SEMA News—January 2015
INDUSTRY NEWS
Fast Facts
Mickey Thompson Performance Tires & Wheels chose Dominick Wycoff for the position of vice president of business development, reporting to company President Chris Barbara. Wycoff has more than 17 years of experience in the automotive industry as a senior executive with Terry’s Tire Town of Ohio. Mickey Thompson, Stow, OH; 330-928-9092.
Performance Motorsports News (PMN) launched Classics-Racers.com, a content-driven website for classic car and American motorsports enthusiasts, specialty-equipment manufacturers and jobbers and retailers. The new site can be found at www.classics-racers.com/brochure. PMN was created a decade ago to help facilitate interaction between manufacturers, jobbers, retailers and consumers by providing free catalogs. It will be an integral part of
www.classics-racers.com.
VP Racing Fuels entered an agreement with Cecil County Dragway to extend its long-standing official-fuel partnership through 2017. An NHRA-sanctioned dragway, Cecil County conducted its first race in April 1963 and has been the host to many past and present high-profile racers and events, including the Yellow Bullet Nationals and NHRA Division 1 sportsman event. Officials at New Smyrna Speedway in Florida also announced a two-year agreement extending VP Racing Fuels as the track’s official fuel supplier through 2016. VP will be the track’s exclusive supplier of race fuels, with VP110 and C12 available on-site and fuel service to be provided by VP-Southeast, VP’s Ft. Lauderdale-based distributor for Florida. VP Racing Fuels, Elmendorf, TX; 210-635-7744.
Toyo Tire North America Manufacturing Inc. of White, Georgia, received ISO/TS 16949:2009 certification for design and production of passenger and light-truck tires. In addition to replacement tires, the factory also produces OE tires for vehicle brands that include Ford and Toyota. The plant is currently undergoing its fourth expansion, adding more than 1 million sq. ft. to its current 2 million sq. ft. of manufacturing and warehousing. Toyo Tire North America, Cypress, CA; 714-236-2080.
Aeromotive Inc. appointed Kyle Fickler as director of business development. Fickler will oversee all sales reps, product training and OE business. Fickler was employed at Aeromotive Inc. for eight years prior to leaving to serve as vice president of sales at Weld Racing—a position he held for six years. Fickler currently sits on the SEMA Board of Directors after serving as chairman of SEMA’s Motorsports Parts Manufacturer Council. Fickler also serves on the NHRA Performance Aftermarket Advisory Council. Aeromotive Inc., Lenexa, KS; 913-647-7300.
Mahle Aftermarket Service Solutions, formerly Mahle RTI, launched its new website at www.servicesolutions.mahle.com. The site contains updated information on Mahle Aftermarket’s newest division, providing visitors with a user-friendly site with comprehensive data on the company’s automotive tools and maintenance equipment. According to Max Dull, general manager of Mahle Service Solutions, the site helps complete the transition that started in 2013 when Mahle purchased RTI Technologies. The site displays the new Mahle branding for the division’s newest tool, TechPRO, along with its existing ArcticPRO, FluidPRO and NitroPRO lines. Mahle Aftermarket Inc., Farmington Hills, MI; 248-347-9700.
Royal Purple relaunched its corporate homepage, www.royalpurple.com, with a new format and a fresh look. The new landing page was designed to be more reflective of the events and initiatives supported by Royal Purple. Information on sponsored series, teams and racers, events such as The Royal Purple Las Vegas Bowl and Royal Purple Truck and Trailer program can all be accessed in a one-page scrolling format. The site acts as a central feed for the latest posts to the brand’s Twitter and Instagram pages. Royal Purple, Porter, TX; 281-354-8600.
SEMA’s Manufacturers Representative Network (MRN) selected Bolt Locks’ national sales manager, Erika Garcia, as the 2014 Sales Team Annual Recognition (STAR) award winner at the 2014 SEMA Show. The STAR award is presented to the most outstanding manufacturer’s sales team, chosen from nominations made by the general membership of the MRN. In the four years that the Bolt Lock brand has been in the automotive aftermarket industry, Garcia has focused on developing significant market share gains and greater awareness for the product line. Bolt Locks by Strattec, Milwaukee, WI; 414-247-3333. TI Automotive established a new marketing partnership with The Marx Group. As part of the new relationship, The Marx Group will help TI Automotive with marketing, branding and public relations for its performance specialty-equipment products. TI Automotive is a global original-equipment supplier to auto manufacturers and a leader in the development and production of automotive fluid systems. TI Automotive, Caro, MI; 989-672-8260. The Marx Group, San Rafael, CA; 415-453-0844.
Calumet Specialty Products Partners L.P. appointed Leah Herrington as its vice president of marketing for its packaging and branded products division. Herrington is responsible for overseeing all facets of strategy and execution of branding, marketing, advertising, public relations and corporate communications initiatives for Calumet’s Royal Purple, Bel-Ray, Quantum and TruFuel brands. Herrington brings more than 20 years of domestic and international marketing expertise to her new position, working with companies, such as PepsiCo Inc., IBM, Mary Kay and Quaker State.
The Hybrid Shop selected Jen Martin as marketing director. Martin brings more than 10 years of marketing and business-development experience to her new position. She will oversee all of the organization’s day-to-day marketing activities and will plan and implement strategic marketing projects and campaigns to support and expand the company’s ongoing growth.
Advanced Clutch Technology (ACT) announced that Rich Barsamian returned to ACT as vice president of sales and marketing. In this position, Barsamian will develop and implement strategic initiatives to grow ACT’s product business through sales and marketing. He was formally ACT’s national sales manager. Barsamian brings a wealth of experience and relationships at every level, from warehouse distributors to chain retailers, mail order and Internet companies. He resigned his position as vice president of sales and marketing at GT Performance and also worked as national sales manager for Edelbrock. Advanced Clutch Technology, Lancaster, CA; 661-940-7555.
Bodie Stroud Industries Inc. selected Kahn Media as its agency of record. Kahn Media will provide public relations and media outreach for the company. Led by its founder, Bodie Stroud, the company is known for hand building award-winning customs, hot rods, musclecars and more.
Ashley Ailsworth was appointed SEMA’s corporate counsel. Ailsworth, a recent graduate of the Georgetown University Law Center, first came to SEMA in 2009 as an entry-level researcher in the SEMA government affairs office in Washington, D.C. In her new capacity, she will serve as an adjunct to the SEMA general counsel and will provide assistance on a variety of issues and projects to enable the association to carry out its mission in compliance with applicable laws.
Wes-Coast Marketing announced Scott Bisch as the newest addition to its team. Bisch has more than 30 years of sales experience, the majority of which was spent in the automotive aftermarket industry. He has previous manufacturer experience with companies such as Extang, Surf City Garage and Meguiar’s, providing him with a solid understanding of the extensive retail and WD experience with a focus on new-product distribution and line expansion. Wes-Coast Marketing, Upland, CA; 909-946-6899.
Anne Johnson joined Truck Accessories Group LLC (TAG) West as district sales manager for the Northwestern United States and British Columbia, Canada. Johnson has been in the automotive aftermarket industry for more than 26 years. She is a former co-owner of California Truck Works Inc.—a light-truck accessory retail operation with locations in Northern California. Most recently, she was an account manager with an automotive aftermarket warehouse distributor. She served on the SEMA Board of Directors and on the select committee of the Truck and Off-Road Alliance.
Motovicity Distribution expanded its warehouse operations through a new 30,000-sq.-ft. auxiliary warehouse facility that doubles the company’s current warehouse footprint and triples its cubic storage capacity. The additional space provides room for inventory expansion and allows Motovicity to consolidate bulky, ship-alone products from its main warehouse and smaller annex facility under one roof. In February 2014, Motovicity implemented a new, best-in-class warehouse management system (WMS) to increase inventory accuracy and reduce order fulfillment time. The new order-picking automation allows Motovicity to take full advantage of its WMS technology, maximizing space utilization and improving order-picking speed and efficiency. Motovicity Distribution, Madison Heights, MI; 888-SPEED-16.
Yokohama Tire Corp. (YTC) relocated its corporate headquarters from Fullerton, California, to nearby Santa Ana to accommodate business growth. The move took place in November 2014. YTC signed a 10-year lease for its new 57,000-sq.-ft. headquarters at 1 MacArthur Place. The tire maker will occupy two-and-a-half floors at the high-tech, nine-floor office complex building near John Wayne Airport. The announcement comes two months after YTC said it was moving its western region distribution center from a 380,000-square-foot warehouse facility in Fullerton to a newly constructed 658,000-sq.-ft. facility in Chino, about 22 miles away. Yokohama, Fullerton, CA; 714-870-3800.
Weld Racing promoted Mike Mulcahy to vice president of sales. Mulcahy is responsible for company sales, including street performance, truck and motorsports. Mulcahy joined Weld in March 2014 as vice president of the company’s street and truck business lines after a successful career as an executive with Federal Mogul and running his own motorsports business. The company added Greg Bennett to Weld’s sales and marketing team. Bennett assumes responsibility for trackside service and sales for Weld’s drag racing and oval-track racing product lines. Bennett will oversee Weld’s close collaboration with professional and sportsman racers. Weld Racing, Kansas City, MO; 800-788-9353.
Tuff Stuff Performance Accessories announced that Tim Andrews accepted the position of national sales manager. Andrews is an industry veteran with more than 30 years of experience in the performance aftermarket. His previous industry experience includes positions as vice president of sales for Fidanza, sales director of Global Performance Parts and most recently as North American territory manager for Superpro Suspension and Mantic Clutch. Tuff Stuff, Cleveland, OH; 800-331-6562.
