A customizing car culture is blossoming in China, and a group of SEMA-member companies flew to Shanghai to check it out. They spent a week at the China Auto Salon promoting their brands and gaining insights into how Chinese enthusiasts obtain products and use their vehicles in the market of 1.4 billion people. The U.S. delegation saw many signs of the developing Chinese car culture and eagerness among Chinese enthusiasts to upgrade their rides to take them to the race track or off-roading.

A contingent of 29 leading global journalists, tapped as members of the Global Media Awards (GMA) panel, was charged at the 2016 SEMA Show with selecting products from the New Products Showcase that would resonate best with consumers back home. The diverse group—journalists from 18 countries and covering niches from off-road to street performance, vehicle restoration and motorsports—made their selections on the opening day of the Show after reviewing more than 3,000 products in 16 categories.

Tens of thousands of international buyers will be walking the 2016 SEMA Show looking for new products to export to their home markets. How do you, as an exhibitor, connect with these buyers who come to Las Vegas from Australia, the Middle East, Asia, Europe and more than 130 countries? They likely have just a few minutes to stop at any one booth, so how do you grab their attention and maintain their interest in order to introduce yourself and your product, scan their badges or collect their business cards? Here are some tips about how to attract buyers to your booth and what you can do even before the Show begins.

In late May, 20 SEMA-member companies ventured to Melbourne, Australia, for the inaugural SEMA Australia Business Development Program. This latest target market for the SEMA overseas development program joined similar programs in China, Russia and the Middle East.

Why export? One of the proven methods to increasing the health of your firm is to diversify your customer base, which can improve your bottom line, lead to product-improvement ideas and improve a firm’s ability to ride out future economic downturns. It is also the way to reach the 97% of consumers residing outside the United States and take advantage of global demand for products made in the United States.

This is another in a periodic series of reports on SEMA-member companies that have successfully grown their international sales. Each of the companies has utilized one or more SEMA resources or programs designed to assist member companies in growing their export sales. This month’s story features Arizona-based Rigid Industries. SEMA News talked to the firm’s international account manager, Robert Park.

International sales represent some 25% of the total sales at Borla Performance Industries and are growing rapidly. The company is one of the originators of stainless-steel performance exhaust systems, and among the secrets to its success is taking direct control of its international business, said David Borla, 41, vice president of sales and marketing for the 38-year-old firm.

More than 25% of all buyers expected at the 2015 SEMA Show will come from more than 132 nations outside the United States. Exhibitors should create an action plan to attract and service international buyers visiting their booths.

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.

Learning About the Market While Building Business

Forty-one SEMA-member companies participated in the first-ever overseas-based SEMA Garage, which featured an all-day measuring session for vehicles popularly customized overseas but not sold in the United States. The event, held at the Custom Show Emirates based in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE), was part of the four-day 2015 SEMA Middle East Program.