Filler for eNews

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

>> SEMA Webinar: Tire Pressure Monitoring Systems (TPMS), July 12, 10 a.m. (PST)
>> Aftermarket eForum, Hyatt Regency O'Hare, July 16–18, Chicago
>> SEMA Webinar: Urban-Lifestyle Report, July 26, 10 a.m. (PST)
>> SEMA Installation Banquet & Gala Fundraiser, July 27, Irvine, California
>> SEMA Webinar: SEMA Show Case Study Review—How Exhibitors Create Success, August 7, 10 a.m. (PST)
>> MRC Rep Conference, September 26–27, Phoenix
>> SEMA Show, October 30–November 2, Las Vegas
>> MPMC Media Trade Conference, January 22–24, 2008, Los Angeles

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

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

• National Account Manager, North Carolina
• Sales Executive, Signal Hill, California
• Sales Manager, Commerce California
• Graphic Design/Marketing Asst., Whittier, California
• Customer Service/Office Assistant, Huntington Beach, California
• Account Executive(s), Anaheim, Placentia and Los Angeles, California

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

As the Internet becomes an even more integral part of the car-buying experience, Mazda North American Operations (MNAO) has introduced a tool that will help consumers purchase a Mazda easier than ever before. According to PRNewswire, the Mazda Shopping Assistant program will be “the first in the industry to provide potential buyers with an actual quote—from the customer’s choice of dealer—for the vehicle they have chosen.”

The Mazda Shopping Assistant (MSA) program can be accessed through http://www.mazdausa.com/ and connects consumers with Mazda Personal Shoppers. The Personal Shoppers are able to answer specific products questions and provide personalized shopping experiences through web chat sessions. Potential buyers can configure a vehicle, select a dealership, search inventory, acquire a quote directly from the dealer, schedule a sales appointment and receive financing information. If the customer and dealer agree upon a price, the Personal Shopper will arrange an appointment time at the dealership for paperwork to be signed and vehicle delivery.

Mike Ray, director of customer satisfaction and loyalty for MNAO told PRNewswire that the program was designed “to help Mazda customers spend less time shopping and more time driving.” On average, a consumer will spend four hours at the dealership during the car-buying process. Each month, more than 1.5 million unique visitors log onto MazdaUSA.com to gather product information, locate dealerships or build vehicles, which prompted Mazda to create the MSA program. This program, as well as others that may likely follow, will create some unique opportunities for SEMA manufacturers to become involved. Consumers could not only build the car of their dreams using an Internet-based buying program, but they could add on all of the aftermarket parts they want right from their home.

Source:  (July 8, 2007). “New Mazda Internet ‘Personal Shopper’ an Industry First: Mazda Shopping Assistant Converts Internet Shoppers to Buyers.” PRNewswire. Retrieved July 9, 2007 from www.prnewswire.com.

According to Ward’s Auto, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars unveiled its new Phantom Drophead Convertible in France. It will be handcrafted at the automaker’s headquarters in Goodwood, United Kingdom. The first vehicles are expected to be delivered in late summer.

The Drophead will be a two-door, four-passenger vehicle, measuring 220.8 inches in length and 78.2 inches in width, with a wheelbase of 130.7 inches. It’s powered by a 48-valve V12 engine, putting out 453 hp and 531 lb.-ft. of torque at 5,350 rpm. 

Some of the other features include a rack-and-pinion, speed-sensitive, variable-rate steering system and ventilated disc brakes. The top-speed rating for the Drophead is 149 mph, governed. And it will travel from 0 to 62 mph in 5.9 sec. The Drophead will be available in nine different colors. The rear deck is made from teak, and a Rolls-Royce press release indicates that the vehicle “is a less formal interpretation of the classic Rolls-Royce design” and “combines a lightweight, extremely stiff aluminum spaceframe with the lean and elegant body of a Drophead Coupé.” Pricing has not yet been released for the vehicle.

Sources: Ward’s Staff. (July 11, 2007). “Rolls-Royce Unveils New Convertible.” Ward’s Auto. Retrieved July 11, 2007 from www.wardsauto.com. http://www.rolls-roycemotorcars.com.

You may be asking yourself how a quality system can be beneficial to you. Any company will benefit from greater consistency (repeatability) in its processes, identifying potential mistakes before they become an unwanted expense or result in the loss of a customer. A key component of a quality system is the concept of continual improvement. Continual improvement includes a corrective action plan that serves to remedy the current problem and changes the system (if needed) to prevent the mistake from reoccurring. Overall, this will raise the quality of your company’s products or services.

Quality assurance is important for your business to be both reputable and successful. The goal of your quality-assurance initiative is to create written procedures that will ensure full compliance with all contract requirements. Formal, written documentation provides the government and your other customers better assurance that there will be consistency in the process and that, if a mistake is made, the cause can be traced to a specific spot and then corrected. You need to specify the details: who is responsible, for what specific function, at what stage of the process, etc.

Many companies believe that having a quality-assurance program requires too much time to develop, or will be too costly, or both. However, it is relatively simple to develop your very own quality manual that will help guide you to make the best products possible.

Along with quality assurance, Total Quality Management (TQM) is very important. TQM should be present organization-wide, and empower managers and employees to continuously examine and improve every process in the organization. TQM can help everyone to better understand and meet the needs of internal and external customers, while at the same time reducing costs.

There are three main participants in a company’s quality: suppliers, your company and customers. All three should be carefully considered when implementing a quality system. 

This is a very small excerpt from the 2006 SEMA Quality Assurance Workbook. SEMA members can receive a complimentary copy of the 2006 SEMA Quality Assurance Workbook as another benefit to being a SEMA member. This and other published reports are available exclusively to SEMA members at www.sema.org/research. The workbook can also be obtained by contacting Shirley at shirleyp@sema.org.

Ford Motor Company is planning to take its 10 years of hydrogen research expertise to the Bonneville Salt Flats this August. The company will attempt to set the world land-speed record in a hydrogen fuel-cell-powered Ford Fusion.

The Ford Fusion Hydrogen 999 fuel-cell car was collaboratively engineered by Ballard, Roush and Ohio State University. It is one of two vehicles Ford’s fuel-cell research team is helping prepare to set world land-speed records during Bonneville Speed Week on August 10–17. The other team is made up of Ohio State University student engineers and the Buckeye Bullet 2, a fuel-cell-powered racer that will compete for a world record in the unlimited class category. 

“Racing is part of Ford Motor Company’s DNA so it seemed only natural for us to build a fuel-cell race car that runs on hydrogen, a fuel that could someday play a key role in meeting the energy needs of the transportation sector,” said Gerhard Schmidt, vice president of research & advanced engineering for Ford Motor Company. “Our goal in attempting this record is to further expand our technological horizons with fuel-cell-powered vehicles. The collaboration with Ohio State University also affords us an opportunity to work closely with a prestigious university, which provides out-of-the-box thinking from student engineers and helps us recruit talented young people to work at Ford Motor Company.”

The Ford Fusion Hydrogen 999 was designed by Ford engineers and fabricated and built by Roush in Allen Park, Michigan. Ohio State students have provided the design of the 770-hp electric motor while Ballard has supplied the hydrogen fuel cells. Rick Byrnes, a veteran Bonneville racer and Ford retiree, will pilot the Ford Fusion Hydrogen 999 car on its record attempt.

Ohio State students have designed their unlimited class vehicle, dubbed Buckeye Bullet 2, from the ground up. Ballard donated the hydrogen fuel cells for Ohio State’s car, Roush its engineering services and Ford has provided overall project coordination and expertise in fuel-cell drivetrains.

Ohio State has some history with Bonneville. In 2004, students set the unlimited land-speed record for an electric vehicle by running 315 mph in the first Buckeye Bullet, dubbed BB1.

Ford has a strategy for alternative fuels built around multiple technologies, including hydrogen fuel cells. This flexible approach allows the company to meet goals for customer needs, environmental impact and shareholder interests. Ford has chosen not to focus on any one solution, but rather on several options, including hybrids, E85 ethanol, clean diesels, bio-diesels, advanced engine and transmission technologies and hydrogen fuel cells.

The company already has a fleet of 30 hydrogen-powered Focus fuel-cell vehicles on the road as part of a worldwide, seven-city program to conduct real-world testing of fuel- cell technology. Since its inception in 2005, the 30-car fleet has accumulated more than 540,000 miles. Ford has also been conducting tests with the world’s first plug-in hybrid electric vehicle: the Ford Edge with HySeries Drive. The vehicle makes use of a series electric drivetrain with an onboard hydrogen fuel-cell generator, giving it a range of 225 miles with zero emissions.

Ford already offers gasoline-electric hybrids, including the Escape Hybrid and Mercury Mariner Hybrid. The company plans to offer hybrid versions of the Ford Fusion and Mercury Milan in 2008.

Source: Ford Motor Company

According to Trends Magazine, the information highway will have a major impact on the automotive industry as we know it today. 

Last May, Avis began offering wireless Internet in vehicles it rents at locations in four major cities with plans to expand the service to seven other cities in the near future.

This past January, Ford announced a partnership with Microsoft to provide an in-car communications and entertainment system. They called it “Sync,” and it is based on the “Microsoft Auto” operating system.

These are just two developments that point to the sweeping technological changes that will overtake cars and redefine how we use them—and it will happen sooner than you may think. And don’t think it will be limited to entertainment. Many are projecting that cars and trucks will soon be able to communicate with each other and the infrastructure as part of the navigation process and to avoid collisions.

Given the recent developments, Trends Magazine offered six forecasts.

1. In the near term, expect automobiles to embody every kind of communication and entertainment device imaginable.
2. Cars will become the focus of virtual data storm in the near future.
3. All this technology will spark controversy in more ways than one.
4. Cheap bandwidth and processing power will permit automakers to incorporate anticollision technology similar to that used to prevent midair collisions.
5. During this time, technology will eliminate much of the work of driving so that motorists can use all of the new functions that will become possible.
6. Technology, demography and attitudes will evolve to make fully autonomous automobiles commonplace in the United States by 2037.

If the forecasts are correct, there are a world of opportunities and challenges ahead for the automotive performance parts and accessories industry. As vehicles gain more and more power to control themselves, there is the potential that consumers will loose the love of driving and owning cars and light trucks. That could potentially damage the industry. At the same time, all of the technological developments will offer opportunities for the proliferation of products in the aftermarket. Depending on where you are in the industry and the products you work with, the near future offers a lot of changes that demand watching in order to ensure the success of your business.

Source: SEMA Market Research

According to Ward’s Auto, Chrysler Group has confirmed that it will build a high-performance version of the Dodge Challenger. It is expected to launch sometime after the 2009-model base car rolls out. The SRT-8 Challenger will be based on the next-generation LX platform, the LY.

Currently, the LX platform serves the Chrysler 300 and Dodge Charger sedans and the Dodge Magnum. All of these are expected to migrate to the new LY platform. Despite the price of gasoline, Steve Landry, executive vice president of NAFTA sales, global marketing, service and parts for Chrysler, says the automaker is not concerned. “In recent research with SRT owners, the price of fuel does not come up on the radar as something that concerns them,” Landry says. 

SRT-8 products are equipped with a 6.1L, Hemi V8. The Dodge Avenger has been mentioned as a potential SRT candidate. According to Ward’s Auto, Chrysler’s future high-performance lineup will consist of SRT-8 versions of the Chrysler 300, Dodge Charger, Dodge Magnum, Jeep Grand Cherokee, Dodge Viper and Dodge Caliber SRT-4.

Source: Mayne, Eric. (July 12, 2007). “Challenger SRT-8 Coming, Chrysler Confirms.” Ward’s Auto. Retrieved July 12, 2007 from www.wardsauto.com.

Mark Phelan of the Detroit Free Press believes that Ford’s recovery plan will gain some momentum from several new engine and transmission technologies that will dramatically improve the power and fuel economy of Ford vehicles. Combined, the systems could actually boost fuel economy by 20% or more and produce V6 engines with more power than some of the current V8s.

Several of the aforementioned technologies made their debut on the Lincoln MKR concept car at the 2007 North American International Auto Show in Detroit. The MKR was powered by a 3.5L twin-turbo 415-hp V6. Ford said that not only did the engine match the output of a V8, but it also uses 15% less fuel.

New Ford production engines are expected to feature single or twin turbocharging, direct gasoline injections, automatic shutoff and cylinder deactivation. The new automatic transmissions will use mechanical components similar to those in a six-speed manual transmission. Shifting will be automatic via electronic controls and hydraulic actuators. This dual-clutch transmission, called Powershift, was developed in cooperation with German transmission company Getrag.

According to the article, “Most of these technologies will first see production at Ford’s European operations, but they will begin to show up on the company’s North American models within two or three years.” Direct injection will likely show up in almost all of Ford’s future engines. This technology relies on high-injection pressure and electronic controls to boost power and fuel economy. Ford says that the new engines will run on regular gasoline, while many of the current engines using direct injection must run on premium.

The combination of direct injection and turbocharging is called Twin Force by the automaker, referring to the increase of both power and fuel economy. The Twin Force direct-injection fuel system differs from conventional port fuel-injected gasoline engines in that gasoline is directly injected into the engine’s cylinders at high pressures. Direct-injection fuel systems are able to more precisely control when and how much fuel is injected into the cylinders, which allows for more efficient burn and improved combustion control that delivers optimal performance and fuel economy.

Currently, Ford is planning to use a single turbo on the four-cylinder engines, and twin turbos on the V6s. A Ford source told the Detroit Free Press that the company's new Twin-Force-powered engines can be compared “to the remarkably smooth and direct-injection twin-turbo straight-six that produces 300 horsepower in the acclaimed BMW 335-ci convertible.”

Sources:  Phelan, Mark. (July 8, 2007). “Efficient Engines at Ford.” Detroit Free Press. Retrieved July 12, 2007 from www.freep.com. Ford Motor Company.