Spotlighting Yours at the SEMA Show

Chris Kersting, SEMA President and CEO Each year, SEMA commissions an internal study to help association staff understand how to make the SEMA Show better. Based on thousands of interviews with exhibitors and attendees, it’s a study that contains valuable insights about the SEMA Show for the association. Of those insights, perhaps the most valuable takeaway is that new products are the force that drive the Show, yet many exhibitors don’t utilize successful Show features that highlight their products.

Our surveys tell us that 87% of buyers consider new products their number-one priority when the Show opens. Not surprisingly then, we see that roughly three-quarters of buyers visit the New Product Showcase at some point during the Show.

The Hottest Vehicles of the 2012 SEMA Show

The SEMA Award was established to recognize vehicle models that specialty-equipment manufacturers believe are the best platforms for accessorization and that showcase the year’s coolest products. The honors have been presented in four categories each year since 2010: Hottest Car, Hottest Sport Compact, Hottest Truck and Hottest 4x4-SUV.

Every year, more than 1,500 vehicles are displayed at the SEMA Show. Many of them are customized in the months leading up to the Show, and each represents a collaboration between manufacturers that provide parts and support and the owner/design team that brings the vehicle to the Show. The question is, what goes into a successful project build, and how is it possible to generate a tangible payoff for each participant?

Mobile Electronics Products admin Fri, 06/01/2012 - 08:38

From tire-pressure monitoring and powertrains to navigation and smartphone integration, nearly every facet of today’s automobile is controlled, managed or affected by some type of mobile electronics. As the field has expanded, an increasing number of products are introduced each year in the SEMA Show’s New Products Showcase, and an ever-growing throng of buyers seeks information about the most innovative systems and components.

Since the earliest performance parts began to emerge from the dust on dry-lakes proving grounds in Southern California following World War II, hot rods have been a mainstay of the automotive specialty-equipment industry. They spark the imaginations of builders in every car and truck niche, and they continue to enthrall the motoring public at show venues and on roads across the country.

The product listings on the following pages run the gamut from powertrain and drivetrain hard parts to interior and exterior accessories, but their common bond is that they were all featured in the hot rod category of the New Products Showcase at the 2011 SEMA Show. We’ve also interspersed observations about current trends from officers at leading companies involved in the hot rod industry, as well as from young executives who are closely connected to their enthusiast segments.

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