SEMA is many things all at once. It’s the home to almost the entire aftermarket industry, playing host to a billion-dollar (with a B) industry. It’s also the home of the Bluetooth driveshaft and the overfender nationals. What it hasn’t been, historically, is a home for automakers to display their wares.
At the 2024 show, though, there was a shift: SEMA has replaced the traditional auto show as the hub of the automotive universe.
It’s a prediction I made last year, especially with SEMA starting to represent a serious mass of economic power. Historically, SEMA has only existed to serve its members, supporting the business of making speed parts and selling them. But recently, under the leadership of SEMA President and CEO Mike Spagnola, SEMA has become a political force. Now, it has the power to put its thumb on the scale of car-specific legislation–something that affects the entire industry.
While the show is still expansive, and the vast majority of the four halls it spans are small parts makers, tuners, and tire companies, there was a significant automaker presence in the show’s central hall. Toyota brought a colossal booth that spanned the width of the convention center, full of new cars and SEMA-specific projects meant to stir the imaginations of prospective owners. For its Gazoo Racing brand, mod-friendliness is a big sales point. A good portion of the folks who will buy a GR Supra, GR86, or GR Corolla will do modifications.
In that way, Toyota was always an early adopter of SEMA. This year, the automaker brought 10 builds to the 2024 show. The highlights included the “Suprabird,” a tribute to NASCAR legend Richard Petty with a widebody kit and a classic 43 livery, while the GR86 Rally Concept made our dreams come true with a GR Corolla powertrain swap, complete with the classic Toyota Castrol WRC livery. Then a chopped-top 4Runner called the Surf concept, a roofless Land Cruiser, and a Tundra designed for tailgates all served the truck and off-road crowd–a significant portion of SEMA’s business.
What was unusual was the presence of Honda under the guise of HRC. The HRC booth took up a similarly large surface area, but it wasn’t full of new product. Instead, the booth showcased Honda’s racing efforts across Formula 1, IMSA, SRO, and IndyCar, along with the Acura Integra Type S HRC concept. Being an aftermarket show, a group of race cars doesn’t have much relevance.
Yet, all of HRC’s top brass were in attendance, as well as a good portion of its US staff. I spotted Koji Watanabe, President of HRC, walking the floor with an entourage that included David Salters, President of HRC US. Folks like that have little to do with SEMA, yet something about the show urged them to attend. What was even odder was spotting FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem on the show floor shortly afterward.
While automaker presence has often wavered at SEMA, this year was different. The commitment of those in attendance was more substantial, and the show became an automotive singularity in a way it hadn’t before. Sure, SEMA had the usual array of brodozers and half-finished car builds next to some of the industry's best projects. It indeed had an extra gear this year, not only with absurd, pre-pandemic attendance numbers, but also in terms of who attended, and how much they were willing to spend.
Automakers are now trialing production-possible concepts and displaying them at the show to gauge interest, not just absurd one-off builds. It’s almost as if Toyota heard the rumors about a three-cylinder GR86 and thought it would be a good idea to truly gauge interest, though there is no official confirmation that's the case. And perhaps it’s because the auto show is truly dying that SEMA took its place, rather than SEMA being the best place for it. It doesn’t change the fact that SEMA is now more newsworthy than almost any auto show, and is only becoming more so as the industry marches on from the pandemic.
It shows that the performance aftermarket is stronger and more alive than ever, even in the face of serious regulatory clampdowns. It also shows that there is still a thirst for face-to-face, in-person events that allow people to touch, see, and feel products rather than just staring at a screen.
What SEMA is truly doing is filling a gap that nobody ever expected it to fill.
