SEMA News—July 2022

BUSINESS

2022 Car-Care and Restyling Market Trends

Space-Age Tech and Retro Styling: An Ever-Diversifying Industry

By Douglas McColloch

For the 2021 SEMA Show, the Car Care & Restyling section was relocated to the all-new West Hall at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Dozens of companies exhibited their latest offerings with product demonstrations throughout Show week.

For builders, car-care and restyling products are an essential tool for customization and maintenance. They can provide upgrades to OE paint, glass and chrome. They can dress up an interior or refine an exterior, often at a reasonable cost. And they’re available in a wide range of parts, applications and price points, offering useful products and services to nearly any enthusiast.

The segment was a bright spot during the pandemic. The market registered double-digit point-of-sales gains in 2020 over 2019, with pickup accessories leading the way. For 2021, the market saw steady if not spectacular growth. By itself, the car-care treatment segment represents a $1.86 billion market, according to the “2021 SEMA Market Report.” Considering that many products in the category are relatively inexpensive and can be installed or applied without the need of special tools or training, it’s likely that enthusiasts sheltering at home took advantage of extra downtime to treat their vehicles to some sprucing up.

We contacted several industry experts for this article. The following is a compilation of their insights and observations on the current state of the market and its outlook going forward, edited for clarity and length.

Trends & Products: What’s Moving The Market

After seeing a decline in sales in 2020, car-care products bounced back in 2021, and global sales are projected to increase at a 4.3% compound annual growth rate through 2028. (Source: Grandview Research)

A recent study by market research firm Grand View Research valued the global car-care market at $11.23 billion in 2021, with a forecast to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 4.3% from 2021 to 2028. The biggest sales drivers in the segment were car cleaning products and waxes. According to the report, growth is attributable to increased global auto sales, an expected rise in consumer incomes, and innovations in car-care product development.

“The state of the car-care industry is incredible right now,” said Michael Pennington, director of training, events and consumer relations for Meguiar’s. “Through COVID, we’ve seen a huge growth in the category as people stayed at home and had more time to work on their projects.”

“The overall state of the restyling industry is very healthy,” said Cristina Jorge, vice president of Specialty Automotive Treatments. “There was a rough patch with inventory in 2020, so those restylers with wholesale businesses who sold direct to retailers suffered a bit. From what I’m hearing, though, retail business has been going up, and a lot of restylers who used to sell 80/20 wholesale/retail are now doing 50/50.”

Nick Griot, executive vice president of product development and brand for Griot’s Garage, agreed in general while adding a mild caveat: “Worldwide cost increases are touching nearly every part of our market, in particular raw materials and increased transit costs of sourced components. This will invariably lead to price increases that may bring demand back down to earth.”

He added that most companies will probably still see growth as more consumers own their cars longer and do more to preserve them.

David Korvah, marketing manager for Avery Dennison Graphics Solutions, expressed similar caution. Due to a variety of external factors, he said, “People who normally would be spending on auto restyling may be holding off more now than they have in the past six years.”

Many of the products most favored by consumers in recent years continued to exert a strong pull in 2022. Herrington said that there are two distinct paths in car care.

“The first is ‘quick and easy,’” he said. “That covers your spray detailers and interior spray products for people whose vehicles are in good shape and who don’t spend an excessive amount of time keeping them looking good.

“The second path is new technology—specifically ceramic coatings. The technology has been around 15 years or so for professional detailers and installers, but it started to enter the DIY market around three years ago. Now, people who can’t afford to pay $1,000 or $2,000 to apply a coating want to take advantage of the Si02 technology and apply it themselves.

“Think ‘car waxes.’ The first generation was carnauba. Then came polymers in the ’80s and ’90s, and now we’re in the ceramic realm where you get even better protection and better longevity. The people who use these products want the latest technology and the best protection, and they’re willing to pay good money for it, so they’re kind of the opposite of the ‘fast and easy’ demographic.”

Jorge said that vinyl wrapping is something she’s seen quite a bit over the last few years.

“I also see ceramic coating really starting to take off now, particularly in terms of consumer awareness,” she said. “My customers in general would never typically ask for that, but I have people asking for it by name now.”

Ceramic coating applicators are also faring well.

“The large-scale adaptation of machine polishing as a prerequisite for superior ceramic results has helped the polisher market grow at an explosive rate,” Griot said. “Our purpose-built machine polishers have done very well as a result of this shift to ceramic surface protection.”

“Strong areas [in restyling] include paint protection film, wrapping film and window tint,” Korvah said. “We’re also seeing more shops doing both vehicle graphics and window film. Those used to be separate specialties.”

An increase in purpose-built vehicles has likewise increased interest in idiosyncratic styling applications—in a word, “retro,” said Courtney Pahlke, owner of Top Coverage Ltd.

“With a lot of Jeep and truck builds over the past few years, we’ve noticed a lot of retro color schemes and wheel packages,” she said. “Now, with the new Bronco appealing to the ‘retro’ market, we’re seeing even more of it, so I think we’ll see a lot of ’80s and ’90s grunge-type colors in the future.”

Consumer Outreach in the Post-Pandemic Age

All-in-one car-care and detailing kits such as this package from Stoner Car Care exert a strong appeal, since they don’t require buyers to spend extra time hunting for various products from multiple sources. Instead, it’s all in one bundle.

With shelter-in-place orders came increased consumer reliance on digital (i.e., online) shopping resources, and with that also came the need for companies to reinvent the way they market themselves to the public.

“Social media is huge right now,” Pennington said. “For a company like ours that’s been around for five generations with a big audience to reach, we look at a variety of avenues, including TV, print and even radio as well as social media, and we look at each platform and try to make sure we’re delivering the right message to that specific audience.

“We had to make a pivot during the pandemic. With a lot of car shows being locked down and all of the in-person training we had to discontinue, we had to turn really quickly to webinars, so we built a brand-new studio and started producing live videos on a variety of platforms.”

“Social media is extremely important,” Jorge concurred. “I don’t think that many of us as restylers use it as well as we could sometimes. I think we could learn a lot from some of the car guys who are in the restyling industry who use social media a lot better than many of us do. It’s really important for establishing that connection to your customers—particularly dealer customers.”

“People in the restyling market are very tech-savvy,” Korvah noted. “They’re fast adopters of social media as channels to share their latest creations and grow their client base. The restyling market is a tight-knit community, and social media especially allows us the opportunity to connect and engage with this community—and we learn from our installers too.”

Griot emphasized the educational value of social media.

“We put a lot of effort into our educational efforts, generally through video form,” he said. “That may be a YouTube video explaining a process or even a Live Broadcast via YouTube that allows for a long-form deep dive into specific processes and immediate, real-time interactions with our customers.”

Social media continues to evolve at a rapid pace, and companies need to constantly stay abreast of the latest user trends, Jorge noted.

“Instagram is great, and Facebook is great, but then you start to see a generational shift where the younger generation likes TikTok or Snapchat, so there’s always something that you have to keep up with,” she said.

Digital marketing can also be leveraged to increase efficiency and drive sales.

“Restylers are really focused on digital marketing direct with dealerships right now so we can get our product to the client before the car is even purchased,” Jorge added.

The COVID disruption also gave restylers the extra time they might have needed to hone their business skills.

“We opened a new location during COVID,” Pahlke said. “We utilized the extra time with our dealer reps, while dealerships had the time, to train everybody on product knowledge so when they’re filling that one vehicle, they know everything on the different trim levels. You can’t necessarily get the items that you want—it might take eight months for you to get the exterior color you want—so we’re training people to add accessories to increase profit and to save the customers money.”

Challenges and Opportunities

While not quite as prevalent as they were a few years ago, vinyl wraps such as this example at the Mutoh booth at the 2021 SEMA Show are still popular, as they allow vehicle owners to apply a personal protective touch to their vehicles at a user-friendly price.

Our panel of experts pointed to a number of short-term challenges that companies in the segment are likely to face in the near future, and supply-chain issues were near the top of everyone’s list.

“They’re a huge challenge right now,” Jorge said. “One of the biggest challenges we [restylers] face is the growing consumer trend of buying cars online. When consumers buy vehicles directly online, they just look up a stock number at a dealership, contact the dealer, and then walk in and take delivery. The opportunity for accessories now has to shift more toward resale, for restylers to sell direct to consumers.”

One challenge facing the car-care market is the need to confront lingering public perceptions that have built up around the industry over decades.

“There’s a lot of noise out there between the manufacturers, distributors, retailers and consumers—and with the internet, everyone’s an expert,” Pennington said. “For us, one of the biggest challenges is simply shattering a lot of myths. When I started out in this business, you had a lot of ‘miracle cures’ that didn’t deliver what they promised, and that turned off a lot of consumers. If we can break that pattern of thinking, we can get consumers to understand that car care can be easy with a premium brand. If you’re working too hard, you’re using the wrong products.”

The current relative scarcity of new vehicles on dealer lots may inhibit consumer spending on other items.

“Consumers are overspending on cars because prices are so ridiculously high,” Jorge noted. “What’s going to happen four years from now when you go to return that lease or try to sell that car? You’re going to be underwater because you don’t have enough equity in it—and I think that’s going to affect spending in general.”

Another problem is accessory inventory.

“Dealers aren’t keeping a 90-day supply,” Pahlke said. “They’re keeping maybe a 30-day supply, if that, and they’ve realized that it’s more profitable for their business model now.”

Ceramic coatings such as this paint coating from Gliptone have been one of the hottest tickets in car-care products in recent years. They’re easy to apply and provide the ultimate in long-term protection from the elements.

Darrell Reed, commercial director for Eastman Performance Films, also pointed to a shortage of qualified installers as a current challenge.

“The automotive films market has experienced constraints across the entire value chain, creating a need for more agility and transparency,” Reed said. “We’ve seen the industry adjust accordingly. Strong communication with resources and customers has also become paramount, and it now gets more focus than ever before. Additionally, post-pandemic shifts in workforce needs have encouraged the industry to reexamine organization design and how to better meet the needs of talent for better retention.”

Inflation remains a pressing concern as well.

“The industry’s biggest risk is undoubtedly the inflationary environment we find ourselves in and how that impacts the consumer’s discretionary spending,” Griot said. “Appearance chemicals are very much a discretionary expense, even though a car’s value can be improved with routine maintenance of its appearance. With cost pressures coming from everywhere, prices will have to rise as well, potentially creating an even larger incentive for consumers to spend their dollars on other essentials.”

Still, an inflationary market could yield unexpected bonuses.

“This situation presents opportunities for everyone throughout the value chain to potentially reset their customer mix and improve margins on what might end up being fewer installations,” Griot said.

Despite the many challenges, our experts saw opportunities for growth, though most expected a slowdown from early pandemic levels when the specialty-equipment market gained millions of new customers. Korvah remained optimistic.

“We expect to watch the restyling market grow and develop by expanding its offerings,” he said. “And we also expect consumers to continue personalizing and protecting their vehicles in the future.”

Retro restyling cues are coming back in vogue, and the “Tacozilla” Tacoma camper that exhibited at the Toyota booth at the 2021 SEMA Show was a case in point. It looks like a mid-’80s factory graphics package, but it’s actually a custom paint application.

“Growth is always going to be around, as long as you let people know that car care is easy,” Pennington said. “Once you show people how much better their car can look—and it’s easy to do when you use the right products—they get excited. It’s just simple education.

“People love to take care of their cars, whether in good times or challenging times. The products are affordable, and people can do it themselves. Sometimes, spending time working on your vehicle in your garage takes you away from reality for a little while and puts you in a happy place.”

Griot concurred.

“If times get tougher, people will be seeking relief in their hobbies,” he said. “We’re going to continue to be a fun outlet that helps people check out for a bit, and we believe that is something we communicate incredibly well.”

“We may be slowing down a little bit, but we think we’ll still see positive growth,” Pennington concluded. “Once you fall in love with your car, you never stop loving it.”

SEMA News—July 2022

LEGISLATIVE AND TECHNICAL AFFAIRS

Law and Order

By Daniel Ingber

Oceano Dunes Lawsuit: A California Superior Court judge ruled against six environmental and community groups that requested to intervene on behalf of the California Coastal Commission (CCC) in a lawsuit challenging the CCC’s authority to ban off-roading at the Oceano Dunes State Vehicular Recreation Area (SVRA). The SVRA is California’s only OHV park on the Pacific Ocean and has been under threat of closure for many years, primarily by groups that object to motorized recreation based on environmental arguments that off-roading causes more airborne particulate matter (dust) and/or threatens plants and animals. The CCC’s March 2021 decision to ban OHV use in the SVRA within three years triggered multiple lawsuits seeking to protect OHV access at Oceano Dunes by SEMA and Ecologic Partners Inc., a nonprofit group comprised of the Off-Road Business Association, the American Sand Association, and the American Motorcyclist Association District 37, along with Friends of Oceano Dunes. The groups that filed a motion to intervene in the case, including the Sierra Club and Oceano Beach Community Association, were attempting to defend the CCC’s decision to end OHV recreation at the Dunes. The motion was denied, as the Judge agreed with arguments by the off-road groups that the lawsuit focuses primarily on whether the CCC had exceeded its authority in banning OHV use, for which the environmental and community groups “have no special expertise.”

FEDERAL UPDATE

RPM Act: Support for the Recognizing the Protection of Motorsports Act (RPM Act; H.R. 3281 and S. 2736) in the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate continues to expand, as the bill has more than 150 co-sponsors. The RPM Act clarifies that it is legal to make emissions-related changes to convert a street vehicle into a dedicated race car under the Clean Air Act (CAA). The bill would also confirm that producing, marketing and installing racing equipment on track vehicles does not violate the CAA. While the RPM Act enjoys strong bipartisan support in the 2021–2022 session of Congress, it is imperative that SEMA members and the racing community continue to apply pressure on their lawmakers to pass the bill.

Below are four things you can do right now to help to pass the RPM Act:

• Invite your members of Congress to visit your business or participate in a virtual meeting with your lawmaker and SEMA staff. Email erics@sema.org for a template and more information.
• Call and send a letter to your lawmakers at www.saveourracecars.com. A letter has already been drafted. It takes less than a minute.
• Sign a letter to your lawmakers on company letterhead. Email erics@sema.org for a template and more information.
• Post about the RPM Act on your company’s social-media accounts using the digital assets toolkit at www.sema.org/rpmtools.
• Learn more about SEMA’s Political Action Committee (SEMA PAC) at www.SEMApac.com. SEMA PAC allows SEMA members to support the lawmakers who stand up for our industry in Washington, D.C.

Year-Round Sale of E15: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that it will issue a temporary waiver to allow for the summertime sale of gasoline with up to 15% ethanol (E15). Currently, E15 cannot be sold between June 1 and September 15 due to fuel-volatility concerns that higher blends of ethanol combined with warmer temperatures may lead to increased ground-level ozone formation and smog. The agency will review the waiver every 20 days to determine if it is necessary for it to remain in place. SEMA opposes the expansion of E15 gasoline sales, as there may not be enough protections to guard against misfuelling. Under the Trump administration, the EPA issued a ruling to permanently allow year-round sale of E15; however, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia found that ruling unlawful. The Biden administration said that the decision is based on its authority to pursue a temporary emergency action.

CAFE Standards: The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) issued stricter Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards for new vehicles for model years ’24–’26. The new standards increase fuel efficiency 8% per year for cars and light trucks in 2024 and 2025 and 10% for 2026. The CAFE standards now require an industry-wide fleet average of approximately 49 mpg in the 2026 model year. The new rule comes after the EPA last December issued a final rule to set more stringent new-vehicle greenhouse gas emissions for model year ’23–’26. The NHTSA and EPA rules have been harmonized in some areas to give automakers guidance and flexibility in meeting both standards.

Steel and Aluminum Tariffs: U.S. and U.K. officials agreed to a trade deal that went into effect June 1 to end U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum. In return, the United Kingdom will lift levies on American products such as motorcycles, farm products and other consumer goods. The United Kingdom will be permitted to ship up to 500,000 metric tons of steel annually, which must be melted and poured in the UK. The agreement allows for quotas of 900 metric tons of unwrought aluminum and 11,400 metric tons of semi-finished aluminum, which must not contain “primary aluminum” from China, Russia or Belarus. The metal tariffs of 25% on steel and 10% on aluminum were initially imposed on various countries in 2018 under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 on national security grounds. The U.S.–UK agreement comes after the United States reached similar deals with the European Union and Japan.

OSHA Requirements for Tracking Workplace Injuries: The Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) issued a proposed rule to amend the current procedures for reporting workplace injuries and illnesses. Under the proposed rule, establishments with 100 or more employees in the highest-hazard industries would be required to electronically submit Forms 300 and 301 once a year to OSHA, along with the already required submission of Form 300A. This rule was previously amended in 2019 to require that only Form 300A be submitted instead of the two more detailed forms. Establishments with 20 or more employees in certain high-hazard industries must continue to electronically submit Form 300A yearly; however, the proposed rule removes the Form 300A submission requirement for certain establishments with over 250 employees that are not in high-hazard industries. (The term “high hazard” includes auto parts manufacturers and retailers.) As background, OSHA requires employers with more than 10 employees in most industries to keep records of occupational injuries and illnesses. The information is recorded on Form 300 (Log of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses), with a supplemental Form 301 if providing additional details about the injury or illness. At the end of each year, employers are required to complete OSHA Form 300A (Summary of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses) and post the form in a visible location in the workplace.

Ban on Chrysotile Asbestos: The EPA issued a proposed rule to ban all manufacturing, processing, importation and commercial distribution of six categories of products containing chrysotile asbestos, which covers all of its current uses in the United States. This includes sheet gaskets, brake blocks, aftermarket automotive brakes/linings and other vehicle friction products. Chrysotile asbestos is the only known form of asbestos currently imported into the United States. The proposed prohibition of asbestos use in brake blocks, aftermarket automotive brakes and linings, other vehicle friction products and other gaskets for commercial use would take effect 180 days after the EPA issues a final rule.

Prop 65: California’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) published a second modification to its proposed amendments to the Proposition 65 short form warning regulations first issued in January 2021 and revised in December 2021. Although the amendments include some welcome changes, SEMA and many other companies and organizations continue to oppose the overall proposal, since it would require companies to revise their short-form labels, catalogs and websites. Among other considerations, the new regulations would mandate that at least one chemical associated with cancer and/or one chemical known to be a carcinogen be identified on the short form.

The current short-form warning does not identify a specific chemical(s), while the long-form warning requires identification of a specific chemical(s):

• Short-Form: WARNING: Cancer and Reproductive Harm—www.P65Warnings.ca.gov.
• Long-Form: WARNING: This product can expose you to chemicals, including [name one or more chemicals], which is (are) known to the State of California to cause cancer or birth defects or other reproductive harm. For more information, visit www.P65Warnings.ca.gov.

The initial OEHHA proposal in January 2021 was met with overwhelming objections from SEMA and other organizations, as it would have limited the availability for companies to put the short-form warning on their products. OEHHA issued a modified proposal in December 2021 and a second modification on April 5, 2022. Of note, the modifications removed label size and packaging shape limitations when using the short-form warning; the proposed font type size requirement was removed; and the date for businesses to comply with the regulation was extended to two years instead of one. While these are positive changes, SEMA continues to oppose the overall measure, since companies would still be required to revise their existing short-form labels and update catalogs and websites to identify at least one chemical associated with cancer or reproductive harm.

The current 2018 regulation provides the short-form warning option as an acceptable alternative to the revised requirements for consumer product exposure warnings. Many companies use this option, since the warning fits more easily on product packaging and in advertising materials and the company does not have to identify at least one chemical listed under Prop. 65 that triggers the warning. In proposing the change, OEHHA expressed concerns about an overuse of the short-form warning label. OEHHA will now review public comments and decide whether it will implement the proposed short form changes.

STATE UPDATE

Arizona Restoration: Arizona Governor Doug Ducey signed into law SEMA-supported legislation to allow full restoration of pre-’81 vehicles, including temporary removal of the vehicle identification number (VIN) when necessary. The new law allows for the removal and reinstallation of a VIN if the vehicle was manufactured before ’81 and if the removal and reinstallation is reasonably necessary for repair or restoration.

California Combustion Engine Ban: The California Air Resources Board (CARB) issued a proposal to implement Governor Newsom’s SEMA-opposed 2020 executive order to phase out the sale of new diesel- or gas-powered cars in the state by 2035. The sale of used cars would not be affected under the proposal, and it would not force the current fleet of diesel- or gas-powered vehicles off the road. If adopted, the regulations could lead the way for at least 15 other states that have pledged to follow California’s standard for previous clean-car rules to adopt similar proposals. CARB is expected to vote on the proposal in August.

California ZEV Conversions: The California Assembly Transportation and Natural Resources Committees each unanimously passed SEMA-sponsored legislation that would incentive the aftermarket conversion of diesel- or gas- powered vehicles into zero-emissions vehicles. The bill awaits consideration by the Assembly Appropriations Committee.

Georgia Exhaust Noise: The Georgia House of Representatives failed to consider prior to adjournment SEMA-model legislation to protect enthusiasts from unfair exhaust noise citations. The bill would have allowed the use, sale, alteration or installation of car mufflers that meet a 95-decibel noise limit.

Illinois License Plates: The Illinois legislature failed to pass prior to adjournment SEMA-supported legislation to allow the display of only a single, rear-mounted license plate for all passenger vehicles. Under current law, vehicles must display two license plates.

Kansas Antique Vehicles: Governor Laura Kelly signed into law SEMA-supported legislation to allow antique vehicles that are 60 years old or older the ability to forego a VIN inspection when applying for a title. The new law expands eligibility of these vehicles for certain titling procedures by allowing only a bill of sale as proof of ownership and an application. Prior to the new law, only antique vehicles with a model year of ’50 or earlier could forego the VIN inspection when applying for a title.

Kansas Restoration: Governor Laura Kelly signed into law SEMA-supported legislation to allow full restoration of antique vehicles, including temporary removal of the vehicle identification number (VIN) when necessary. This bill allows for the removal and reinstallation of a VIN if it is reasonably necessary for repair or restoration. Previously, restorers who intentionally removed or altered a VIN, regardless of reason, were guilty of a felony and the vehicle was subject to seizure and destruction by law enforcement.

Maryland Emissions: The Maryland legislature failed to pass prior to adjournment SEMA-opposed legislation to enact a biennial $14 fee on motor vehicles that are exempt from the state’s Vehicle Emissions Inspection Program, including historic vehicles and street rods.

Maryland Military Vehicles: The Maryland legislature failed to pass prior to adjournment SEMA-supported legislation to allow for the registration of military surplus vehicles.

Michigan Registration: The Michigan House of Representatives introduced SEMA-supported legislation to reduce the total registration fee for most vehicles by 20%. This bill applies to all vehicles other than those registered as historic. Historic vehicles already have a significantly reduced registration, where a $30 fee is due every 10 years. The bill currently awaits consideration in the House Transportation Committee.

New Hampshire Exhaust: The New Hampshire legislature passed SEMA-supported legislation to allow the use of side-mounted exhaust on antique vehicles. The bill is pending before Governor Chris Sununu.

New Hampshire Inspections: The New Hampshire legislature failed to pass prior to the required legislative deadline SEMA-supported legislation to exempt antique vehicles from the state’s annual equipment inspection.

New Hampshire License Plates: The New Hampshire legislature failed to pass prior to a key legislative deadline SEMA-supported legislation to allow the owner of a motor vehicle to apply for a waiver to display only a single rear-mounted plate. This waiver would have been considered only if affixing a front license plate would alter the vehicle’s historic character, its collectability, or devalue the vehicle.

New Hampshire Registration: The New Hampshire House of Representatives failed to consider prior to the required legislative deadline SEMA-supported legislation to allow vehicles seven or more model years old to be exempt from needing a current certificate of title to register the vehicle.

New Jersey License Plates: The New Jersey Senate introduced SEMA-supported legislation to allow the display of only a single, rear-mounted license plate for all passenger vehicles. The bill awaits consideration in the Senate Transportation Committee.

Oklahoma Antique Plates: The Oklahoma legislature failed to pass prior to the required legislative deadline SEMA-supported legislation to create a new antique license plate specifically for vehicles at least 45 years old. This bill would have added the new plate offering while continuing to allow the current classic vehicle license plate option for vehicles 25–44 years of age.

Oklahoma Military Vehicles: The Oklahoma House of Representatives passed SEMA-supported legislation to allow the registration and titling of former military surplus vehicles. Under the bill, a military surplus vehicle is defined as a vehicle less than 35 years old and manufactured for use in either the United States Armed Forces or any country that was a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization at the time the vehicle was manufactured. The Senate Finance Committee passed the bill, and it now awaits consideration by the full Senate.

Utah Military Vehicles: Utah Governor Spencer Cox signed into law SEMA-supported legislation to exempt military vehicles from displaying a license plate. The new law requires a license plate to be carried inside the vehicle and ready for inspection by law enforcement upon request.

Virginia Exhaust Noise: Governor Glenn Youngkin signed into law SEMA-opposed legislation to reform enforcement of its exhaust noise laws. The new law repeals a 2020 law that prevented law enforcement from stopping motorists solely for exhaust noise violations. Virginia prohibits mufflers that use an “excessive or unusual level of noise” and mandates that mufflers must be identical to their factory setting, comparable to factory equipment, approved by the superintendent, or meet or exceed standards of SAE International, ANSI, or the U.S. Department of
Transportation.

Virginia YOM Plates: Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin signed into law SEMA-supported legislation to expand allowed year-of-manufacture (YOM) license plates for vehicles registered as antiques to include plates manufactured in ’73 or thereafter. Prior to the new law, only vehicles manufactured in ’72 or earlier could display YOM plates with DMV approval.

Washington Military Vehicles: The Washington legislature failed to pass prior to adjournment SEMA-supported legislation to allow for the registration of former military surplus vehicles. “Military surplus vehicle” was defined in the bill as a vehicle that is not operated using continuous tracks, was originally manufactured and sold directly to the United States Armed Forces and is no longer owned by the United States Armed Forces.

West Virginia Antique Fleet: The West Virginia legislature failed to pass prior to adjournment SEMA-supported legislation to create an antique fleet program. Under the proposal, the owner of five or more antique vehicles would be able to use a single registration plate.

West Virginia Antique Plates: The West Virginia legislature failed to pass prior to adjournment SEMA-supported legislation to allow antique vehicle license plates for vehicles weighing more than 10,000 lbs.

West Virginia Collector Vehicles: The West Virginia House of Representatives failed to consider prior to adjournment SEMA-supported legislation to limit the amount a county tax assessor may increase the assessed value of an antique or classic car each year for annual personal property taxes.

West Virginia Motorsports Incentives: The West Virginia legislature failed to pass prior to adjournment SEMA-supported legislation to aid and incentivize the construction of motorsports complexes.

West Virginia Foreign-Market Vehicles: The West Virginia House of Representatives failed to consider prior to adjournment SEMA-supported legislation to exempt any foreign-market vehicle that is 25 years or older from the state’s annual safety inspection if the vehicle has liability insurance.

West Virginia Motorsports Protection: The West Virginia legislature failed to pass prior to adjournment SEMA-supported legislation to protect motorsports venues that have been in operation for more than one year from nuisance claims.

SEMA News—July 2022

INTERNET

With No-Coding-Needed Tools, It’s a Snap

By Joe Dysart

Software users have a raft of tools they can use to automate everyday tasks—no coding required.

Software users have a growing raft of tools they can use to automate the everyday tasks they perform and free up more time to be more creative and innovative on the job. All of these automation tools work on an easy trigger-then-action format, which enable users with no coding skills to get the programs they use to work together more efficiently, often in five minutes or less.

Automating the Software You Use

For example, industry pioneer Zapier is already automating thousands of interactions between software packages, as are its many competitors. With Zapier, you can set up an automation in about five minutes that auto-posts the titles of the RSS feeds from your favorite news sources right to your company’s Wordpress blog. Or you can use Zapier to automatically send your company newsletter distributed by Mailchimp (or other popular newsletter services) every time someone signs up for a Zoom meeting your company is hosting.

Now that’s efficient.

Looking to automatically track videos of special interest to you that pop up on YouTube? No problem. Not only will Zapier do that for you, but it will also automatically create a post about that new video on your company blog, if you’d prefer.

Or perhaps you’re interested in following Tweets posted by your favorite authors on Twitter or keeping a close watch on all the Tweets published by your numerous competitors. Again, that’s no problem for Zapier and its many competitors. Simply set up automatic monitoring on Twitter once, and you’ll receive notifications of all the Tweets you’re looking to track forevermore.

Still other automations you can program with no coding experience include:

• Auto-save all email attachments you receive to your Google Drive, Dropbox or other cloud storage account.
• Auto-post any video your company puts up on YouTube to your company’s Facebook account as well.
• Auto-download all the responses you receive to a SurveyMonkey survey your company is hosting to an Excel spreadsheet for easy study.
• Auto-add Zoom meetings you’ll be hosting or attending to your Google Calendar.
• Automatically email followers of your company’s blog every time you add a new post to that blog.

Essentially, virtually any automation you can imagine that can fit into a trigger-then-action format can be created with these tools. And once you’re comfortable with the concept, you’ll probably find yourself creating long strings of trigger-then-action processes, which can cause one action to trigger another action in one piece of software, then another, then another and so on.

You’ll also appreciate the fact that many commonly used automations have already been designed with Zapier or one of its many competitors, making the use of these tools even simpler.

For example, stop by Zapier’s collection (https://zapier.com/roles) of prefabricated automations based on the role you play in your company and you’ll find hundreds of already designed automations you can simply copy for your own use.

Many competitors in the no-code automation genre (including Zapier, Automate.io, Integromat, Actiondesk and ZigiOps) are Swiss Army Knives, designed to handle virtually any automation you can imagine—but others specialize.

LeadsBridge, for example, is no-code automation software specifically designed to create helpful automations between ad platforms and sales funnels. Microsoft Power Automate is great for users looking to automate interactions between commonly used Microsoft packages, and IFTTT is a free-to-use automation software for developers and individuals who are looking to experiment with the concept of trigger-then-action automations without having to worry about a free trial expiring and monthly billing kicking in.

At the bottom line, these automation solutions are definitely worth checking out for anyone looking to spend less time repeating the same task and more time on less rote work.

There is a caveat, however: Despite the ad blurbs you’ll come across in this space, there is often a bit of a learning curve with these solutions. Some simple automations that you might think would work instantly, for example, may require some massaging before they’re off and running. But it’s worth the effort.

The following is a representative sampling of what you’ll find in this software space:

Zapier (https://zapier.com; $0–$250/month): Zapier is a pioneer and industry standard in this space, and it has thousands of prefabricated automations already available for your use. The solution offers a dashboard where you create and store your automations (or Zaps, as they’re called), many of which ideally can be set up with a few clicks.

Leads-Bridge (https://leadsbridge.com; $31/month and up): Leads-Bridge is built for marketing and sales people looking to automate interactions between their advertising and the sales funnels they create to shepherd sales. The solution offers more than 370 preconfigured automations for marketing and sales as well as the ability to author your own. Anyone working with Facebook Lead Ads, Google Lead Form Ads, LinkedIn Lead Gen forms or newsletter email marketing will want to take a closer look at this solution.

Microsoft Power Automate
(https://powerautomate.microsoft.com/en-us; starts at $15/month): If you’re looking to create automations between various Microsoft apps, it only makes sense to at least try automation software designed by the same company. With Power Automate, you’ll be able to get Outlook, Share Point, OneDrive, Word, Excel and the like working more efficiently together. Plus, Power Automate will also create automations with thousands of third-party apps, including Instagram, Facebook, numerous Android solutions and numerous IOS solutions.

IFTTT (https://ifttt.com; free for developers and individuals, call for pricing on enterprise use): An abbreviation for IF This Then That, IFTTT is great for people looking to freely experiment with software automation as long as they’d like. Commonly used IFTTT applications include automations with social media apps and alert services.

Meanwhile, other Swiss Army Knife solutions that share a quest to offer universal automation among all software packages include:

Automate.io (https://automate.io; starts at $9.99/month): Like many competitors, Automate.io promises to help you create trigger-then-action automations in just a few minutes. You can also string together a number of automations for more sophisticated integrations, and you’ll find that the software has been pretested with numerous commonly used software packages.

Integromat (www.integromat.com; starts at $9/month): Integromat also strives for universal automation and offers a number of built-in routers, error handlers, aggregators, iterators, live execution apps, scheduling apps and templates to get the job done.

Actiondesk (www.actiondesk.io; call for pricing): Actiondesk is designed to help automate virtually any Software as a Service (SaaS) application, excluding enterprise SaaS. Many users turn to Actiondesk to import data, transform or manipulate that data in some way, and then export the results.

ZigiOps (https://zigiwave.com/zigiops; call for pricing): This is another “automation-in-minutes” no-code solution that offers a template library of a number of preconfigured automations. It’s designed to handle untold numbers of queries per day and can work as either a cloud installation or an installation on-site.

Joe Dysart is an internet speaker and business consultant based in Manhattan. 631-438-1142

joe@joedysart.com

www.joedysart.com

 

SEMA News—July 2022

FROM THE HILL

Make Friends in High Places

Host Members of Congress at Your Business

By Eric Snyder

Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC), lead sponsor of the Recognizing the Protection of Motorsports Act, and John Hotchkis (right), owner of Hotchkis Sport Suspension in Mooresville, North Carolina, address local members of the industry.

Do you want Congress to pass bills that protect our automotive freedoms and enable the specialty automotive aftermarket to thrive? Do you wish that policymakers in Washington, D.C., understood our industry and the thousands of jobs that it has created in communities throughout the United States? If your answer to those questions is yes, now is the time to get involved with SEMA’s efforts to connect your business with members of Congress.

Whether in Washington or in state capitals around the country, public policy battles are won by building relationships with lawmakers. The organizations that are most effective in shaping public policy are comprised of businesses and individuals who know their lawmakers. More importantly, their lawmakers know them.

Senator Tim Scott (R-SC) and John Pruitt (left), Trucks USA owner, chat during a tour of the business facilities in Abbeville, South Carolina.

SEMA members have been hosting members of the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate at their businesses for over 20 years. Congressional site visits are an integral part of SEMA and its members developing meaningful relationships with lawmakers. Visiting your business will help them understand and appreciate our industry so that they can advocate for policies that defend and grow it. If you would like to get to know your members of Congress, we stand ready to help!

U.S. Representative Jake Ellzey (R-TX, fourth from right) toured Summit Racing’s Arlington, Texas, distribution and order fulfillment center.

The first step in developing a relationship with your members of Congress is to introduce yourself and invite them to your business. SEMA staff will draft an invitation, send it to your lawmakers, and coordinate with their staffs to schedule the visit. Once the lawmaker is confirmed to visit your business, we will work with you to plan the event and manage day-of logistics in coordination with you and your company. Our government relations team is ready to do the heavy lifting. If you would like to host your elected officials, please email SEMA Director of Congressional Affairs Eric Snyder at erics@sema.org.

SEMA CEO Mike Spagnola (right) provides Rep. Norma Torres (D-CA) a tour of the SEMA Garage in Diamond Bar, California.

Given that 2022 is an election year, Congress is spending less time in session, which means that lawmakers are back in their districts and have more time to meet with their constituents. Now is the time to invite them to your business!

In addition to hosting your lawmakers at your business, there are many other ways to get involved and advocate for the industry. SEMA members will be gathering in our nation’s capital on September 22 for the 2022 SEMA Washington Rally. During the Rally, you will have the opportunity to meet face to face with your lawmakers to discuss the issues that matter most to you and your business.

Truck Covers USA President Nils Forssman (right) provides U.S. Representative Scott Peters (D-CA) a tour of his San Diego, California-based company.

To register or for more information, please contact Christian Robinson at christianr@sema.org. Also, we encourage you to get prior approved for SEMA’s Political Action Committee (SEMA PAC), which allows SEMA members to support the campaigns of lawmakers who stand up for our industry. To learn more about SEMA PAC, go to www.SEMApac.com or contact Samantha Large at samanthal@sema.org.

U.S. Representative Kurt Schrader (D-OR) poses next to a vintage Jeep Willys during his visit to Warn Industries in Clackamas, Oregon.

(From left) Braden Liberg, Edelbrock’s director of compliance and calibration engineering, Rep. Richard Hudson (R-NC) and Todd Belcher, Edelbrock’s general manager of east operations, pose for a picture at Edelbrock’s Sanford, North Carolina, facility.

SEMA News—July 2022

INTERNET

Company Reports That Write Themselves

By Joe Dysart

Microsoft has a new solution for chart and graph loathers: Simply click on the chart or graph to get a text explanation of what it’s trying to say.

Legions of workers stumped by company charts and graphs that make no sense to them can take heart: A new, dirt-cheap artificial intelligence (AI) software tool from Microsoft enables you to trigger a text explanation of a chart or graph with just one mouse click.

The new tool also enables you to string together text explanations of multiple charts and graphs tracking your company’s performance to create a short, written report that’s completely and automatically written by your computer.

Dubbed Smart Narratives (referencing the ability to instantly autogenerate narratives or written explanations of charts, graphs and the like), the new tool is included with the latest version of Microsoft Power BI, Microsoft’s business analytics software (https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/visuals/power-bi-visualization-
smart-narrative).

One of the biggest draws of Smart Narratives is that it’s so intuitive to use. For example, if you’re looking at a chart that you don’t understand in Power BI, one mouse click on the chart brings up a pop-up text box that explains what’s going on, according to Ancy Philip, an AI specialist at Microsoft.

You can see for yourself how the Smart Narratives tool works—and how it makes sense of a sample scatter chart with a plain English explanation—in a four-minute video from Microsoft at www.youtube.com/watch?v=01UrT-z37sw. The video will show you firsthand how sales in the hypothetical cities of Crystalcastle and Esterwyn are doing, as illustrated by the scatter chart. And then it will show you how to get a plain English explanation of those sales by simply clicking on the chart.

Not surprisingly, the Smart Narratives tool is expected to be a boon to a wide swath of workers who embrace business charts and graphs with all the enthusiasm of an impending root canal.

It’s also emblematic of a number of software solutions growing in popularity at businesses that are using AI-generated writing to either explain what’s going in a chart or to simply bypass the business visuals altogether and auto-write a completely text-based report on company trends.

These AI-generated writing solutions are able to bypass the chart and graph approach to business analysis by drilling directly into company databases, crunching the data they find, and then rendering the resulting insights in plain English. The result is company reports that write themselves—or, to be precise, produce instantly understandable analyses of company trends, performance and similar insights that are auto-written by a machine.

Until recently, this kind of techno-magic—auto-generating written company reports from raw data—used to cost big bucks. But as with most things tech, the price has dropped dramatically. These days, a subscription to Microsoft Power BI (which includes the new Smart Narratives tool) goes for as little as $20 per month per seat.

“Narratives (simple to understand sentences) can be better decision aids than visuals, in part because they deliver focused and powerful insights,” observed Ehud Reiter, chief scientist at Arria NLG, a pioneer in AI-generated writing that’s being used to auto-write company reports.

In contrast, Reiter added, charts and graphs can actually be a deterrent to understanding, given that many people looking at graphs get distracted by patterns that aren’t actually significant or relevant. Generally, the companies that pioneered this approach to auto-report writing use a “report template” to auto-generate their reports. The templates work on the same principle as the old Mad Libs game you may have played in grammar school.

Back in those days, Mad Libs furnished you with a template story—for instance, how pizza was invented. You asked your friends for random nouns, verbs and adjectives to plug in to blanks that were deliberately left in the story template. And because all your friends at the time were still in pigtails or chewed bubble gum for a living, everyone roared at the non sequiturs.

Auto-report templates work the same way. They use the skeleton of a story—for instance, a daily sales report featuring blanks that are left to be filled with updates on your latest sales numbers, sales computations and the like. Then they auto-
populate the skeleton template with the latest sales data, which tells the new story on company sales for the current day.

“Such accurate analyses and insight generation minimizes the possibilities of data misinterpretation and makes decision-making effective and fast,” said Akanksah Ramchandani, an associate product manager at vPhrase.

The big difference with the new Smart Narratives tool in Microsoft Power BI and other AI-generated writing software is that the software still generates a chart or graph depicting change and analysis of sales over a certain time period, but then it goes on to enable users to auto-generate a written analysis of that chart or graph with a simple mouse click.

It’s a clever move in that it preserves the importance of the charts, graphs and similar illustrations that Microsoft Power BI creates (the bread-and-butter of the analytics program, really) while simultaneously offering graphics-averse users plain-English descriptions of what the charts and graphs are trying to say.

In a phrase, the Smart Narratives tool and similar AI-generated writing software tools can be a game-changer for companies that use business analytics software such as Microsoft Power BI. That’s especially true given that you don’t need to write the templates needed to explain charts and graphics that are commonly used in Microsoft Power BI. Microsoft has already done it for you, off the shelf.

Yet another powerful feature of the Smart Narratives tool is its ability to simultaneously auto-generate text explanations of multiple charts and graphs. That’s a capability that will prove especially handy for users who have programmed Power BI to open to a dashboard that tracks, say, six different kinds of charts and graphs on company performance at the same time.

Another benefit: If you need custom templates to auto-generate text explanations to chart insights currently not available with the Smart Narratives tool, it’s no problem. Expert users of the tool find that they have the ability to create highly customized templates to generate the kind of insights they’re looking for on a regular basis.

Once users get comfortable with the Smart Narratives tool, yet another powerful feature they find is that they can customize the style of writing that Smart Narratives uses to auto-generate plain-English explanations of charts and graphs. In the hands of a professional writer, that capability can be a game-changer in its own right.

The reason is that while the plain, barebones text descriptions of charts and graphs that Smart Narratives offers get the job done, if you punch up that writing style with some sparkle and wit from a pro writer, you’ll find that the text reports Smart Narratives generates grab a worker’s attention much more forcefully, hold it longer, and better ensure that the key insights your employees need in order to make informed decisions stay top of mind.

Put another way: You wouldn’t hire Hemingway to paint the Sistine Chapel, and you wouldn’t hire Michelangelo to write The Sun Also Rises, so don’t task your graphics pro to punch up the writing that you find in Smart Narratives unless that person also happens to be a crack writer. Instead, hire or task a pro writer (preferably one who has a background in business feature journalism) who can work with your business analytics people to truly make the AI-generated templates behind your auto-generated reports sing.

Feature journalists are trained to engage and entertain, and they’re trained to do so without resorting to hype, distortion or fabrication. Those are the key traits you’re looking for in the template author behind your company reports.

The bottom line on the advent of the Smart Narratives tool? For companies looking to get a taste of how AI-generated company reports work and how auto-written analysis of company insights can turbocharge the speed at which business analysis can be communicated throughout a business, Microsoft’s Smart Narratives tool is a great place to start.

Over the long term, however, you’ll also want to take a look at similar AI auto-report writing tools offered by pioneers in the field, including Arria NLG (www.arria.com), AX Semantics (https://en.ax-semantics.com), Yseop (www.yseop.com), Narrative Science (https://narrativescience.com), Automated Insights (https://automatedinsights.
com), Narrativa (www.narrativa.com), United Robots (www.unitedrobots.ai) and vPhrase (www.vphrase.com).

These companies have been working at commercialized AI-generated writing much longer than Microsoft, and they may have solutions that are more to your liking, including AI-generated writing add-ins of their solutions that work with a number of business intelligence programs, including Microstrategy, Alik, Spotfire, SAP, Tableau and Microsoft Power BI.

Joe Dysart is an internet speaker and business consultant based in Manhattan.

631-438-1142

joe@joedysart.com | www.joedysart.com

SEMA News—July 2022

SEMA DATA

By Gigi Ho

SEMA Data Product News

The products featured below are from SEMA Data member companies that have attained Gold- or Platinum-level data, which means that their product data is robust and complete—likely to drive customer purchase decisions. SEMA Data members meeting data scorecard requirements are invited to submit product releases for consideration to enews@semadatacoop.org.

BBK Performance

Dodge 5.7L Challenger Charger HEMI 13/4-in. Shorty Headers

BBK Performance exhaust products offer state-of-the-art quality with unmatched performance gains. Twenty-plus hp gain is typical; 13/4-in. primaries for maximum flow; 16-gauge steel tubing and 3/8-in.-thick flanges. Direct bolt-on for easy installation. For use with factory or aftermarket mid pipes. Gaskets and hardware included.

Information: www.bbkperformance.com

PN: 4028

GEN-Y

REBEL X Tactical Drop Hitch

The REBEL Hitch is a competitively priced hitch perfect for lighter-duty towing. Compatible with 1/2-ton trucks and SUVs. GEN-Y’s innovative stacked tube design allows customers the ability to adjust the ball mount up or down in order to achieve the right amount of drop every time! Not only is the REBEL hitch fully adjustable, but it can also be used in a drop or rise position. This makes the REBEL reliable as well as versatile. We also offer several accessories for the REBEL hitch, such as the Platinum Ball Mount, Economy Ball Mount, Sway Control Head, Hitch Step. Choosing the right hitch can be a big decision. Knowing what sets one hitch apart from another can be difficult. However, the new REBEL hitch is a great option to meet your needs and is one of the toughest hitches on the market.

Information: https://genyhitch.com/

PN: GH-13053X

Deviant Race Parts

CanAm X3 72 High-Clearance Lower Radius Arm Set

High-clearance radius arms belong on every UTV. With this direct bolt-on kit you will gain 3–31/2-in. of ground clearance. Perfect for riding in the woods, mud and rocks. Don’t get hung up with your weak factory radius arms. Constructed with 11/4-in. seamless DOM tubing construction you will never have to worry about bending or breaking another radius arm again. Heat-treated 5/8-in. Heim joints rated to 17,900 lbs.; 11/4-in. .125-in. wall DOM tubing; 416 stainless-steel misalignment spacers; TIG-welded; durable powdercoat finish; and fully adjustable to set camber and toe.

Information: https://deviantraceparts.com/

PN: 41505

SEMA News—July 2022

HERITAGE

Dare to be Different

By Drew Hardin

Photograph Courtesy Gray Baskerville, Petersen Publishing Company Archive

In the November 1988 issue of Hot Rod, Editor Jeff Smith called on car builders to “shake things up in the street machine world a little bit” when it came to considering cars for build-up projects. Rather than the same-old, same-old Camaros, “why not consider something completely different—such as a ’53 Studebaker Commander or a ’49 Ford—as Pro Street candidates?” Enough people listened that it became a movement in car building that the magazine called Dare to be Different.

The pinnacle Dare to be Different car was a creation called CadZZilla, named by its owner, guitarist Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top. As Gray Baskerville explained in his July 1989 Hot Rod feature “Pro-Creation,” the idea for the car came during a bench-racing session between Gibbons and automotive designer Larry Erickson. Gibbons was looking for “a ‘certain type of car,’ one that would reflect the ’50s but still contain the technologies of the late ’80s—a four wheel reflection of the group’s music that is now using ’50s technologies (pre-transistor electronics) combined with current recording techniques to produce a richer sound.” Ultimately, Baskerville wrote, “Gibbons and Erickson settled on one of Cadillac’s more obscure postwar offerings, a ’48 Series-62 Sedanette that was the first to embody Caddy’s distinctive tailfins.”

A likely candidate was found in Arizona and transported to the shop run by Boyd Coddington, who was hitting his creative stride in the late ’80s as a builder of high-end, high-concept, smoothly styled hot rods. Erickson drafted several renderings to show to Gibbons, but they initially weren’t “wild enough,” Baskerville recounted. When Coddington assured Erickson that he could build whatever the designer could envision, Erickson went, literally, back to the drawing board and crafted “an overpowering piece of automotive sculpture,” Baskerville said.

The drawings were sized up to full scale, attached to the walls at Coddington’s shop, and work on the Cadillac began. Baskerville shot this photo of the Sedanette prior to surgery, with an Erickson drawing behind it to illustrate just how different the finished product would be.

As remarkable as the transformation itself is the fact that Coddington and his crew completed CadZZilla in just six months. It appeared on the cover of Hot Rod’s July 1989 issue under the Dare to be Different banner. Inside was Baskerville’s feature, complete with an eight-page fold-out poster of the car, Gibbons and his band mates. The whole package—the car, the theme, the poster, the band—proved so compelling that the July

1989 issue became, and remains, the best-selling issue of Hot Rod, with some 1.16 million copies sold.

SEMA News—July 2022

FROM THE ASSOCIATION

When We Honor Industry Leaders, We Honor Achievement

Recognizing successful individuals and companies is an important aspect of SEMA’s role as it pursues its mission of helping the industry succeed and prosper. Along with helping to enhance the aftermarket community, awards provide a way of sharing best practices and achievements.

Over the years, volunteers have worked together to develop a range of awards to honor members who have made conspicuous contributions. Each award has a different reason for being, in consideration of the many segments and categories that make up our industry.

To properly honor awardees, venues that offer the biggest stage, brightest spotlight, and most advantageous timing are top priorities. One of those events, the upcoming SEMA Awards Gala, is the July event that brings the industry together to honor SEMA Hall of Fame inductees. These are always outstanding individuals who, over multi-year careers, have significantly contributed to the industry and the association’s growth. The Gala offers a moment for the community to come together in celebration, enjoy cocktails, networking, sit-down dinner, and the opportunity to renew friendships.

As the industry evolves, it’s not uncommon for volunteer task forces to periodically review the purpose of each award and, on occasion, recommend adaptation to assure that the award maintains contemporary relevance. From time to time, new awards are also appropriate to reflect new ways of working.

One recent example is the decision to recognize the contributions of social-media content creators who have helped foster enthusiasm for car culture and engage new audiences. This year a new award, the SEMA Influencer of the Year, will be presented at the Thursday-night SEMA Show Industry Awards Banquet to honor an influencer who has built an engaged audience and used his or her platform to make a positive impact with car enthusiasts of all ages.

Two other individual awards, the GEN-III Innovator Award and SEMA Person of the Year Award, will also be celebrated at the SEMA Show Banquet. The SEMA Gen-III Innovator Award was established to honor an under-40 industry professional who has contributed innovative breakthroughs that have benefitted the industry in the last 12 months. The recipient of the SEMA Person of the Year Award, established to honor a person for outstanding contributions to the aftermarket community over a 12-month period, is always a closely held secret and will continue to provide a dramatic moment when the honoree is revealed at the Banquet.

As e-commerce expands and data-driven transactions become more routine, the SEMA Warehouse Distributor of the Year Award has been updated and renamed Channel Partner of the Year, still continuing to recognize beneficial efforts by distribution companies as they support retailers. The Manufacturer of the Year Award rewards companies that exhibit outstanding business practices.

For 2022, those two awards will be announced at the New Products Breakfast. The New Products Breakfast, the opening keynote event for the SEMA Show, draws a huge audience eager to learn about the top new products as judged by volunteer teams in every segment. These awards, which were announced at the Show Banquet in prior years, will be revealed earlier in the week in order to give Show attendees the opportunity to work with winning companies for the entire Show week. In addition to the 16 categories in place in the prior year, the breakfast event will also include two new categories for 2022 to better represent product innovation in the fields of electric vehicles and advanced driver-assistance systems.

In the end, it’s work by teams of dedicated volunteers that define the criteria, sort through the candidates and select the awardees. But in a sense, when awards are made, we all win. That’s because, as we celebrate industry accomplishments, we spotlight best practices and innovation, sharing pathways to success that serve to educate and inspire all of us.

SEMA News—July 2022

INDUSTRY INSIDER

10 Questions for Marisol Herrera

By Douglas McColloch

In 2016, Marisol Herrera, then 23 and a self-professed “non-car person,” applied for a receptionist’s job at the Zimmerman Automobile Driving Museum, a small private collection in El Segundo, California. Six years later, Herrera now serves as the museum’s executive director, overseeing a collection of more than 130 vehicles and a full schedule of public events, including car shows, children’s programs and weekly cruise-ins and ride-and-drives. Her community outreach efforts have been credited for quadrupling the museum’s annual attendance over the past three years. In recognition of her accomplishments, she was named one of SEMA News’ “35 Under 35” rising industry stars for 2021.

We spent a few minutes with Herrera recently to learn more about her experiences at the museum and how a non-car person became a dedicated enthusiast.

SEMA News: We understand that you didn’t originally come from an automotive background. What was your previous career track, and how did you get into this line of work?

Marisol Herrera: I come from a museum background. I’ve always been a “plant person” and have always been interested in plants and nature, so out of high school I worked as a volunteer at the California Science Center [Los Angeles], and I really liked the environment there. I was learning while I was working, and I really enjoyed that. Later, I worked at the [L.A.] County Natural History Museum as a gallery interpreter, among other things.

I really liked the museum environment, so after I finished college, I applied for a job as a receptionist at [the Zimmerman Museum]. I jumped through the ranks pretty quickly because I knew so much about museums and how they work—programs and events and so forth—and I also had experience in handling sponsorships and admissions. Eventually I was elevated to executive director, and now I run the space.

SN: When did you know you wanted to pursue this as a career?

MH: I’ve always wanted to do something with ecological restoration. I studied environmental science in college, but there just isn’t any work in that field. As I started working at the museum, I realized that I was constantly learning new things, and I really enjoy that aspect of it. It wasn’t easy at first for me since I’d never worked in the car industry, but I just took it as a challenge and ran with it.

The great thing about working at a museum is that you’re learning while working.

SN: You do a lot of work with schoolchildren. What inspired you to open the museum to kids’ tours, and what’s their typical reaction when they see the collection? Some of the cars must look rather odd to their eyes.

MH: We take students as young as preschool and as old as high school, most of whom aren’t used to seeing cars as works of art. They’re just floored by what they see. I like taking them to our antiques section first, with cars that have wood-spoke wheels, cars that need cranking to start and cars that have rumble seats. It’s like a whole different world to them.

SN: Which car in the collection would you most love to have in your garage?

MH: We have a ’55 Nash Rambler in the collection with a Farina body and a 350 Chevy V8 that’s my favorite car to take out when we do our ride-and-drives.

SN: Southern California has a number of big, well-established automotive museums—the Petersen and the Nethercutt, for instance. Being a smaller museum, what do you do to increase public awareness of your collection? What makes you stand out?

MH: Being a smaller museum with a smaller budget, we don’t have a lot of money to spend on advertising and promotion, so we rely heavily on social media and word-of-mouth. People still tell us that we’re a “hidden gem,” and I’m trying to get us away from that. This summer we’re having plenty of events and programs that will help promote different demographics and different audiences. We’re doing restoration programs and car shows, and we’re basically being very grassroots in the local community about it.

SN: What has surprised you the most about your career?

MH: The fact that everybody in the car community was so nice! Even though I didn’t have a car background, people accepted me with open arms, and they taught me everything I know about cars.

SN: What’s your daily driver?

MH: A ’63 Ford Falcon Futura, which is actually on display at the museum now. I also own a ’61 Studebaker pickup, though I don’t drive it daily.

SN: What’s the best piece of advice that anyone has ever given you?

MH: Never give up. Even if you have a bad day, it’s always going to get better.

SN: When you’re not at the museum, where can we find you?

MH: Thrift shopping!

SN: What’s on your playlist? What are you listening to these days?

MH: Lately I’ve been listening to a lot of synthy indie music and pop punk.

SEMA News—July 2022

BUSINESS

Most Businesses Fail Due to Poor Decision-Making. Here’s How to Prevent It

10 Tips for Small-Business Success

By Douglas McColloch

So-called “open-to-buy” inventory controls are an essential element of a successful small business. Having the proper controls in place can help you anticipate periods of peak and slack sales while maintaining a positive cash flow. Shutterstock.com

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 20% of small businesses go bankrupt within one year, and more than 50% fail within five. The reasons may vary between businesses (bad cash-flow management, poor product quality, lackluster customer service), but they can generally be traced to a single source: poor decision-making.

A recent SEMA Education webinar, “Small Businesses Don’t Die—They Just Make Too Many Mistakes,” explored the many pitfalls that can await the unprepared small-business owner, with expert advice on preventing bad decisions before they happen. Moderated by Tom Shay, a fourth-generation small-business owner and author of more than a dozen books, the webinar covered a variety of topics that included finance, marketing, customer service and employee relations.

Shay opened the discussion with a personal recollection of running into a long-lost business acquaintance at a coffee shop. The acquaintance, who’d been the owner of his own company, was now reduced to working as a “consultant” for the same company after having lost everything to bankruptcy and selling off the business.

The encounter got Shay thinking of how small businesses fail. Over the course of his ensuing research, Shay discovered some common injuries that befall failed businesses, and practically all of them are self-inflicted.

“Every business I’ve seen that has failed has been a very willing participant in that failure,” he said.

To avoid falling into the failure trap, Shay advised business owners to keep some commonsense principles in mind when formulating their business plans.

Cash on hand and profit are 100% unrelated. Assuming the role of an imaginary business owner, Shay said, “As long as I have enough products on hand and work to do, I expect to have enough cash on hand in the business.” But then he added, “If only that were true.” To Shay, improper cash-flow management is the leading reason for small-business failures.

“Of all the businesses in the United States that fail, the last financial statements they issued before they failed said they were making money,” he said. “Over half of them were actually profitable, and yet they folded. What happened? There wasn’t enough cash in the checking account.”

Would-be small-business owners are well advised, therefore, to have enough cash on hand to keep the company going for at least 12 to 18 months to ensure viability during lean times.

Inventory control is a necessary process. Many business owners don’t believe that they need some sort of inventory control or “open to buy” system. But Shay advised business owners to ask themselves some basic questions: “Here’s what I need. Here’s when I expect to sell it. How many do I have to buy at a time? Is there a deal if I buy more? What about freight? If I buy a certain quantity, do I get freight for free? And in today’s economic environment, do I need to look at buying lots of it, or buying whatever I can? These things all need to come into consideration.”

A written long-term business plan that includes a company mission statement and detailed job descriptions for every employee should be considered mandatory for any business, no matter its size. Shutterstock.com

By having an inventory control program in place, business owners should be able to calculate open-to-buy for any given product category for the foreseeable future. This is especially important when one considers the following:

“Everything we do in business has a seasonality to it,” Shay reminded. “There will come a time when you’re going to go down to the show floor, see something you think is awesome and that you know you can sell—and six months from now, you haven’t sold the first one because you guessed wrong.

“It’s a balancing act. Unless you have unlimited floor space and unlimited dollars, you have to learn how to balance things. But it’s not so simple as ‘I sold five, so let’s buy five more.’”

Which leads to the next point:

You need a written business plan. Shay cautioned against taking a “get out of bed, go to work” approach. “As a business owner, you need a vision,” he said. He urged business owners to ask themselves, “Where is this business going to be in five or 10 years? How many service bays do I expect to have? How many employees? What’s the dollar volume I expect to hit?” These are all questions that a comprehensive business plan can help to answer.

But in addition, you need to add a written mission: “Why are we here?” Put it in writing, Shay said, and “everyone who works for us will understand what we’re here for.” Besides clarifying the purpose of the business to current employees, this can also help employers make better decisions when interviewing prospective new hires: “Does this person fit that vision?” If you have doubts, Shay advised, it’s best to look elsewhere.

Enjoy your work, but don’t overlook its end purpose. It’s liberating to have your own business, but don’t sell yourself short simply because you have autonomy. “Never ‘settle’ for something,” Shay said. “Doing what you love at work can be fun, but it’s also fun to look at the monthly financial statement and say to yourself, “That’s mine?’

“There are lots of people who start their own businesses because they love what they do, but love is not a business plan. You’ve got to love making money as well.”

Stake out a unique brand identity, but be willing to modify it. “No one can be everything to everybody,” Shay said, stressing the importance for business owners to offer specialty products or services that customers can’t readily find elsewhere. “I don’t see how anyone can specialize in all vehicles,” he said. “The old adage is, ‘The better you ‘niche,’ the more you get rich.’”

On the other hand, if customers continue asking for goods and services you don’t have, “perhaps it’s time to look at the business plan and think about adding on.” In the final analysis, “Your customers will tell you what your business should be.”

“Show, don’t tell,” your customer service. Advertising is important to the success of any business, but its measurable impact is what matters most. Instead of relying on traditional advertising models to announce promotions or sales, Shay suggested a different, more direct approach: “What if you took the money you spent on radio and had someone call every one of your customers to tell them about what’s coming up?

“If I’m a customer, you can talk about customer service all you want, but show me instead. And if you’re a business owner, what’s going to pull better for you—a paid radio ad or your customers telling other people they know about how well you took care of them?” In Shay’s opinion, advertising isn’t important—effective advertising is.

Is your management style too hands-off? You may need to tighten things up. “If I’m going to steal from you, thanks for being so consistent,” Shay quipped about employees who take unfair advantage of same-old, same-old work routines and less-than-rigorous sales floor management to engage in workplace theft.

“In your business, are you that predictable?” he asked. “What can you do to tighten the way your business runs?”

You need clearly defined job descriptions, policies and procedures. Even if you have a hardworking, loyal workforce, don’t assume that your employees inherently “know” what their individual job responsibilities are or understand your company’s work policies. “You want policies and procedures in place so there’s a consistency in the customer experience when they do business with you,” Shay explained.

Additionally, having defined policies and workplace procedures assumes even greater importance in an automotive-related industry that may involve operating heavy equipment or handling materials that contain known carcinogens. Failure to have such policies in place can potentially result in personal-injury claims, lawsuits and OSHA visits.

Don’t over-rely on technology. “Technology can be the death of a small business,” Shay warned, emphasizing the value of the “personal touch” in human transactions. “In the automotive service business, the biggest step in technology we have taken has gone from a sticker that we put on the door telling you when to change the oil to this new fancy technology we called ‘static cling’—and that’s where it stopped,” Shay said, adding that, “Even your dentist will call you back six months later to remind you of your next appointment.”

About Tom Shay

A fourth-generation business owner, Tom Shay has been writing about small-business issues for more than 30 years. He is the author of 13 books and has been published in dozens of industry trade publications. His company, Profits Plus Solutions, advises small businesses on management, staffing, business strategy and financial planning. He can be reached online through his website, www.profitsplus.org.