Manufacturer sales of specialty automotive products reached $12.94 billion in 2006, an 8.28% increase from the previous year, according to SEMA Research. This total represents just over a third of what the industry generated at the retail level—$36.7 million.

Truck enthusiasts picked up the purchasing pace of brush guards during the last three months via online auction sales, pushing sales for the period of June 25-September up 27% compared to the previous three months, according to data from Terapeak, a developer of market-focused research software that...

INNOVATIONS DAY: Monday, October 29, 2007 SHOW DAYS: Tuesday, October 30—Friday, November 2, 2007 DEADLINES September 27 Exhibitor Registration Due – To receive badges in mail – domestic online – Tab 4 September 28

Below is this week’s list of SEMA Show 2007 exhibitors offering products to project-vehicle builders for free or at a discounted rate. To see previous submissions, click here.

The SEMA Action Network (SAN) announced that it has broadened its legislative advocacy activities to include the Parliament of Canada and the provincial governments. Canadian automotive hobbyists, car clubs and related businesses can now join this influential grassroots lobbying effort by...

The collective efforts of SEMA and the Wheel & Tire Council (WTC) have led to revised wording of the SAE J2530 Wheel Standard, incorporating the concerns of the specialty-equipment industry into the wheel standards process. Immediate past WTC chairman George Finch, Frank Bohanan and SEMA Vice...

Toyota Corporate Marketing Manager Brian Smith will deliver his presentation, "Marketing for Personalization," at the 2007 SEMA Show Innovations Day luncheon, Monday, October 29. The presentation will include a 20-minute PowerPoint and Q&A session, and it will touch on specialty-equipment marketing...

General Motors has appointed Martin Walsh general manager of the HUMMER Division, responsible for marketing, sales, distribution, dealer development and management of the HUMMER brand worldwide. Walsh began his career with GM in 1976 and served in a number of executive sales and marketing capacities...

SEMA Manufacturing members are invited to attend a measuring session for the 2008 Toyota Land Cruiser next week, Wednesday, September 26, in Torrance, California. Sessions will be limited to 60 minutes, no more than three companies at one time, and only two persons per company. Cameras will NOT be...

Tune in for today's webcast, "The Future of Inventory Control—RFID," presented by Doug Jacobs of Restyler's Choice, at 10:00 a.m. (PST). With talk of barcodes disappearing and radio frequency identification (RFID) taking its place, businesses are finding themselves facing familiar questions: Will...