KIWI COLLECTOR: Scott Dixon dominated the month of May at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, culminating with a victory in Sunday’s Indianapolis 500. Dixon earned a record $2,988,065 from a record overall purse of $14,406,580. Second-place Vitor Meira became the first Indy runner-up to earn more than $1...

NEWS NUGGETS

Chris Cook

Click the logo to visit ARMO's website. ARMO Column in SEMA Member NewsRead ARMO's column featured in the May/June issue of SEMA Member News by clicking here.

Filler for eNews

Dates and locations for several upcoming SEMA-sponsored shows and activities have been announced. Details are:

Despite a tightening of household budgets, the SEMA Performance Parts and Accessories Demand Index (PADI) for April 2008 revealed that more than 15 million households, or 15% of aftermarket buyers, plan on purchasing industry products within the next three months.

During the first four months of 2008, pickup sales have dropped 17% compared to the same time period last year. The specialty-equipment industry has long revered the pickup segment as opportunities for profits due to its growth in the past, but hikes in gasoline prices have taken a toll on recent...

Sales of new vehicles for 2008 are expected to drop below 15 million units. J.D. Power and Associates forecasts sales to reach 14.95 million, and AutoPacific predicts 14.8 million. This represents a 7.5%–8% decline compared to new-vehicle sales for 2007. High gas prices have hit the light-truck...

The surging do-it-yourself trend resulted in a 21% increase in the number of car-cleaning and care products at the 2007 SEMA Show. Nearly two-thirds (62%) of U.S. consumers are washing their own car to save money—or having someone in their household do it—and 33% are doing the detailing themselves...