Sweden, Norway, Finland, Iceland and Denmark are collectively known as the Nordic region, and its population of approximately 27 million citizens is passionate about all forms of wheeled competition, including rally racing, drag racing, drifting and circuit racing. A high standard of living provides the locals with ample disposable income, and the positive perception of U.S. racing products provides an excellent export opportunity for U.S. motorsports product suppliers. In addition, the strong English-language skills among the average citizen make it one of the easiest export markets in which to do business.
SEMA News spoke with Christofer Lee Willhans, a seven-time Global Media Awards judge from Sweden. We spoke with Willhans about his country's classic-car market to gain some insights into how that market compares with the classic American-car restoration market and the opportunities it provides for U.S. manufacturers of classic-car parts.
The European drag-racing season is set to finally get underway with May kick-off events scheduled for both the sportsman division—the Summit Racing EDRS Series —and the FIA European Drag Racing Cham-pionship. "Racers have been waiting a very long time now for the return of a normal race calendar [following the 2020 season disruption due to COVID], and we expect a strong 2021 season," noted Nils Lagerlof, CEO of Speedgroup, the Swedish-based administrator and promotion entity of both the Championship series as well as the Summit Racing EDRS Series.
SEMA-member companies seeking to sell their products globally most often do so through the establishment of a network of distributors in overseas markets. While there are multiple additional methods to getting your products to international buyers— including selling online through e-commerce or do-it-for-me (indirect) methods to market, such as working with export management companies, manufacturers reps or U.S.-based warehouse distributors—this article focuses on the distributor route.
