The February version of SEMA’s Consumer Demand Index is now available at www.sema.org/research/padi. The index this month rose to 35, up four points from January 2010. Overall, 9% of respondents indicated that they have plans to purchase specialty-equipment products sometime in the next three months.

Legislators around the country have kept busy authoring bills that could impact the specialty-equipment industry. Here's how to stay updated and ensure that representatives hear your voice.

The industry's future depends on collective input, and nominations for 2010 SEMA Council and Committee elections are open to any member company representative.

Exhibitor applications for the 2010 SEMA Show will be available in mid-March on www.SEMAShow.com. Forms must be returned by May 7 in order to participate in the priority space selection process.

SEMA again helped turn back legislation in the Washington Legislature that would have implemented a vehicle scrappage program for passenger vehicles more than 15-years old.

Ford is accepting the final proposals for its annual project vehicle program, due March 1. Act now if you're planning a Ford, Lincoln or Mercury project for 2010.

Roger Penske gave up a successful racing career to open his first car dealership in 1965, but that didn’t keep him away from the track. He began Penske Racing that same year, and one of his earliest acquisitions was the 1966 Corvette coupe. The car had been used by Chevrolet to develop the L88 engine program, and Penske struck a deal with Zora Arkus-Dontov—who quietly worked around GM’s factory ban on race support—to buy the car for competition.

Penske sent a young West Coast racer named Dick Guldstrand to Detroit to drive the Corvette to Penske’s operation in Pennsylvania. [Read More]