SEMA Show: Let’s Find Out What Tyre Manufacturers Want

Executives from The Tire Industry Association and the Specialty Equipment Marketing Association have met to discuss ways they can heighten the SEMA Show’s value amongst tyre manufacturers. At a press conference, representatives from the TIA and SEMA pledged to work together more closely, outlining plans for focus groups and meetings with tyre companies in order to help maximise the show’s Tires, Wheels & Equipment (TWE) section.

“We believe that closer collaboration with TIA and sitting down with tyre industry representatives will help us shape the Show so it continues to be an outstanding value for the tyre industry,” said SEMA president and CEO Chris Kersting. SEMA and TIA, he added, will “work closely to understand what the industry needs, and then to take action, so that manufacturers and dealers are better able to secure value for their investment.”

Tyre buyer attendance at the 2009 SEMA Show represented 9.4 per cent of total buyers, making it the second-largest buyer group at the Show. Yet despite the presence of 290 tyre exhibitors, including 66 first-time attendees, overall exhibitor presence in the TWE declined 5.1 per cent from 2008. This absence of long-time tyre company exhibitors, coupled with the changes brought by a global recession, has made apparent the need for the industry associations to meet with tyre companies and gain a better understanding of their changing needs.

“[The economy] has changed the landscape of our industry and the SEMA Show, and there is no business as usual anymore,” Kersting continued. We have enjoyed a leadership position for the last several years and intend to continually improve the show to provide an annual gathering that is relevant and gives a strong return on investment for the participants.”

TIA executive vice president Roy Littlefield also noted the tyre exhibitor decline may be due to a slight identity crisis within the tyre industry about its place at the SEMA Show. “It became easy for exhibitors and attendees to begin to identify it as a SEMA Show with a tyre component. Now the association is wrestling with how to make it a tyre show.”

Asked whether future SEMA Shows might include showcases for commercial and off-the-road tyres, Kersting said the association is “very open-minded and will consider ideas that will advance the value of the show.”

“I don’t think anything is out of the realm,” Littlefield added. “I think what SEMA has said to us is, ‘Let’s find out what the manufacturers want, and let’s see if it makes sense to respond.”