In the specialty-equipment market, we can talk about racing and performance products in a number of ways. The specialty-equipment market is broken up into nine different niches: Light Truck; Off-Road; Street Performance; Racing; Restoration; Restyling; Street Rod & Custom; Compact Performance; and Other.
For the purposes of SEMA's Racing and Performance Report, the Street Performance and Racing niches are the most important. Each of the nine niches, however, is broken up into three categories: Specialty Accessories and Appearance Products ("Accessories"); Racing and Performance ("Performance"); and Wheels, Tires and Suspension Components ("Suspension").
For the remaining niches, we must also look at the Performance category. Combining all of this data gives us a good picture of what the aftermarket looks like for racing and performance products.
The following chart shows what the Racing niche has experienced in the last 13 years. The chart indicates that this niche has seen overall growth since 1993. The only year in which manufacturer sales declined was 2001. We do not have any indicators as to why the data shows this.
Most importantly, manufacturer sales have grown for each of the three segments. Racing and Performance products experienced a 102% increase from 1993 through 2006. Wheels, Tires and Suspension sales increased 101% in the same period. Finally, Appearance and Accessory products experienced a 119% increase. Each of these segments grew 6% from 2005 to 2006. Total manufacturer sales for this niche reached $343 million in 2006. 
This is just a sample of SEMA’s Racing and Performance Report which will be available on www.sema.org/research in April. The report includes data gathered from various sanctioning bodies, as well as from a survey that SEMA conducted with Foresight Research, which asked respondents about their interests in different types of racing.
Source: SEMA Research & Information Center