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VehicleVoice just got back from the 2010 Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) Show in Las Vegas. Talk about a party. After two years of cautious optimism, this year’s show gave the impression that things are looking brighter. From Toyota’s Swagger Wagon Supreme to Audi’s V-10-powered R8 Spyder boasting 710 hp, the show reminded us of the glory days. No doubt, the SEMA show is less outrageous than in the past, and that’s a good thing. But this year’s show seemed to shrug off the negative vibes of consumer confidence, replacing them with a healthy dose of fun.
With significant OEM participation in the show, one has to ask, “Is this just about the aftermarket? Does the aftermarket fuel new vehicle sales?”
AutoPacific recently conducted research into this subject for SEMA and reached some interesting results.
• Modifiers are vocal: Over one-third of them give car-buying advice to five or more people in a given year.
• Modifiers are influenced by parts and accessories availability when they make a new vehicle purchase: Twenty-nine percent indicated that the availability of parts for their vehicle influenced them to buy that vehicle versus a different vehicle.
• Non-modifiers are influenced by customized vehicles: Eleven percent of non-modifiers surveyed indicated that a customized vehicle influenced them to purchase that particular vehicle.
When you add up the affect of aftermarket parts on both modifiers and non-modifiers, AutoPacific estimates that over 1.3 million new vehicle sales are positively influenced in a ten million year. That’s impressive. Perhaps the photos below tell a story that includes a lot more than a party.