, visit www.sema.org/get-involved.

About Tread Lightly!

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 saw a surge in motorized vehicle traffic on public lands as outdoor enthusiasts sought their own forms of “social distancing.” The U.S Forest Service alone logged some 168 million visits, while the Bureau of Land Management recorded more than 73 million more. With public lands being subjected to more intensive use than ever, and a generation of new and inexperienced recreationalists entering the sector via overlanding and adventure vans, the need for educational outreach—to provide guidance in the proper stewardship of our natural resources for future generations—has never been greater.

Enter Tread Lightly! Founded in 1985 as a division of the U.S. Forest Service, the organization now functions as a member-based nonprofit working in cooperation with private-sector partners in the outdoor industry on nationwide initiatives to protect and enhance recreational access and opportunities by promoting outdoor ethics to increase individual awareness and understanding.

Tread Lightly!’s goal is to balance the needs of the people who enjoy outdoor recreation with the need to maintain healthy ecosystems and thriving populations of fish and wildlife. The scope of Tread Lightly!’s work includes both land and water and represents most popular forms of outdoor recreation such as hunting, recreational shooting, fishing, and boating. Promoting safe and responsible use of motorized and mechanized vehicles in the outdoors remains a top priority.

SOURCE

Tread Lightly! is supported by numerous automotive companies, including BFGoodrich, Ford Motor Co., Warn Industries, Jeep, Land Rover, Overland Expo, Quadratec, Yamaha and many others. For more information on member benefits and partnership opportunities, visit www.treadlightly.org/support.

SEMA News—April 2023

LEGISLATIVE AND TECHNICAL AFFAIRS

Law and Order

By Christian Robinson

Virginia—ZEV Mandate: Lawmakers in Virginia introduced SEMA-supported legislation to repeal the law tying the state to California’s motor vehicle emissions standards. Under current law, sales of new gas- and diesel-powered vehicles will be banned starting in 2035. Virginia is seen as the most likely state to repeal its mandate and Governor Glenn Youngkin has made it one of his top priorities. However, control of the legislature is narrowly split between Republicans and Democrats, making the final outcome hard to predict.

FEDERAL UPDATE

Defeat Devices: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency-proposed (EPA) National Enforcement and Compliance Initiatives (NECI) draft list for 2024–2027 does not include “stopping aftermarket defeat devices for vehicles and engines.” While illegal aftermarket parts would remain a standard or core priority, as they had been for many years until 2020, they would no longer be a top EPA enforcement priority. SEMA submitted comments in support of the agency’s preliminary decision to remove “stopping aftermarket defeat devices for vehicles and engines” from the NECI. The EPA is expected to publish the final NECI list this fall. Aftermarket defeat devices had been included on the NCI list (now “NECI”) for 2020–2023. During this time, the EPA noted that it had resolved approximately 130 cases, addressing more than 460,000 violations. In fiscal year 2022 alone, the EPA concluded 41 cases with more than $19 million in civil penalties. The EPA’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) issued a critical review of the agency’s implementation of the NECI for stopping aftermarket vehicle defeat devices, noting that the agency is “not on track” to meet 10 of its 40 goals for the initiative. The OIG report reviewed the implementation over 2021 and 2022 and was issued shortly after the EPA announced its top enforcement priorities for 2024–2027.

China Tariffs: SEMA urged the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) to remove the tariffs imposed on goods from China because they have not helped achieve the goal of eliminating China’s unfair practices with respect to technology transfer, intellectual property and innovation. The Section 301 tariffs were imposed in 2018 and are being reviewed by the USTR to determine whether they should continue, expire or be modified. Nearly all SEMA members sourcing goods from China have been directly impacted by the 25% tariffs. The tariffs have had the opposite of their intended effect and are making U.S. manufacturers less competitive and preventing American companies from growing. They have also increased costs for American consumers and contributed to inflation. There is no deadline for completing the review.

R&D Tax Credit and Bonus Depreciation: When the 2017 tax law was enacted, it allowed companies to amortize certain tax deductions over one year, but the benefit was only temporary. The business community urged Congress to extend the provisions in 2022, but this did not occur despite widespread support in Congress. Until 2021, companies could take a 100% tax deduction for research and development (R&D) spending in the year it occurred. Starting in 2022, companies must deduct their R&D expenses over five years. Until 2023, a company could also expense 100% of the cost of any Section 179 property (includes equipment, vehicles and software) and deduct it in the year the property was placed in service, with a maximum deduction of $2.5 million, adjusted for inflation. The Section 179 deduction now phases out over the next four years: 80% in 2023, 60% in 2024, 40% in 2025, 20% in 2026, 0% in 2027. SEMA and the business community will be making a push in 2023 to get Congress to reinstate the 2017 provisions for R&D expenditures and the bonus depreciation.

Noncompete Clauses: The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued a proposed rule to ban employers from including noncompete clauses in worker contracts. The agency contends that the provisions are an unfair method of competition that have the effect of suppressing wages, hampering innovation, and thwarting entrepreneurs from starting up new businesses. The FTC argues that removing them would allow workers to more freely switch jobs, seek higher wages and better working conditions, and expand the talent pool from which other businesses hire employees. Opponents of the proposed rule argue that noncompete provisions encourage companies to retain and promote workers and invest in training. The FTC estimates that at least 30 million Americans are subject to noncompete clauses. The proposed rule would not apply to other types of employment restrictions such as non-disclosure agreements. SEMA is reviewing the proposed rule along with member feedback on its potential impact.

STATE UPDATE

Maine—Imported Vehicles: SEMA State Automotive Enthusiast Leadership Caucus member Rep. Shelly Rudnicki introduced a bill to allow on-road registrations to be issued for imported vehicles manufactured at least 25 years ago. Under federal law, these vehicles are exempt from federal safety and emissions standards. Current Maine law prohibits vehicles that do not meet these standards from being driven on public roads.

District of Columbia—Noise Cameras: Councilmembers in Washington, D.C., have introduced the SEMA-opposed Vehicular Noise Reduction Act of 2023, which would test noise cameras to ticket loud cars and trucks. While the city currently has a fair exhaust noise law in effect, noise camera technology is not a fair and reliable way to fine motorists.

New Hampshire—License Plates: Lawmakers in New Hampshire introduced SEMA-supported legislation to allow the display of only a single, rear-mounted license plate for all passenger vehicles. A similar bill passed the House of Representatives in 2022 but was not taken up by the Senate before the end of the legislative session.

New Hampshire—ZEV Mandate: Members of the New Hampshire House of Representatives introduced SEMA-opposed legislation to adopt California’s low- and zero-emissions motor-vehicle standards and ban the sale of new gas- and diesel-powered motor vehicles starting in 2035. Republicans currently control the legislature and governor’s mansion, making adoption of California’s standards unlikely.

North Dakota—License Plates: The North Dakota House of Representatives introduced SEMA-supported legislation to allow the display of only a single, rear-mounted license plate for all passenger vehicles. If enacted, the bill would protect the aesthetic contours of collector cars and prevent vehicle owners from having to drill mounting holes in bumpers.

Vermont—ZEV Mandate: Lawmakers in Vermont introduced SEMA-supported legislation to repeal the law tying the state to California’s motor-vehicle emissions standards. Under current law, sales of new gas- and diesel-powered vehicles will be banned starting in 2035. Democrats currently control the legislature, making repeal unlikely.

Washington—ZEV Mandate: Lawmakers in Washington introduced SEMA-supported legislation to repeal the law tying the state to California’s motor-vehicle emissions standards. Under current law, sales of new gas- and diesel-powered vehicles will be banned starting in 2035. Democrats currently control the legislature and governor’s mansion, making repeal unlikely.

West Virginia—Antique Vehicles: Delegate Gary Howell, chairman emeritus of the SEMA State Automotive Enthusiast Leadership Caucus, reintroduced legislation to create an “Antique Fleet” plate program whereby the owner of five or more antique vehicles would be able to use a single registration plate. The owner would be required to register every antique vehicle upon which the plate will be displayed.

West Virginia—Motorsports: West Virginia lawmakers, including Senator Mark Maynard, SEMA’s 2018 Stephen B. McDonald Lawmaker of the Year, introduced SEMA-supported legislation to establish the Motorsport Responsibility Act, which would define areas of responsibility and assumed risks by participants for recreational and commercial motorsports facilities.