Last November, the Performance Racing Industry (PRI) announced that its annual trade show in Indianapolis, Indiana, would not be taking place as scheduled in December. The announcement came after months of working closely with event staff and government officials to develop a plan for a safe and productive Show. Unfortunately, mounting uncertainty related to COVID-19 led the PRI staff to conclude that a productive in-person show was not feasible at the time.
SEMA Launch Pad, Presented by YEN, started in 2013 as a partnership between SEMA Education and the Young Executives Network (YEN). The goal was to promote entrepreneurship in the automotive aftermarket by giving young innovators and builders a chance to showcase their products before a panel of judges at the SEMA Show. Out of hundreds of aspirants who entered this year, five finalists were chosen to pitch their products at SEMA360 before a panel of industry experts.
One of the featured attractions at last November’s SEMA360 virtual event was the Builder Showcase, which featured the newest custom builds from SEMA-member companies around the world. More than 330 vehicles were available for participants to peruse at the Showcase, each with its own page of photos, video and specifications. From those, 40 were invited to participate in SEMA’s Battle of the Builders competition, with 12 selected as event finalists. We’ll have in-depth coverage of the finals in next month’s issue, but in the meantime, we thought we’d show you a few more entrants that were representative of the Builder Showcase entrants at SEMA360.
While the annual SEMA Show in Las Vegas has been postponed to November 2021, SEMA’s alternative “virtual” event, SEMA360, aroused widespread interest among the automotive specialty-equipment aftermarket when it was first announced last September. More than 700 companies signed up to participate in the event, held online November 2–6, 2020, and more than 300 exhibitor vehicles registered as well. What follows in these pages is a representative sampling of the vehicles that were in attendance at SEMA360.
Thousands of industry professionals logged onto www.sema360.com on Monday, November 2, to take part in SEMA360—a five-day online trade-only event in which attendees from throughout the world connected with automotive parts manufacturers while discovering new products, industry trends and ideas from leading experts in the specialty-equipment aftermarket.
The SEMA360 New Products Showcase winners were selected from more than 2,200 products across 16 different categories, including Collision Repair & Refinish, Mobile Electronics, Off-Road/4-Wheel Drive, Performance Racing and Performance Street. They represent the most innovative and cutting-edge automotive aftermarket products that will be consumable in 2021.
The annual celebration of industry excellence always marks a SEMA Week high point, no matter the venue. With SEMA360 bridging the gap left by a canceled 2020 SEMA Show, the 2020 SEMA Awards ceremony premiered online at the SEMA YouTube channel on Thursday evening, November 5. Emcee’d by automotive media personalities Jarod DeAnda and Kevin Oeste and featuring a musical band, the event struck an inspirational tone as the association honored the industry leaders, legends and innovators who shined amid a challenging year.
SEMA360 was a first in many ways. For SEMA, it was a first-time excursion into creating an online trade event. For many manufacturers, attendees and media, it was a first exposure to navigating one. But for all involved, it presented a firsthand learning experience surrounding best practices for the digital marketplaces that are now playing a growing role in business-to-business commerce.
It’s old news that the SEMA Show could not take place this year in Las Vegas due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The silver lining, however, is the emergence of SEMA360—a digital solution that will allow users within the convenience of their own schedules to interact with participating brands, attend educational and networking sessions, view new products and spot industry trends.
Inaugurated in 2014, the SEMA Show’s annual Battle of The Builders (BOTB) event, a nationwide competition series that culminates at the Show each November, has become an essential element of the Show-week experience. Even though this year’s Show will not take place as planned, we wanted share some of the entries we’ve received as a way of providing recognition to the many builders and fabricators who spend thousands of shop-hours each year to transform their automotive dreams into reality.