SEMA will announce the winners of its SEMA Design Awards during the association's press conference set for Tuesday, October 30, at 1:30 p.m. in the Las Vegas Convention Center, at the Continental Tire Media Experience, Room S219.

About The 2008 SEMA Accessory-Friendly Vehicles

The 2008 SEMA Vehicle Design Awards are presented to the most accessory-friendly vehicle in four categories—Car, Truck, SUV and Hybrid. The awards were established to honor newly introduced or significantly redesigned vehicles that best exemplify the alliance between the OEMs and SEMA-member companies. The awards recognize and celebrate the vehicles that a select group of voting members has chosen as the most accessory-friendly vehicles of the year.

This year’s winners will join a prestigious list of vehicles including last year’s winners—the Toyota Tundra, Ford Shelby GT 500, Jeep Wrangler and Chevrolet Silverado Classic Hybrid.

For photos and information about last year's SEMA Design Award winners, click here. To view a list of all of the press conferences taking place during the 2007 SEMA Show, click here.

Whether you’re interested in off-road maneuverability or on-pavement performance, the SEMA Show offers two settings that boast action and education. The Motor Trend Proving Ground Powered by Lexus is the place to see on-road vehicle displays, and the Truck Trend Proving Ground Sponsored by Toyota will again feature exhibitions of four-wheel dirt and rock prowess.

The Motor Trend setup will be located between the Central and South Halls, and the Truck Trend Proving Ground will be showcased in the Silver Lot at the front of the Las Vegas Convention Center.

To view all of the activities at the 2007 SEMA Show, click here.

Filler for eNews

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

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

SEMA research shows that the street-rod and custom market grew retail sales 66% in the past decade (1997–2006), just beating out the thriving restoration marketplace's 65% retail performance in the same period. The street-rod market encompasses highly-modified vehicles used for street travel and show based on body types originally manufactured prior to 1949, according to Jim Spoonhower, SEMA vice president of market research.

Customs, meanwhile, are modified vehicles that are at least 25 years old and of a model year after 1948, or manufactured to resemble a vehicle of that era.

The restoration market, which focuses more on returning/repairing vehicles back to original condition with minimal modifications, grew incrementally less than the street-rod and custom market during the past decade, but posted greater retail sales last year—$1.42 billion compared to $1.01 billion for the street-rod and custom market.

"The restoration market has benefited from the fact that consumers are looking at these vehicles as investments, an idea perpetuated by higher prices fetched by fully restored to stock vehicles at auctions, such as Barrett-Jackson," explains Jim Spoonhower, SEMA vice president of market research. "This, coupled with nostalgia-motivated consumers bringing these cars and trucks to their original condition, has brought the restoration market to where it is at today."

For more insight into the restoration, street-rod and custom, and hot-rod market, read the Market Update published by SEMA's Research & Information Center in the June 2007 issue of SEMA News. Visit www.sema.org/research for more valuable member-exclusive market research reports.

A new study conducted by PPG Industries shows that silver is the new favorite exterior color with North American car buyers, with 22% preferring it to the next closest favorite, white (19%). The popularity of silver is dipping slightly, down 2% from last year, while black—the third favorite at 15%—gained two points. Rounding out the top colors are red (13%), blue (12%), naturals (10%), other/niche market colors (6%) and green (5%).

"Silver is popular with consumers and automakers because it accentuates the styling of a vehicle and looks modern while also having a high resale value," said Jane E. Harrington, PPG manager, color styling, automotive coatings. The rising popularity of black, white and other colors stems from the fashion and interior design industries, Harrington said. "Today's consumers are aware of trends and design, and they expect to see that reflected in the vehicles they buy."

Consumers in general are becoming more aware of the personalization options afforded to them by installing specialty-equipment products on their vehicles, as evidenced by the market dominance of the accessory and appearance product segment (products typically popular with mainstream consumers and that tend to follow popular design and color trends). This segment rose to $21.1 billion retail in 2006, comprising nearly 58% of the specialty-equipment product market share.

One of the most visible and recognizable products representing the specialty-equipment market is custom wheels, having experienced enormous growth since 1991. Retail sales have increased from $1.3 billion in 1991 to more than $4.5 billion in 2006, a 257% increase, according to SEMA research. That accounts for about 12% of the industry’s overall retail sales.

Automakers have taken notice of the trend, offering new vehicles with styled wheels. Manufacturers have in fact helped fuel the growth and acceptance of custom wheels. The percentage of cars produced with custom wheels has grown 26% over the past decade. Light trucks offered with custom wheels contributed their own growth, although at a more modest 1.3%.

And even with custom wheels being offered on new vehicles, a recent AutoPacific study found that around a third of all new-vehicle buyers intend to modify their vehicle by adding custom wheels, with compact and luxury car buyers the most likely (37.6% and 36.5%, respectively) to do so.

For more insight into the custom wheel market, pick up the November 2007 issue of SEMA News, and visit www.sema.org/research for more original market research produced by SEMA's Research & Information Center.

For urban-lifestyle enthusiasts—those who favor today’s flashy Cadillacs and Chryslers, among other machines—audio and video systems are just as important to their automotive personality as the 22-inch wheels, window tint and exhaust kits they purchase.

According to SEMA research, amplifiers are the most popular piece of A/V gear that urban-lifestyle enthusiasts buy; 59.4% of survey respondents saying that they owned one. Subwoofers (58.6%) and midrange speaker/component sets (54%) followed.

But music alone is not enough for these enthusiasts. Forty-three percent own an in-car DVD player, 32.5% own a flip-out or fixed-monitor head unit, 30.6% have a flip-down-monitor unit, and 27.8% screen their movies on headrest-monitor units.

You can read more of the Urban-Lifestyle Market Update, produced by SEMA’s Research & Information Center, in the July 2007 issue of SEMA News. Additionally, SEMA members can receive complimentary copies of various market reports as another benefit to being a SEMA member by visiting www.sema.org/research.

As is the case with any niche market, products that accessorize the vehicle may be subject to federal safety or emissions laws. States also have jurisdiction to enact safety regulations covering equipment not regulated at the federal level. Examples of products potentially covered by state rules include "optional" or "accessory" lighting equipment, sound limits for exhausts and speakers, window tinting, tire size and vehicle height.

Additionally, disclaimers such as "show vehicle" or "off-road use only" have no legal meaning or very narrow application. It is the responsibility of the manufacturer to be aware of varying state laws and regulations in order to meet compliance requirements. SEMA, through its Government Affairs office in Washington, D.C., monitors these proposals and actively seeks to shape laws and regulations so that they do not unnecessarily preclude options based on style and performance.

SEMA encourages manufacturers to take part in the process as well to protect against proposals that are not supported by a demonstrated safety need. SEMA maintains information about these issues under the "Legislation and Regulations" section at www.sema.org.

For many enthusiasts, body kits are the most effective way to give their stock vehicle a performance stance. Coupled with suspension and wheel/tire modifications, an otherwise nondescript car with factory-intended design is instantly personalized.

In the last six months, enthusiasts have snapped up body kits at a voracious rate. Online auction sales of body kits for cars ranging from the Civic to M3, Camaro to Lincoln LS, are up 76% since mid-April, according to data from Terapeak, a developer of market-focused research software that monitors online sales and auctions.

Sales during mid-April to mid-July vaulted the previous three-month period by a healthy 68 percent, a significant number considering that sales actually dipped from January to March compared to the last quarter of 2006. Sales during the last three months (mid-July to mid-October) are also up over the previous quarter, outperforming the summer months by 4.5%.

Terapeak's Motors P&A Research provides sellers with access to comprehensive research on the past year of online auction data and allows users to get in-depth research reports on the competition and themselves. More at www.terapeak.com/motors.