How do you get your customers to buy more? Successful jobbers and retailers have discovered how to do just that when they offer their customers the Car Care One card. Designed to help sell more products, it also offers help with raising your average sales price per customer. This is a program you can’t afford to miss.

How to Participate:
During the webinar, you'll be able to interact and ask questions through the computer or over the phone. Simply follow these steps:

• View the presentation during the webinar by clicking here the day of the webinar.
• Connect to the audio portion of the webinar by calling toll-free 866-637-2754, pin 1542.
• The PowerPoint presentation will be available as a PDF file at a later time.

The U.S. Senate continues to debate legislation (HR 6) to increase vehicle fuel economy as of press time. The vote count for a SEMA-supported "Levin Amendment" is still too close to call. SEMA has contacted undecided Senators urging their support.

The Levin Amendment would increase the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards for cars and light trucks to 36 miles per gallon by 2022 for cars and 30 miles per gallon by 2025 for light trucks. SEMA believes these are tough but realistic numbers that push the limits of technology. In contrast, the current language in the Senate bill would increase CAFE by 4% a year through 2030—an unrealistic mandate.

The Levin Amendment would also maintain the critical distinction between cars and light trucks, thereby preserving the option afforded by pickups, minivans and SUVs for cargo room, performance, towing and hauling capacity. The current Senate bill would combine the CAFE standards for passenger cars and light trucks, thereby threatening future sales of light trucks and SUVs. SEMA believes the Levin Amendment is the best approach for preserving jobs, sales and customer choice to purchase the most appropriate vehicles (and specialty equipment to accessorize the vehicle).

SEMA will report on actions taken by the Senate in the next issue of SEMA eNews. Questions? Contact Stuart Gosswein at stuartg@sema.org.

Members of the Light-Truck Accessory Alliance (TORA) are not only setting the fundraising pace in the Council Cup-Cash for Kids charity golf tournament, but they're also talking up a good game. The golf tourney, to be held in the morning and afternoon on the day of the SEMA Installation Banquet & Gala Fundraiser, has drawn participation from most SEMA councils, but none are putting their money—and self-deprecatory humor—on the line more than the TORA.

Filler for eNews

As part of SEMA's member benefits for jobbers/retailers, the association's monthly SEMA News magazine has a jobber/retailer column. The department, titled "Retail Review," is a critique of various retail stores from around the country. The monthly column gives jobber/retailers ideas on various topics, from product displays and signage to lighting and foot traffic. To see a previous "Retail Review" click here.

SEMA members: Interested in having your store featured in the "Retail Review" section of SEMA News? Please e-mail 7–10 high-resolution photos (300-dpi JPEGs), along with your name, company name, address, phone, photos, e-mail and website (if applicable) to editors@sema.org. Please use the words "Store Layout" on the e-mail subject line.

If you would prefer to send your submission via standard mail please send it to:

Attn: Store Layouts
SEMA News
1575 S. Valley Vista Dr.
Diamond Bar, CA 91765

Filler for eNews

Filler for eNews

The new Dodge Ram will arrive next summer to a healthy Ram parts and accessories market, adding appeal to an already hotly anticipated model change.

Between May 8-June 6, Ram enthusiasts spent $1,584,100 (rounded to the nearest hundred) on parts and accessories for the iconic truck, according to data from Terapeak, a developer of market-focused research software that monitors online sales and auctions.

Lighting products recorded the highest overall sales, with taillights, headlights, and fog/driving lights leading the category that accounted for $161,400 of overall sales.

Air intake systems – primarily cold air induction kits, the bulk of them for the Cummins 5.9-liter diesel – were the most popular items in a category that did $113,200 in overall sales. Contributing to that number were throttle bodies, spacers, fuel pumps, and so-called vortex generators and magnetic clamps for fuel lines that purport to increase fuel efficiency.

Interior parts and accessories rounded out the top three categories, with dash kits, overlays and bevels leading the $88,900 category. Floor mat-type products, including fullsize cab carpet kits, and rubber and embroidered mats followed, with trim pieces like sill plates and headliners coming in third.

Terapeak's Motors P&A Research provides sellers with access to in-depth 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. 

According to Brenda Priddy & Co.:

With more than 1,000 more miles on the 2009 Ram’s odometer, it ran into yet another one of our camera-toting spies!

Twice in less than one week we snagged a 2009 test mule—a current Dodge Ram half-ton pickup with the next-generation Ram's front clip and improved Hemi V8. Even under the heavy camouflage, it's clear that Dodge is moving away from the Ram's trademark big-rig looks in favor of better aerodynamics to help boost fuel economy. The prominent crosshair grille remains—with stronger horizontal and vertical bars and slant-forward styling shared with the Dodge Charger sedan.

When it goes on sale late next summer, expect to see four all-new or revised engine choices. The base 215-hp/235lb.-ft. 3.7L V6 will be replaced with the 260-hp/265lb.-ft. 4.0L V6 used in the Dodge Nitro SUV. The Ram's current 235-hp/300lb.-ft. 4.7L V8 gets the same makeover the 2008 Dodge Dakota received, boosting power to 300 hp/330lb.-ft., and the 5.7L Hemi V8 will get a bump in displacement and power from current 345-hp/375lb.-ft. levels. A new Cummins 6.7L V8 diesel motor will also be available. Both gas and diesel V8s will use six-speed automatic transmissions.

Photo Credit: Chris Doane for Brenda Priddy & Co.