Last year about this time, we noted that SEMA was ramping up resources dedicated to providing members with best-in-class research. We beefed up personnel, we increased the budget, and we looked for ways to take full advantage of outside resources.

Chrysler’s Jeep brand has seen a resurgence in recent years, winning awards that range from the Grand Cherokee’s 2011 Urban Truck of the Year to the Wrangler’s 2012 Four Wheeler of the Year. Its popularity has also blossomed in emerging markets. According to Chrysler Group LLC, sales of Jeep-brand vehicles in China in 2011 rose 64% compared to the previous year, climbing to 38,373 units. Sales also exploded in Russia, rising 85% to 2,327 units. Here’s a look at some of the particulars in those markets.

As a kid, John Waraniak, SEMA’s vice president of vehicle technology, never gave much thought to a college education. He did, however, enjoy building fast toys—plundering the neighbors’ throwaways on garbage day and reconfiguring found treasures such as washing-machine pulleys, lawn-mower engines, old wagons and bikes into saleable contraptions. That was the sort of vision and imagination that led him to two master’s degrees as well as engineering soapbox racers, B-2 stealth bombers and Chevrolet motorsports programs.

Ever have the feeling as a small business that it’s tough to compete and stay ahead? That’s pretty common. And yet there are companies out there—some might be your competitors—who make it a priority to use technology to multiply their capabilities.

SEMA offers specific programs and benefits to help members access a variety of key technologies that are changing business in the automotive aftermarket.

The three-year-old SEMA enthusiast opinion leader research program was created in advance of the 2009 SEMA Show to provide SEMA researchers with consumer insights into industry trends, products, vehicles and the SEMA Show itself. It was built around automotive enthusiasts and opinion leaders who were active in car clubs, automotive websites or forums as well as active social media bloggers who follow performance automotive businesses.

Brazil has long been on a short list of automotive specialty-equipment markets that SEMA is tracking as having the potential to develop into one of the world’s most important. Brazil first came onto the association’s radar screen due its position as the largest market in South America as well as a citizenry known for an obsession with cars, trucks and motorsports.