SEMA News—July 2015
INTERNATIONAL
What Global Customers Drive
 China is the fourth largest market for Jeep Wranglers after North America—the United State and Canada—and Australia. Between 2005–2013, 19,294 Jeep Wranglers were sold in China. In 2013, China moved ahead of Australia to claim the number-three spot after the United States and Canada. Photo courtesy of JeepV |
The Ford Mustang, Jeep Wrangler and Chevrolet Silverado pickup were winners of the 2014 SEMA Awards, recognizing the year’s hottest vehicles. Does your company make products for those vehicles? Do you sell your products primarily in the United States? If you answered yes to both of these questions but want to expand your sales outside the United States, SEMA’s make/model data can help you get started by giving you easy-to-use information that will help you identify the best markets in terms of vehicle registrations. Through a joint program with the U.S. Department of Commerce and IHS Automotive, SEMA has complied the data into a user-friendly resource. Here are some examples:
Jeep reported record-breaking sales of more than 1 million units last year and plans to double that figure in five years. So which are the most important markets for Jeeps? A glance at the data reveals that the top-20 slots span North America, South America, Europe, Africa, Asia and the Middle East. The top 20 global markets for all Jeeps (in terms of sales) for 2005–2013 were:
the United States, Canada, Mexico, China, Australia, Venezuela, Italy, Germany, South Africa, United Kingdom, Chile, France, Japan, Spain, Russia, Brazil, South Korea, United Arab Emirates, Switzerland, and Egypt.
Manufacturers of products for Jeep Wranglers might be interested in narrowing the search to the top 20 Jeep Wrangler sales markets globally during that same period, which would enable them to extend the pool of vehicles for their products. That list includes: the United States, Canada, Australia, China, Mexico, Greece, Italy, Japan, Germany, France, South Africa, United Arab Emirates, South Korea, Spain, Chile, Egypt, United Kingdom, Colombia, Saudi Arabia and Portugal.
Interested in the best markets for products fitting Ford’s F-Series pickups? SEMA’s statistics reveal that the top-selling markets are the United States, Canada and Mexico, with South America being the next largest market. Farther afield, the Middle East is another big market for these vehicles. The list includes: the United States, Canada, Mexico, Venezuela, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Saudi Arabia, Australia, United Arab Emirates, Ecuador, Qatar, Kuwait and Israel.
What if you manufacture products for pickups and want to explore whether you make applications that would fit the market in the United Kingdom? SEMA’s data can help you learn about the top-selling trucks in that market: the Mitsubishi L200, Nissan Navara, Toyota HiLux, Isuzu Rodeo D-Max, and Ford Ranger.
Or help identify the most popular SUVs in terms of sales in the United Arab Emirates: Toyota Land Cruiser 100, Toyota Land Cruiser 90, Kia Sportage, Hyundai Santa Fe, Lexus LX, Toyota RAV4, Lexus RX, Mitsubishi Pajero/Shogun, Nissan Patrol, Hyundai Tucson, Kia Sorento, Hyundai iX35, Nissan Pathfinder, Nissan Armada, and Toyota FJ Cruiser.
Vehicles Not Sold in the United States
 SEMA has a program to import and make available to members to measure vehicles which are globally popular with enthusiasts and but not sold in the United States so that U.S. companies can prototype export-ready product. This program is made possible through a partnership with the U.S. Department of Commerce. More than 300 companies have measured the Toyota HiLux or one of the other international vehicles imported through this program, including a Ford Ranger T6, Mitsubishi L200 and UAZ Hunter. Sales data for 2005–2013 for each of these popular overseas vehicles are available through the SEMA international vehicle data program. |
There is much talk about moving toward global vehicles—one model of each for the world, i.e., the new Ford Mustang will be exported by Ford to 140 countries from its facility in Michigan. But what about vehicles not sold in the United States? SEMA can help you identify the hottest vehicles/markets for vehicles popularly accessorized globally but not sold in the United States. The SEMA data breaks down sales not only by country but also by make.
For example, here are the top markets for the best-selling Toyota HiLux 1-ton truck, with more than 5 million sold since its introduction: Thailand, Saudi Arabia, Australia, South Africa, Brazil, Argentina, Malaysia, Oman, United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, Peru, United Kingdom, Mexico, Qatar and Chile.
SEMA has created a program to help members overcome the hurdles of making products for vehicles that are popular in key international markets but are not available in the United States. In partnership with the U.S. Department of Commerce, SEMA launched a program in July 2012 to provide measuring opportunities for such vehicles. More than 180 companies have already measured the initial vehicles—a ’12 Toyota HiLux double-cab 4x4 and a ’13 Ford Ranger T6 4x4 double-cab—to allow them to prototype and create export-ready products. These vehicles are available to SEMA-member manufacturers to measure free of charge at the new SEMA Garage, adjacent to SEMA headquarters in Diamond Bar, California.
The ’12 HiLux will soon be re-exported, because there is a three-year limit on the importation of vehicles not made in the United States but brought for initiatives such as the SEMA measuring program. SEMA will be importing an all-new ’16 Toyota HiLux double-cab 4x4 for members to measure as soon as it’s available.
In an all-new program available to members, SEMA is partnering with the U.S. Department of Commerce to organize measuring sessions abroad in connection with the association’s overseas business-development programs in Russia, China and the Middle East. SEMA members will be able to measure top vehicles in those markets that are not sold in the United States. For example, among the vehicles available for measuring at the March 2015 SEMA measuring session in the United Arab Emirates were the ’15 Toyota HiLux, ’15 Mitsubishi L200 and ’15 Ford Ranger as well as the Toyota Land Cruiser (both new and older models) and the Nissan Patrol (new and older models).
To download SEMA’s vehicle data, visit www.sema.org/international or contact Linda Spencer via e-mail at lindas@sema.org.
