There’s no doubt that the automotive specialty-equipment industry has entered a transformative era. The internet and social media have revolutionized marketing communications and commerce. Manufacturing and supply chains stretch across the globe as never before. Electrification, automation and other...

Getting youth involved in the automotive industry is a major strategic focus for SEMA. The association invests in the future of the automotive industry through programs such as the SEMA Scholarship Program, the SEMA High School Build Program, SEMA Young Guns, SEMA Show and PRI Trade Show Student...

In the early months of the pandemic, as state after state began to lock down, SEMA News examined the advantages that social-media content creators (aka “influencers”) could bring to enthusiast and consumer engagement. Our article entitled “The New Media Landscape” asked: “Can tapping social-media...

SEMA’s Washington Rally looked a lot different in 2021 than in years past. It marked the first time SEMA members met with their lawmakers and their staffs in Congress remotely rather than in person. While the goal was to have everyone come to Washington, restrictions on meetings in the U.S. Capitol...

A lot was at stake when drag racers from around the country converged at the brand-new Indianapolis Raceway Park (IRP) for the NHRA’s seventh annual National Championship Drags in 1961. More than 900 competitors from some 40 states turned out to win races, set records, cement championships and build...

Having weathered more than a year of global pandemic and with the 2021 SEMA Show now clearly on the horizon, I want to draw your attention to recent SEMA research that yields some clarity on how the industry has managed during the pandemic and what we can expect moving forward.

U.S. suppliers selling over the internet to European consumers need to comply with new regulations regarding the collection, reporting and payment of value-added taxes (VAT). Starting July 2021, sellers located outside the European Union (EU) and shipping orders to consumers located in any of the 27...

First-time exhibitors are often of special interest to SEMA Show attendees because they bring never-before-seen products and services to the industry. In fact, first-time exhibitors are great sources of innovation and the latest product-line opportunities for installers, jobbers and retailers. They...

The proliferation of advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) on OE vehicles since the turn of the 21st century has posed numerous challenges to the automotive industry. That has been especially true for the automotive aftermarket, where modification and customization are the coin of the realm...