SEMA show a great collection of automotive aftermarket products

It was a pleasure to attend the SEMA show in Las Vegas Nov. 1 through 4 and easy to see why it is well attended by members of the automotive aftermarket industry from all over the world.

For our upcoming Motorsports section in the Village News, which is scheduled to launch in early 2012, it enabled me to search out and identify manufacturers from Southern California who sell to the world. We will be writing informative articles about them all the way up until next year’s SEMA show.

In this day of seeing mass-market products coming to our shores in shipping containers, we will be showing you companies who are producing world-class products for the automotive aftermarket, racing industry and export. Many of these companies exist within an hour’s driving distance from our publishing offices and thrive in their manufacturing plants in our local and regional industrial parks.

The stories we will provide over the next year will be varied and interesting. For example, one company located in Fallbrook makes a device that has changed a man’s life. Another company in Murrieta has revolutionized the way auto body shops can quote repairs right on their driveway with a mobile computer station.

Being involved with SEMA allows us information on the ‘Hottest Truck of the Year’ (in 2011, it is the Ford F-Series) and the latest automotive market upgrades and performance improvements.

SEMA began in 1963 as the Speed Equipment Manufacturers Association and were a group of small manufacturers who were suppliers of performance equipment for early hot rods. Today, many of the original companies are very large, successful corporations, and some, such as Edelbrock, Ansen, B&M and Offenhauser, are known internationally for their product lines.

From performance products for street and race applications to appearance accessories for late-model automobiles and light-duty trucks, SEMA-member companies contribute to the vitality and strength of a $34-billion-a-year retail industry.

SEMA eventually became the Specialty Equipment Market Association, embracing within its ranks all businesses in the distribution chain: manufacturers, warehouse distributors, jobbers, independent retailers, volume retailers, specialty stores (speed shops), sales agents, subcontractors and publishing companies.

Keep up with us as we prepare to launch our Automotive & Motorsports Section in the Village News and Valley News.

To comment on these stories, visit http://www.thevillagenews.com.