We spoke with SEMA’s council and network leaders to find out what initiatives they are working on, what’s currently trending in their markets and what they envision the future might hold, and also the challenges they face. Common themes include fighting government overreach, the continued growth of advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) and expanding youth outreach programs.
In a marked shift from previous years, hackers are much more likely these days to be bent on stealing your computing processing power than embedding ransomware or other malware in your network, according to a March 2019 report from IBM (www.ibm.com/security/data-breach/threat-intelligence). That’s because it’s much safer for hackers to simply steal your computing processing power over the internet—and use it for mining crypto currencies such as Bitcoin—than to get involved in planting other criminal software on business and corporate networks, according to the report’s authors.
SEMA Battle of the Builders (BOTB) gives opportunities to builders worldwide to showcase their talents. Industry legends and up-and-coming builders go head-to-head as they exercise their skill and creativity at the industry’s premier event. Many of the builders spend countless hours on their creations. Some work in teams; some work by themselves. The finished products end up being as unique as the builders themselves, reflecting the talent and originality of the custom car industry.
Hyundai Veloster RM19 Mid-Engine Prototype: It’s expected to be a compact sports car, possibly in the vein of a Porsche 718 Boxster/Cayman.
Mustang-Inspired Mach E Performance EV: Previous sightings of Ford’s EV showed the vehicle in mule form, wearing the body of a last-generation Ford Escape.
Porsche’s 820hp Über-Panamera: The Über-Panamera will get 820 hp out of a tuned version of the existing engine.
Anticipation is building as attendees descend on Las Vegas for the 2019 SEMA Show, November 5–8. And why not? Post-Show surveys from last year’s event reported sky-high levels of buyer satisfaction. Among the top attendee objectives were seeing new products (84%), getting ideas (74%), keeping up to date on industry trends (69%), and finding new vendors (58%). Most significant, however, was that an overwhelming majority rated the event as worth the time and cost of attending.
Fifty years ago, the Petersen Publishing Company magazine devoted to the business side of automotive enthusiasm devoted a large number of pages over two issues to cover the 1969 SEMA Show. The quotes reproduced above are the stories’ opening lines. Even five decades later, you can feel the adrenaline rush of enthusiasm and accomplishment the editors were experiencing on their first go-around with the coverage and how that rush transformed with a month’s hindsight into a less jubilant but more confident assessment of what went on at the Anaheim Convention Center in early January—and what it bode for the industry.
Even though expansion of the Las Vegas Convention Center is well underway, the 2019 SEMA Show will be held this year largely in the same familiar spaces. But the Show’s features and events, which continually evolve year after year, will reflect and respond to changes in the specialty automotive industry. This year’s Show will offer a mix of some favorite industry events, builds and competitions, along with some brand-new events.
Staying atop the unprecedented explosion of new technologies transforming the automotive world is a crucial yet constant challenge for today’s aftermarket businesses. This is especially true of advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS), which are already having a major impact on the ways that vehicles are repaired, customized and serviced. In fact, experts maintain that there will be virtually no specialty-equipment segment left untouched by these safety-performance technologies within a few short years.
There’s little doubt that the explosive growth of online sellers has given local retailing a run for its money. Still, while big sellers such as Amazon can be tough competitors, they can’t completely drive traditional brick-and-mortar stores out of business. That’s because local retail outlets have several inherent advantages that the big guys can never match.
More than 170,000 automotive specialty-equipment professionals from all over the world—including 60,000 buyers—are expected to attend the 2019 SEMA Show, November 5–8, in Las Vegas. This year’s Show promises to deliver several new features and opportunities for exhibitors and buyers to connect across the more than 1 million sq. ft. of exhibit space inside and around the Las Vegas Convention Center (LVCC). SEMA Vice President of Events Tom Gattuso offered attendees a preview of what to expect this year as well as tips on how they can make the most efficient use of their time on the Show floor.