Filler for eNews

Filler for eNews

NO MORE: Nashville (Tennessee) Superspeedway officials confirmed that the Indy Racing League will not return to the track for an event in 2009. Track officials blamed high sanctioning fees from the IndyCar Series as the reason after having hosted the series eight times.

TIRESOME 400: Tire-wear problems led to a dreadful Allstate 400 at the Brickyard with cars making short 10-lap runs between yellow flags to keep from blowing right-rear Goodyear tires. Jimmie Johnson won the event, which has created a whirlwind of negative feedback for both NASCAR and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

SIGNED UP: Tony Stewart’s Stewart Haas Racing Chevrolets will carry the No. 14 with sponsorship from Office Depot and Old Spice next season.

400 TIMES: Midget driver Dakota Armstrong picked up $10,000 for winning the first 400-lap midget race at the quarter-mile asphalt Anderson (Indiana) Speedway.

NEW LIFE: Pikes Peak International Raceway has new life. The track, which was purchased by International Speedway Corp. in 2005 and shuttered later that year, has been sold to a group of investors led by track manager Arden Weatherford. The group hopes to hold lower-level racing events at the 1,200-acre facility, which includes a 1-mile oval and a 1.3-mile road course.

HIRED: NHRA has hired Glen Gray as its vice president of technical operations.

POWER RANKINGS: After sweeping the Top Fuel portion of NHRA’s three-race West Coast Swing, Tony Schumacher moved to top of the National Speed Sport News Power Rankings. Schumacher, a five-time world champion, has won eight times in 15 races this season. The National Speed Sport News Power Rankings are published weekly in the 74-year-old motorsports publication.

SUBSCRIBE: National Speed Sport News has been published weekly since 1934. To subscribe to National Speed Sport News, click on the following link for a special industry rate: www.nationalspeedsportnews.com/subscribe.html?pid=NQ%2BVfhkepT4%3D.

NEWS NUGGETS

SCHUMACHER MAKES HISTORY WITH WESTERN SWING; GUIDERA WINS AT HOME TRACK IN SONOMA: Tony Schumacher did more than just win his fifth event in six races Sunday at the FRAM-Autolite NHRA Nationals. Schumacher’s stellar run Sunday in the Sonoma Valley gave the U.S. Army dragster pilot his third win in as many races; a win that made him only the sixth driver in NHRA history to sweep the Western Swing. Schumacher joined Joe Amato (1991), John Force (1994), Cory McClenathan (1997), Larry Dixon (2003) and Greg Anderson (2004) as the only drivers to sweep the three-race Swing since it began in 1989.
    Northern California native Matt Guidera also found success last weekend at his home track of Infineon Raceway, racing past Mike Berry, Karen Stoffer, Chip Ellis and Andrew Hines to pick up his second win of the season and third of his career. In Funny Car, Robert Hight became the third straight John Force Racing driver to win in Sonoma when he drove his Auto Club Ford Mustang past Gary Densham for his second win of the season.
    Pro Stock’s Dave Connolly not only picked up his second win of the season at Infineon Raceway, but with the win, moved past Warren Johnson and into the 10th spot in the point standings. 

TEAMS SET FOR NHRA SOFTBALL CLASSIC IN READING: Coaches Gary Scelzi and Antron Brown set their teams this past week during a draft held for the NHRA Softball Classic, which will be played August 14, at FirstEnergy Stadium in Reading, Pennsylvania. Ron Capps was the first overall draft pick after he was selected by Don Schumacher Racing teammate Gary Scelzi for the Scelzi Superchargers.
    Brown picked UPS dragster pilot Bob Vandergriff as his first-round pick for his Brown Burn Down Bombers. The driver vs. driver softball game, benefiting DRAW (Drag Racing Association of Women) will kick off at FirstEnergy Stadium (home of AA affiliate team, the Reading Phillies) at 5:00 p.m. with an autograph session and the first pitch at 7:00 p.m.

COMING ATTRACTIONS

LUCAS OIL NHRA NATIONALS, BRAINERD INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY, AUGUST 7–10: The NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series returns to central Minnesota for the third to last race where drivers can earn points to get into the Countdown to 1. Defending event winners include Brandon Bernstein (Top Fuel); John Force (Funny Car); Jeg Coughlin (Pro Stock); and Andrew Hines (Pro Stock Motorcycle). 

TOYO TIRES NHRA NATIONALS, MAPLE GROVE RACEWAY, AUGUST 14–17: Returning to the East Coast, drivers in the NHRA POWERade Series have one final chance before Indy to make a run at the Top 10 in the point standings. Defending event winners include Doug Herbert (Top Fuel); Tony Pedregon (Funny Car); Dave Connolly (Pro Stock); and Matt Guidera (Pro Stock Motorcycle).

MAC TOOLS U.S. NATIONALS, O’REILLY RACEWAY PARK, AUGUST 27–SEPTEMBER 1: The final stop for the regular season, drivers in the NHRA POWERade Series will have one last chance at the historic Raceway in Indianapolis to secure a spot in the Top 10 in the point standings and advance to the Countdown to 1.
    Funny Car and Pro Stock Motorcycle competitors will also have the chance to compete for cash and bragging rights in the U.S. Smokeless Showdown and the Ringers Gloves Pro Bike Battle. Defending winners of the race include Tony Schumacher (Top Fuel); Mike Ashley (Funny Car); Dave Connolly (Pro Stock); and Craig Treble (Pro Stock Motorcycle).

HE SAID, SHE SAID

A NIGHT AT THE ESPYS: Being surrounded by famous celebrities and sports figures can cause even the most talented driver to become a little star-struck. But this was not the case for Funny Car driver Ashley Force. Force was invited to attend the 2008 ESPY awards show, July 16 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, after being nominated in the HUMMER Like Nothing Else category. For Force, being surrounded by such high-profile people wasn’t quite the experience most would expect.
    “I wish I would have won, but just the experience was great,” said Force. “Danny (Hood, Force’s fiancé) and I spent the whole night mingling with the biggest stars in all of sports. I have to be honest, I’m not a huge sports fan so Danny recognized a lot more people than me. I love to people watch and the ESPYs was the perfect place to do that. I saw all sorts of players and celebrities. It was a great night.”

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

11: The number of wins that Funny Car driver John Force has at Brainerd International Raceway, the second most of any driver at a track. Only Force himself and Pro Stock legend Bob Glidden have more. Both have 12 wins at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona. 

ACI (Agri-Cover Inc.) promoted Tara Opdahl to sales operations manager. Opdahl will continue to oversee many of the day-to-day sales tasks and assist the sales director in promoting ACI’s products and Gold Star Dealer program. She is also the tradeshow coordinator for ACI and brings 1 1/2 years of sales and marketing experience to her position. She is based out of the Jamestown, North Dakota, factory.

Tara Opdahl

Hunter Engineering promoted Greg Meyer to product manager overseeing wheel-balancing equipment. Meyer has worked for Hunter Engineering as an R&D Engineer–Mechanical Design since joining the company in March 2001. As an engineer, Greg developed the mechanical design elements of many Hunter alignment products, including the high-definition wheel targets of Hunter’s HawkEye digital imaging alignment systems.

Greg Meyer

Pioneer Electronics (USA) Inc. will award $10,000 to Colorado-based mobile entertainment dealer Drive-In Autosound, the first annual Pioneer Community Give Back Award winner, to present to its charity of choice. Local business leaders Kevin and Scott Clark, recognized by Pioneer for their support of the military in Colorado Springs and Pueblo, have named the Fort Carson Officer Spouses’ Club (FCOSC) Santa’s Workshop as the recipient of Drive-In Autosound’s award.
    The FCOSC’s Santa’s Workshop provides gifts for children of military families who might otherwise be unable to celebrate the holidays. The presentation ceremony took place on July 29, at the store’s 165 Motor Way location. Pioneer’s new initiative honors its dealers for outstanding community service. 

FEAR THIS Inc. announced that since 2004, the company has trained more than 1,800 teens in its DRIVESAFE4life course. Through the course, teens are taught safe-driving practices and accident-avoidance skills by Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) certified police academy instructors. Complete information on FEAR THIS is available at www.fearthis4life.org. 

Toyota Research and Development (TRD/Toyota) partnered with Tru-Line Laser Alignment for its at-port wheel alignments. Zach Zwillinger of TRD/Toyota stated that TRD Tru-Line’s portability, flexibility and adaptability makes the wheel alignment system “a straightforward process that makes vehicle suspension alignment simple and effective.”

AutoTrader.com now includes live feeds of all certified pre-owned (CPO) Land Rover SUVs currently available at Land Rover’s 176 retailers nationwide. With the inclusion of the Land Rover feeds, AutoTrader.com has 29 CPO live-feed arrangements auto manufacturers, which it reports is the most of any online automotive marketplace.

Continental Tire North America Inc. (CTNA) launched an interactive online training center called ENGAGE 360. Originally announced at CTNA’s Gold Dealer sales meeting last spring, ENGAGE 360 is an ongoing program designed to give tire dealers a complete 360-degree look at Continental and General tires—from the basics to advanced tread technology to selling skills and more. The program is based around a virtual training center, and each brand includes individual modules that cover specific products, tire basics and an overview of CTNA.
    Once they view all of the training materials and videos, dealers will have the opportunity to take a brief test that allows them to score ENGAGE 360 Reward points and become certified in that particular tire or topic. Points can be redeemed for Engage 360 wearables or toward other prizes.

Edge Products received certification from the California Air Resources Board (CARB) for all of its Ford, Dodge and GM products for gasoline-powered vehicles.

Click on the logo to visit ARMO's website.

ARMO Special Projects in Motion

The ARMO Select Committee wants to hear from you. We are looking to celebrate, honor and recognize outstanding industry individuals and businesses during the council reception at the 2008 SEMA Show. Who should receive these prestigious awards? 
 
The nomination process is underway for the council's Business of the Year and Person of the Year honors. Candidates should meet all criteria.
 
Click here to download and print a Business of the Year nomination form.
Click here to download and print a Person of the Year nomination form.
 
All nomination forms are due on August 15, 2008, so don’t delay!

Sponsorships are being accepted for the ARMO Industry Awards Reception. Now is the time to participate in this great opportunity to show your support of the restoration market, its community, its people and its businesses. Click here to download and print a sponsorship form.
 
For more information, contact any Select Committee member or Jan Desma, 909/396-0289, ext. 134, or e-mail jand@sema.org.

ARMO Council Announces Election Results       
 
Effective July 1, 2008, Jim Barber of Classic Automotive Restoration Specialists Inc. took the reigns as ARMO chairman, with Laura Bergan of American Collectors Insurance Inc. taking the chairman-elect seat.
 
ARMO welcomes its newly elected leaders and looks forward to working closely with them. Join us in welcoming:

ARMO welcomes back its returning members:

• Jeff Broadus – Car Collector magazine
• Kim Mitchell – Eaton Detroit Spring Inc.
• Sheila Perkins – Bradley David Productions
• Alex Tainsh – TrimParts Inc.

ARMO thanks its retiring member Walter Vaughan of Steele Rubber Products for his years of dedication and volunteer service to the ARMO membership.
 
Contact Chairman Barber and Chairman-Elect Bergan or any of the Select Committee members with any questions or to introduce yourself to them. Jan Desma, SEMA council relations director and staff liaison for ARMO, can be reached at 909/396-0289, ext. 134 or e-mail jand@sema.org.

ARMO Column in SEMA Member News

Click on the logo to visit TORA's website.

Webinar CD added to TORA’s List of Member Benefits

The TORA, in conjunction with the SEMA education and marketing departments, has created a CD compilation of SEMA webinars. Having access to webinars online is a great SEMA-member benefit, but listening to one still requires sitting down at the computer and downloading.

With this CD, TORA members can listen to 11 TORA-relevant seminars without the need for Internet access. You can listen in the car or on a plane. If you are savvy enough to convert and load the files onto your iPod, you can even listen to them while tearing up the treadmill!

The 11 seminars included on the CD are:

1. Making sure your web store is open for business
2. Secrets to marketing a highly effective website
3. How reps can help installers sell to car dealers
4. Your customer doesn’t live here any more
5. How manufacturers can communicate more effectively with distributors and customers
6. The mindset of leadership—timeless qualities of a successful leader
7. Lean Manufacturing—how to eliminate waste in manufacturing and distribution
8. Management strategies for the most challenging situations
9. Six Sigma—the secret weapon of success
10. Financial management for the non-financial manager
11. Get Paid: Avoiding slow/non-paying customers and collecting debt.

For a copy of the "TORA Education & Training Benefits Webinar CD," TORA members can contact Staci Bostock at stacib@sema.org. The 11 seminars featured on the CD are but a small sampling of what’s available from the SEMA website. On the SEMA homepage, click on “Shows and Events” then “webinars.” You can search the webinars by author or topic.

TORA Column in SEMA Member News

Read TORA's column featured in the July/August issue of SEMA Member News by clicking here.

Filler for eNews

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

>> SEMA Webinar, "Highly Effective Low-Cost Marketing Strategies," July 31, 2008 10:00 a.m. (PDT)
>> SEMA Webinar, "Inventory Management: Mark It Down, Move It Out and Make More Money," August 14, 2008 10:00 a.m.–11:00 a.m. (PDT)
>> SEMA Show 2008, November 4–7, 2008, Las Vegas 
>> SEMA Dealer Day, November 5, 2008, Las Vegas

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

Looking for Some Extra Publicity for Your Industry Event?
Publicize your events through the SEMA Online Calendar of Events located at www.sema.org/calendar. The calendar is stocked with information on events taking place throughout the year, broken down by month. Examples of events featured in the calendar include consumer shows and club events, educational and training workshops, conventions and trade shows, races and more.

To submit your event details for the calendar, e-mail company name and the date(s), location and name of the event to Shirley Presecan at shirleyp@sema.org.

As auto dealerships face plummeting sales in a market plagued by shifting consumer trends, rising gas prices and a receding economy, they have been forced to make budget cuts. In particular, they have made advertising cuts. Some dealers have taken a different approach however, and have instead increased their advertising efforts. These dealers have found this to be an efficient tool for bringing more consumers into the showroom.

According to Automotive News, U.S. dealership advertising has fallen more than 4% in the last year, to $2.35 billion. This amount equates to an average of $626 per vehicle sold in the United States. With slowing auto sales, dealerships are hesitant to spend a lot of money on advertising. They have been forced to make advertising cuts and rethink their strategies.

Dealerships have shifted away from their traditional advertising mix. While Internet advertising was generally unheard of a decade ago, today’s dealers spend nearly a sixth of their advertising budget on Internet advertising and have begun to spend less on newspaper advertising. The proportion of television and radio advertisements has remained generally unchanged.

Studies have shown that increased advertising during a recession has a positive effect on sales and market share. In a 2002 study conducted by Thomas Kamber of Columbia University, firms that advertised during a recession had nearly 7% greater sales than firms that did not advertise during recessions. The gap widened to nearly 25% over a four-year period. The United States is not officially in a recession, but the economy has definitely affected both the consumers who purchase vehicles and the dealers that sell them.

The dealers who have tried the approach of increased advertising have reported that these efforts have proved worthwhile. For example, Kia dealerships which have advertised on shows such as “Hardball,” “The Daily Show,” and “The O’Reilly Factor,” have seen sales increase by nearly 15% this year between the months of April and May, according to Automotive News.

SEMA members might also benefit from increased advertising. Increased advertising during rough economic times seems counterintuitive, but it may work. If a majority of companies decrease their advertising efforts, the ones who decide to increase their efforts will likely stand out above the crowd. With a struggling economy, partnerships between automobile dealers and specialty-equipment manufacturers may be needed more than ever.

At this year’s SEMA Show, there will be a first-ever Dealer Day for National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) members. The program includes a networking reception and a private tour of the Show. This will provide a perfect opportunity for dealers and the specialty-equipment industry to work together toward the common goal of selling more products in a slow economy. To register for the Dealer Day program at the 2008 SEMA Show, visit www.sema.org/DealerDayReg.

Sources: 
-Thomas Kamber, “The Brand Manager’s Dilemma: Understanding How Advertising Expenditures affect Sales Growth During a Recession," Journal of Brand Management (2002), 10(2), 106-120.

-Mary Connelly, "Dealers cut, shift their ad spending," Automotive News, July 21, 2008. 

While American automakers have experienced a sales slump in recent months, Volkswagen sales have been soaring. According to The Detroit News, sales are up 5% compared to June 2007 and net profits are up 35% in the second quarter.

The large sales increase is due to the rise in international demand for Volkswagen vehicles, especially in rapidly growing and industrializing nations, such as India, China and Russia. According to the International Herald Tribune, Volkswagen exported over 3.3 million vehicles to those three nations in the first half of 2008 and sales are on the rise.

Volkswagen experienced a 69% sales increase in India, 63% in Russia and 23% in China. Sales in Ukraine, while not on the top of the list of exported units, reported a 50% sales increase.

Overall, 1.9 million Volkswagen vehicles were sold in the first six months of 2008, a 6% increase over the previous year. Audi sold 516,000, a 1.4% increase. Skoda released 367,000 vehicles, with a powerful 18% increase. VW's luxury car divisions also experienced growth: 4,700 Bentleys, 1,300 Lamborghinis and 35 Bugattis were sold in 2007.

Increased sales figures are good news for SEMA members. In this case, SEMA members who make products for Volkswagen vehicles have the opportunity to cater to a growing market.

For more information on vehicle sales, SEMA members can contact SEMA’s Market Research Department at shirleyp@sema.org.

Sources:
"Volkswagen second quarter net profit up 35 percent," The Detroit News, July 23, 2008.

"Volkswagen hits record sales thanks to India and Russia," International Herald Tribune, July 21, 2008.