News and updates from around the motorsports industry.
Earlier this year, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) finalized a regulation to implement the SEMA-led Low Volume Motor Vehicle Manufacturers Act, enabling replica-car businesses to produce and sell turnkey vehicles. SEMA worked with Congress to pass this federal policy change, which became law in 2015 as part of the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act.
This wild Ford Bronco was built by Ford Performance from the OEM suppliers’ catalog.
NHTSA finalized a regulation to implement the SEMA-led Low Volume Motor Vehicle Manufacturers Act. SEMA worked with Congress to amend federal law to enable small auto manufacturers to produce completed replica vehicles under a streamlined regulatory structure that reflects the distinctly different business model of this niche industry. NHTSA’s regulations offer a business-friendly pathway for companies to begin producing up to 325 such replica cars a year. Replicas must resemble production vehicles manufactured at least 25 years ago to qualify—from ’30s roadsters to ’70s musclecars and more.
Industry news from SEMA-member companies, including Power Automedia, AirSept, Grote Industries and more.
Hot Rod magazine Publisher Ray Brock picked up the phone. Mickey Thompson was on the line, calling from Detroit.
In addition to the annual SEMA Show, the association works continuously to supply a wide array of programs and benefits members can tap into 365 days a year. Here are just a few.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in March upset commodity and equity exchanges as traders worked to understand the impact the invasion would have on markets. Russia is the world’s largest exporter of wheat and the second-largest exporter of oil, providing 30%–40% of Europe’s oil, gas and coal. Both countries are also major exporters of commodities such as neon gas that are used to produce semiconductors. Several auto companies with production facilities in the two countries have suspended operations.
Vehicles from the early ’70s and later have traditionally been considered “classics,” with the idea of ’73 (pre-gas crisis, pre-catalytic converters) as reasonable cutoffs. However, the landscape has changed. More and more, classics have expanded to include vehicles from the ’70s and ’80s. These emerging classics are sparking the same nostalgic feelings among drivers looking to recapture a piece of their youth as they did to consumers a generation earlier. While the traditional areas of the classic vehicle space aren’t going anywhere, newer classic models are becoming more important for the industry.
When the crossover utility vehicle (CUV) first appeared in the mid-’90s, it seemed like the push-me-pull-you of the automotive market—not quite car and not truly SUV. As such, it raised several questions: Could consumers ever embrace a vehicle whose purpose wasn’t clearly defined and whose styling, quite honestly, wasn’t all that exciting? And, if they did, how would they utilize such an oddity? As a commuter car? A grocery getter or cargo hauler? Some sort of neo station wagon or minivan?