The current digital issue of Off-Road Business reviews tiny overlanders that still provide a variety of custom features, explores the Oregon’s Grand Canyon carved the Owhyee River, which include the Pillars of Rome and Chalk Basin and more!
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has created a webpage database to retrieve safety recall information for motor vehicles and equipment dating back to 1966. The dashboard is intended to be a user-friendly and transparent way for the public to download recall information. Users may search by keyword and export data in CSV, TSV for Excel, XML and other formats. The dashboard will be updated daily.
The public can also search for open recalls and automaker technical service bulletins at www.nhtsa.gov/recalls. Search parameters include via the VIN, vehicle, equipment, tires and car seats. The public may also download NHTSA’s SaferCar app to stay informed on current recalls.
For more information, contact Caroline Fletcher at carolinef@sema.org.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has consolidated its longstanding policy on enforcing unqualified “Made in USA” claims within a new regulation, “Part 323—Made in USA Labeling.” The regulation does not impose any new requirements but is intended to make it easier for businesses to understand claim conditions and, for the first time, allow the FTC to seek civil penalties for violations.
Since at least 1940, the FTC has used its general legal authority to enforce against unfair or deceptive trade practices regarding unqualified Made in USA claims. It has provided broad guidance, most recently in December 1997, that requires a seller making an unqualified Made in USA claim to have a reasonable basis for asserting that “all or virtually all” of the product is made in the United States.
While recognizing that there is no single “bright line” to establish when a product meets the “all or virtually all” threshold, the FTC policy remains that an unqualified Made in USA claim implies no more than a de minimis amount of product is of foreign origin. The final assembly or processing of the product must occur in the United States. Beyond this minimum threshold, the FTC will consider other factors such as the portion of the product’s total manufacturing costs attributable to U.S. parts and processing; how far removed from the finished product any foreign content is; and the importance of the foreign content to the form or function of the product. The FTC’s 1997 guidance document also remains in effect and available for additional reference.
Companies may still make qualified Made in USA claims for products that include U.S. content or processing but do not meet the criteria for making an unqualified claim. Examples of qualified claims include: “Made in USA of U.S. and imported parts.” “75% U.S. content.” “Assembled in U.S.A.”
The FTC rule does not supersede or affect any other federal or state rule that is consistent or would provide greater protection. For example, California allows a “Made in U.S.A.” label for products sold in California if the product is made in the United States and all its subcomponents that are sourced from outside the U.S. constitute no more than 5% of the final value of the manufactured product. The labels may also be used if the subcomponents cannot be obtained in the U.S. and all subcomponents sourced from outside the U.S. make up no more than 10% of the final wholesale value of the manufactured product.
The Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) joined six other aftermarket trade organizations in sending a letter to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) praising its recent “Nixing the Fix” report to Congress. The report identifies anti-competitive repair restrictions employed by manufacturers for a wide-range of products from automobiles and mobile phones to printers and computers. The groups urged the FTC to take steps to address report findings.
The aftermarket groups included recommendations that the FTC could implement in the immediate future along with actions that may need Congressional authorization. The recommendations included:
Expand ways in which consumers are made aware of their rights under the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act (MMWA), which prohibits the conditioning of warranties with the use of original equipment parts or service.
Reinforce that consumers have the right to modify their vehicle and that it is illegal to deny the warranty based on the mere presence of a specialty part.
Eliminate manufacturers’ marketing practices that discourage the use of non-original equipment parts or services.
Develop better enforcement tools for the FTC, including more coordination with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration on cross-referencing consumer complaints.
Expand coverage of the MMWA to include commercial vehicles.
Enact legislation to provide vehicle owners with access to data transmitted by their vehicle and provide them the ability to have that data made available to the independent repair shops.
In addition to SEMA, the letter was signed by Auto Care Association, Automotive Oil Change Association (AOCA), Service Station Dealers of American and Allied Trades (SSDA), Car Coalition (CAR), Automotive Recyclers Association (ARA), and Tire Industry Association (TIA).
Automotive businesses and enthusiasts nationwide will be celebrating this year’s Collector Car Appreciation Day (CCAD) officially tomorrow, July 9! The SEMA Action Network (SAN) encourages you to find and attend an event near you; the official list is posted on the CCAD homepage. While there, help promote this special day by downloading the official logo and flyer. Post on social media using the hashtag #CCAD and tag the celebration's Facebook fan page (@CollectorCarAppreciationDayCCAD).
Earlier this year, the U.S. Senate passed Senate Resolution 292 (S. Res. 292) at the request of SEMA recognizing July 9, 2021, as CCAD. A similar resolution was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives (H. Res. 491). The date marks the 12th commemoration of what has become an annual event to celebrate and raise awareness of the vital role automotive restoration and collection plays in American society.
During Part One and Two of the SEMA ADAS webinar series, aftermarket parts manufacturers and installers were educated on top trends in ADAS technology and the resources available to help companies install parts safely while maintaining OEM functionality of the ADAS system.
Now is the chance to learn from those who have done it. During Part 3 of the SEMA ADAS Webinar Series, taking place July 14, at 11:00 a.m. (PDT), participants will hear case studies from leading aftermarket manufacturers that have successfully developed and launched products for ADAS-equipped vehicles. They will share important information, from their own experiences, on what steps they took to understand the systems, design compatible parts, and validate the functionality of all OEM features.
As ADAS technology becomes more standard on new vehicles, this webinar will set manufactures and installers up for success as they prepare to develop products of their own to be launched into the marketplace.
Workplace Sensing Tools That Help Keep Employees Safe
By Joe Dysart
Employers are embedding fever-sensing and other sensing devices in
workplaces to reassure employees that their health is protected from
COVID-19.
Many businesses determined to reassure employees that their workplaces are safe are turning to sensing devices to ferret out fevers, verify that all employees are wearing masks or even make video recordings of employees who are sneezing or coughing.
“Today, more than ever, managers are looking for innovative solutions to enhance their health screening processes,” said Renaud Mazarguil, president of gas analysis and safety for Honeywell.
As many managers know, surveillance temperature systems have been around for decades and are already commonly used at airports, train stations and other larger gathering places, but such devices are being given a run for their money by next-generation artificial intelligence (AI) sensing systems. Many of these software packages go beyond fever sensing to detect mask wearing, verify social distancing or pick out employees who are sneezing or coughing.
The beauty of many of these AI software systems is that they can be integrated into existing workplace security camera systems. Simply integrate the AI software into your existing camera system, and you’re good to go.
There is a rub, though. While provided with the best of intentions, employee surveillance systems can be controversial. Not everyone—including the Electronic Frontier Foundation—is doing cartwheels over the prospect of employers increasing surveillance of employees on the job—all approved by the federal government.
“The U.S. government is not known for its inclination to give back surveillance powers seized during extraordinary moments,” according to Matthew Guariglia, a policy analyst at the Electronic Frontier Foundation. “Once used in acute circumstances, a tool stays in the toolbox until it is taken away.”
The upshot of the EEOC’s move: Employers now have the right to take the temperatures of their workers whenever they want, and employers now have the right to withdraw a job offer if a candidate tests positive for COVID-19 during the qualification process.
The move was greeted by many employers with a sigh of relief—especially those who are being forced by their insurers to demonstrate that they are doing everything possible to protect the health of COVID-19-threatened employees.
Of course, having the right to monitor and actually winning employee buy-in of a new, well-intentioned health surveillance system is a tough needle to thread. Assuming you’re able to pull off that feat, below is a raft of sensing technology you can use to help minimize the worst nightmare of your employees: unmitigated spread of COVID-19 throughout your workplace.
Simple Gun Thermometers: Gun thermometers are commonly used in large public spaces like airports, where health officials need a quick, inexpensive way to detect fevers amid incoming and outgoing air passengers.
Dozens of makes of gun thermometers are available, and you can retrieve a full assessment of the top-rated models on shopping sites such as Amazon.com. Kuang-Chi Technology makes its own spin on the gun thermometer—the Thermal Scanner Helmet, N901 (www.kcwearable.com/enpc/2.html). It’s essentially the same tech as a gun thermometer embedded in a helmet that can be worn by a human monitor.
The primary advantage is that the thermometer is mobile—it can go anywhere the wearer is looking to monitor temperatures, including company entryways or a big company gathering in an off-site facility.
Unfortunately, the key drawback of the tech is that you need to dedicate an employee to do gun thermometer checks every morning or as often as makes you and your employees comfortable. That costs extra money, and it also creates an annoying barrier at the entry to your workplace. No one relishes the prospect of dealing with a fellow employee brandishing a forehead scanning device in front of their face each morning before they can get to their desk or workstation.
Surveillance Thermometers: Less intrusive by nature, surveillance thermometers can be positioned unobtrusively at key entry points to the workplace, silently scanning staff as they arrive. Standard-grade surveillance thermometers will probably work for most workplaces, but medical-grade thermometers (which are more precise and built to a higher standard) may be preferred by workplaces looking for a higher level of protection.
Most surveillance thermometers use thermal cameras built with infrared sensors that measure the heat emitted from the skin. Such sensing is not as good as a conventional thermometer, which measures a body’s internal temperature, but that has not stopped commercial users from relying on surveillance thermometers for years.
Popular surveillance thermometer makers include:
FLIR Systems (www.flir.com): One of the most prolific makers of surveillance thermometers, FLIR is currently being forced to prioritize orders to hospitals and medical facilities, according to Frank Pennisi, the company’s president.
Mobotix M16TB Thermal Weatherproof IP Camera (www.mobotix.com): This is another simple thermal camera imaging system that monitors for fevers and sends out an alert in the form of an audible alarm, network message or similar trigger when a fever is detected. All detections are recorded on an onboard micro SD card.
Thermoteknix FevIR Scan 2 (www.thermoteknix.com): This system is designed for fever surveillance of large areas such as airports, train stations and large factories. Onscreen and audible alerts identify one or more individuals in a large crowd exhibiting fevers.
AI Fever and Compliance Sensing Devices: AI-powered COVID-19 sensing devices tend to offer more monitoring than conventional temperature surveillance. Besides checking for fevers, many of these systems are also designed to discern if an employee is wearing a mask, engaging in safe social-distancing practices, or coughing or sneezing.
Most of the systems also do a great job of documenting health-threatening events by taking pictures of employees in question for later followup.
Here’s a representative sampling of AI-driven surveillance systems:
OnDisplay SafeScan Kiosk (www.ondisplay.io): This is a relatively simple AI-powered system designed to do one thing well: take the temperature of each person who enters your workplace and identify who that person is by auto-referencing an employee database that includes pictures of each of your employees. Safe-Scan also records and stores the date, time, employee name and exact temperature of each assessment it makes.
Honeywell ThermoRebellion (www.honeywell.com): Introduced in May 2020, ThermoRebellion uses AI to detect a fever by analyzing each individual pixel in a scene captured by its camera. The system also auto-logs the data it collects to help simplify and standardize any record keeping needed for insurer or government compliance requirements.
Landing AI Social Distancing Camera (https://landing.ai): Landing AI’s software rings a buzzer any time people in your workplace congregate less than 6 ft. apart in a pre-designated area. Bonus: The software is designed to integrate into an existing security camera system.
Kogniz Health Cam (www.kogniz.com): This system uses AI to track fevers, enforce social distancing and verify that employees are wearing masks and similar COVID-19 prevention gear. Health Cam also sends automatic alerts on this monitoring to appropriate management personnel—including when it detects too many people occupying a specific area.
Draganfly Drone (https://draganfly.com): Capable of surveying large crowds from above, Draganfly is designed to pick out people who have fevers as well as those who are coughing or sneezing. Said Cameron Chell, the company’s CEO: “This coronavirus pandemic has opened up a new frontier for advanced drones.”
Joe Dysart is an internet speaker and business consultant based in Manhattan.
Google ranking penalties are coming for poorly designed websites.
Google is promising to double down on its policy to penalize poorly designed websites with lower rankings in search-engine returns with its next update which is rolling out this month. Websites that exhibit poor performance on mobile devices, use annoying pop-up ads, are tough to interact with or are plagued by similar shortcomings are going to be policed by the Google search engine.
“These signals measure how users perceive the experience of interacting with a web page and contribute to our ongoing work to ensure that people get the most helpful and enjoyable experiences from the web,” said Jeffrey Jose, product manager of Search for Google.
Added Sowmya Subramanian, director of engineering for Search Ecosystem: “Great page experiences enable people to get more done and engage more deeply.”
Dubbed “Google Page Experience,” the ranking system is expected to hit websites competing for the same keywords and keyphrases the hardest. For example, two competitive sites using the same keywords and keyphrases that feature comparably excellent content will find that a poorly designed website will get a lower ranking on Google, while an excellently designed website will come out on top.
Of course, Google’s announcement that a crackdown is coming sent reverberations across the web, given that it dominates searching worldwide. According to Statista, 87% of all web searches are made using the Google search engine (https://tinyurl.com/statista-marketshare), so when Google speaks, people listen.
While Google has been penalizing poorly designed websites with lower search-engine rankings for a number of years, this latest initiative will focus solely on how websites are performing on mobile devices. That makes sense, given that nearly three-quarters of all internet users will solely use smartphones to access the web by 2025, according to a report by the World Advertising Research Center (https://tinyurl.com/warc-content-paywall).
In the crackdown this time, Google is also trial-ballooning the idea of using a graphic icon in the web address bar to indicate if a website is poorly designed and poorly performing. The graphic-icon warning approach served the search giant well a few years back when it used an exclamation symbol in the website address bar to warn web surfers that they were clicking to a website that did not use HTTPS. The format is designed to ensure that websites and web browsers use encryption to exchange sensitive information such as passwords, social-security numbers, credit-card numbers and the like.
These days, virtually every website that wants to be taken seriously uses HTTPS encryption, which is indicated in the web address bar with the display of a tiny lock. So far, the advent of an icon indicating the poor page experience icon is still talk, but it’s definitely worth monitoring closely.
“This latest update just reinforces the importance of having a technically sound website,” said Tyler Cameron, senior SEO manager for Seer, a digital marketing firm. “We often focus so heavily on content, but remember that the foundation has to be there as well.”
Indeed, even slight shortcomings in page speed alone can generate a disastrous falloff in website visits, according to Sergio Arboledas, SEO manager for MintTwist, a digital marketing firm. For example, pages that take only 3 seconds to load still trigger a significant number of web surfers to click away, Arboledas said, and pages that take 6 seconds to load increase the probability that a web surfer will click somewhere else by 106%.
Fortunately, Google is offering detailed guidance on the metrics it will be using to monitor website design and performance. The following is a breakdown on those signals, as well as key tools you can use to get an extremely granular look at how your website is performing and how its design can be improved.
Poor Performance on Mobile Devices: Given that excellent performance on mobile devices has been the Holy Grail for Google for a number of years, it’s no wonder that the search engine is doubling down on its requirements for that performance indicator. In a phrase, sites that are not designed for visitors using smartphones and similar small-screened devices will be penalized in a Google Page Experience evaluation.
Annoying Pop-Ups and Other Interstitials: Those who grit their teeth when websites overload their screens with pop-ups, slide-into-view offers and similar annoyances should welcome Google’s renewed determination to impose a penalty on those behaviors.
Yes, pop-ups and similar tactics do sometimes work, but they may no longer be worth it if Google places a website lower in its search engine returns as a result.
Malicious or Similar Software Onboard: While malware and similar software is often embedded on a website without the knowledge of the website owner, Google still plans to penalize website owners when it finds such software there. The message is that you should make sure you continually monitor possible sabotage of your website.
No HTTPS: Most site owners got the memo a few years back that Google would penalize websites that do not use the HTTPS standard. It’s a communications format used between a website and a web browser which ensures that all data transmitted is encrypted. Such encryption is critical for safer exchanges on websites that accept credit cards and similar sensitive information, so if you’re still using the older HTTP standard, now is definitely the time to switch.
Google is offering detailed guidance on the metrics it will be using to
monitor website design and performance.
Slow Loading: Faster webpage download time was probably a pursuit only moments after the first website was published to the web. Google’s equation for speed is simple: The faster your website downloads in a browser, the potential higher ranking it will win in Google search-engine returns.
Poor Interactivity: No one appreciates poor interactivity or when a “buy now” button or a “subscribe now” button or similar item on a website responds slowly or not at all. If your site is guilty of this time-wasting, Google will take a dim view of what’s going on.
Poor Visual Stability: Once in awhile, you’ll click to a site that seems schizophrenic in its presentation, with images, text and other content jumping about randomly until the site renders fully. That is a product of poor design and will also be penalized by Google.
Fortunately, Google offers a number of tools you can use to see how your website adheres to Google’s Page Experience rating and correct any shortcomings. For example, Google’s free Google Search Console
(https://search.google.com/search-console/about) will provide an overall analysis of all the signals Google is watching for when making a Page Experience rating.
For overall maintenance, Chrome Dev Tools (https://developers.google.com/web/tools/chrome-devtools) offer a comprehensive way to drill down on facets of a website that are scoring poorly on Google’s Page Experience rating and ensure that you make the corrections needed to eliminate those problems.
Meanwhile, to improve your website speed only, you can use Google’s free Page-Speed Insights (https://developers.google.com/speed/pagespeed/insights), which offers a page-by-page analysis of website speed, where the trouble is located, and how you can rid yourself of speed bumps.
And for maintenance work on poor interactivity or poor visual stability, you can use Web Vitals Chrome Extension (https://tinyurl.com/chrome-webstore-web-vitals) to perform a page-by-page analysis of what’s going on and secure specific suggestions for correcting the problem.
Joe Dysart is an internet speaker and business consultant based in Manhattan.
New SEMA Market Research Reveals a Growing Truck Market That’s More Diverse Than Ever
By Mike Imlay
There are more than 281 million passenger vehicles on American roads today, and more than 166 million hail from the light-truck category. If that weren’t reason enough to take note of the truck segment, new SEMA research sees a decided shift in the marketplace, with light-truck offerings set to take an even bigger share of the market. So what does this changing vehicle landscape look like? What’s hot and trending in the truck segment? And most importantly, how can the aftermarket capitalize on those trends? The answers can be found in the latest “SEMA Light-Truck Snapshot” report from SEMA Market Research.
Available for free download at www.sema.org/market-research, the 95-page report starts with an overall picture of the light-truck vehicle landscape, including vehicles-in-operation (VIO) numbers. New-vehicle sales trends are also closely analyzed, and there are breakdowns of market share for small, midsize and fullsize models. The report also compares market sizing for the category’s pickup, crossover utility vehicle (CUV), sport-utility vehicle (SUV) and van segments.
In addition, the snapshot report highlights areas of opportunity for aftermarket businesses, not only by segment but by the most popular truck models and aftermarket applications. There are also sections examining off-roading, overlanding, outdoor recreation and powertrain trends that strongly influence specialty-equipment sales within the light-truck category. Consumer research into shopping and purchasing habits and stats about how truck owners actually use their vehicles round out the report.
“When we look at the specialty-equipment market, the light-truck sector dominates our market like it dominates OEM sales and vehicles on the road,” explained Gavin Knapp, SEMA Director of Market Research. “Pickups in particular comprise the biggest segment for sales of specialty-equipment, parts and accessories. SUVs are another strong segment, and we’re now also seeing the CUV market starting to emerge.”
“One of the things we really want to do with this truck market snapshot is give people an understanding of the diversity of the light-truck market,” continued Knapp. “When they hear light truck, they often default to the image of a pickup. But from a vehicle segment standpoint, light truck means a lot more. It also means SUVs, CUVs and even vans. So when you hear that light trucks outsell cars three to one, it’s not necessarily that people are buying a whole lot more pickups. Often what it means is people are shifting into platforms like CUVs, which is where a lot of the sales are going.”
In fact, with consumers abandoning traditional cars for a growing number of CUV platforms, light-truck sales are expected to climb to more than 80% of new-vehicle sales. But even as CUV sales surge, the stalwart pickup promises to remain big as ever—albeit not literally.
There has been a significant shift toward light trucks among OEMs
over the past 20 years, with virtually every major automaker now
offering at least one light-truck model of some sort. Note that the
light-truck category includes pickups, SUVs and, increasingly, CUVs.
Source: 2021 Wards Intelligence, a division of Informa. Data as of
March 2021. Source: MotorBiscuit, “Ford and GM Waste a Lot of
Money on Vehicles That Aren’t Trucks and SUVs.” June 21, 2020.
The Return of Smaller Pickups
“As we took a deeper dive into truck segments, another thing we wanted this report to do was look at what’s happening with the many platforms within the broader-segment groups. For example, this report delves into what’s going on with small- versus fullsize pickups and finds an interesting trend playing out,” said SEMA Market Research Manager Matthew Kennedy, who compiled the report.
“Back in the ’80s you had a lot of small pickups on the road mixed with fullsize,” he explained. “Then in the ’90s and ’00s there was a shift not only toward fullsize taking more of the market, but even the smaller pickups growing in size. In 1990, 48% of trucks sold were small pickups, and that percentage shrank even through the ’00s recession. By 2014 or so, only 11% of the pickups being sold were small pickups. But we’ve seen that start to swing back a little over the past couple of years with trucks like the Chevrolet Colorado and the Ford Ranger—these sort of midsize or small pickups that are becoming more prevalent. Even with Ford now announcing the Maverick, there’s recognition that there’s a returning market for smaller pickups.”
According to Kennedy, there’s more at play here than fuel efficiency or shrinking engine displacements. “Frankly, fullsize trucks have gotten expensive and there’s some call among consumers for more budget-friendly options,” he observed.
However, even with OEMs now introducing more modestly sized platforms, fullsize models remain highly popular with truck enthusiasts. Of the 57.6 million pickups registered in the United States, the Ford F-Series and GM Fullsize Pickup top the list at 16.1 million and 18.1 million registrations, respectively. Also making the Top 10 are the Toyota Tacoma and Tundra, Dodge Ram and Dakota, Nissan Frontier and Titan, and GM Midsize Pickup. All in all, pickups comprise 20% of the U.S. vehicle fleet—a healthy market by any measure.
The “SEMA Light-Truck Snapshot” report also highlights crossover
market opportunities for aftermarket suppliers and retailers. For
example, the high rates of “toy ownership” among truck enthusiasts
offer a world of possibilities. Source: Recreational Vehicle Industry
Association
The Changing SUV Space
Although they now take a diminished share of overall vehicle sales, SUVs also continue to warm truck-enthusiast hearts. In fact, they make up 13% of all vehicles on the road, with SUV ownership especially high in the South.
“SUVs had a big heyday from the ’90s into the ’00s, but they’ve struggled since, and haven’t quite recovered to the sales levels we were seeing prior to the 2008 recession,” said Kennedy. “Still, within the SUV space there are some really iconic models. We go straight to the Jeep Wrangler—while it’s sort of its own phenomenon, it’s one SUV that definitely gets a lot of attention and work. So do SUVs like the Chevrolet Blazer and Tahoe. In fact, SEMA Market Research gets regular inquiries for VIO [vehicles-in-operation] information from folks who are looking to create and sell product for some of these midsize and larger SUVs.”
Because they are such highly modified vehicles, Jeeps and their owners receive special attention in the report. The research shows deep levels of aftermarket engagement among Jeep enthusiasts. Half of them wrench on their vehicle at least monthly or more, and over 70% of all purchased parts are owner-installed. Moreover, Jeep owners are voracious consumers of all sorts of exterior and interior enhancements, wheels and tires, suspension upgrades, braking and steering items, lighting and lifestyle accessories.
“When we’re talking about SUVs, we’re talking a really strong connection between the category and off-roading—number one being the Jeep Wrangler, of course,” said Knapp. “But there’s also a history of other models like the Tahoe and the 4Runner being really capable off-roaders. And then looking forward, we see the next generation of off-road-focused vehicles in the new Ford Bronco, which is very much focused on the off-road, outdoor lifestyle.”
The report notes that off-roading remains as popular as ever, and products that make SUVs and pickups dirt-capable—or at least looking like a true off-roader—remain prime areas of opportunity for the aftermarket. Statistically, about a quarter of accessorized SUVs and nearly 30% of accessorized pickups are used off the payment. Plus there’s synergy between the two vehicle types. Given the prominence of Jeep SUVs in particular, it’s likely Jeep’s Gladiator will become another big off-road player packed with modification possibilities.
Of course, closely related to off-roading, overlanding continues to grow as a phenomenon, and likely got a boost during the pandemic as locked-down consumers looked for ways to avoid going stir-crazy. Based on Lodestone Events data, the report notes that casual and advanced overlanders alike tend to outfit their vehicles with off-road tires, suspension upgrades, auxiliary lighting, air-down tools, roof racks and more. Nor is overlanding likely to be a quickly passing fad.
“‘Living off-road’ is so much a part of our culture, whether it’s true off-roading, camping or going off-road to work on the farm,” said Kennedy. “There’s a connection between trucks and traveling to wherever and doing things. We see that when we look at how people use their vehicles. For all that to disappear, the culture around what it means to own a truck would have to change drastically.”
Crossover vehicles are growing in number, but lag in accessorization,
making up just 13% of 2019 aftermarket sales. Their amalgam
nature—part passenger vehicle, part SUV—presents both a challenge
and an opportunity for specialty-equipment businesses targeting
the segment. Source: SEMA Market Report/2019 SEMA U.S. Market
Data
The Crossover Question
Perhaps the most challenging riddle for the industry will be how the emerging CUV category might fit into the “truck lifestyle.” Although CUVs closely mimic their SUV cousins, crossovers are generally built on car, not truck, platforms. Introduced in the mid-’90s, these newcomers have appealed to consumers through a mixture of good fuel economy and a lot of cargo capacity. What’s more, automakers are increasingly positioning them as outdoor lifestyle vehicles, sometimes with off-road packages. A few CUVs tricked out for camping even appeared in the 2019 SEMA Show’s Overland Experience exhibit.
“The question for our industry will be whether that’s the way consumers will look at these vehicles en masse,” said Knapp. “In other words, are consumers who move from traditional cars into CUVs going to look at them the way that a traditional SUV buyer does? Will they see them as another form of truck and therefore use and accessorize them for camping, towing and hauling, and putting racks on them? Or are consumers largely going to see them as just different-shaped cars?”
“I think one of the interesting challenges is the CUV space represents a lot of sales, but also a lot of platforms,” added Kennedy. “We’ve seen estimates that there will be 170 different CUV models by 2028. Compare that to pickups which are more like 20 models. If you want to cover pickups, you don’t have to plan for too many different models. But crossovers are such a diverse space. Still, that also means there may be plenty of opportunities to find particular vehicles that have enthusiast appeal.”
One noteworthy example has been the Subaru Outback, which consumers have widely embraced for utility and off-road adventuring—so much so that Subaru is introducing an enhanced Outback Wilderness package this year.
For the broader CUV market, however, there may be a period of shakedown while consumers and the aftermarket decide what to make of the vehicles.
The SEMA report tracks light-truck take-up rates by category, regions
and more, with dedicated sections for pickups, SUVs, CUVs and vans.
Easy-to-digest charts offer instant insight into trends that can help
inform sound business decisions and long-range planning. Source:
SEMA Member VIO Program/2021 Experian, Data as of December 31,
2020
“CUVs don’t really say, ‘wow, performance, go fast.’ So it’s somewhat doubtful that the category will have a lot of uptake in the go-fast area of performance as much as the area of utility,” observed Knapp. “However, one aftermarket category that’s small at the moment but could potentially catch on is suspension, wheels and tires, especially as some crossovers take on more of that truck or SUV look and feel.”
Kennedy agreed. “If we see a sustained association with—if not true off-roading or overlanding—at least driving to where the trail begins, then that market for off-road tires might be the gateway drug that gets people into doing more extensive work on their CUVs.”
Download Your Free Report
To download your free copy of the 2021 “SEMA Light-Truck Snapshot” visit www.sema.org/market-research. While there, be sure to check out the many other SEMA Market Research reports that can help your business succeed and prosper.
By SEMA Washington, D.C., Staff
Automotive businesses and enthusiasts nationwide will be celebrating this year’s 
During Part One and Two of the SEMA ADAS webinar series, aftermarket parts manufacturers and installers were educated on top trends in ADAS technology and the resources available to help companies install parts safely while maintaining OEM functionality of the ADAS system.
Draganfly Drone (
And for maintenance work on poor interactivity or poor visual stability, you can use Web Vitals Chrome Extension (
There are more than 281 million passenger vehicles on American roads today, and more than 166 million hail from the light-truck category. If that weren’t reason enough to take note of the truck segment, new SEMA research sees a decided shift in the marketplace, with light-truck offerings set to take an even bigger share of the market. So what does this changing vehicle landscape look like? What’s hot and trending in the truck segment? And most importantly, how can the aftermarket capitalize on those trends? The answers can be found in the latest “SEMA Light-Truck Snapshot” report from SEMA Market Research.
versus fullsize pickups and finds an interesting trend playing out,” said SEMA Market Research Manager Matthew Kennedy, who compiled the report.
