Ford
Brings Stangs To SEMA
By
Byron Pope
Staff Reporter
Ford Motor Co. wants a piece of the multi-billion dollar pie that
the specialty automotive industry has grown into.
That’s why when the 2004 Specialty Equipment Market Association
(SEMA) show opens in Las Vegas on Nov. 2, Ford will be “Vehicle
Manufacturer of the Show” for the second straight year.
The SEMA show is no longer just for young urbanites looking to “slam”
their Honda Civics or Toyota Supras. The aftermarket parts industry
has become big business, opening the floodgates for automakers to
showcase their aftermarket savvy.
Last year, aftermarket industry retail sales reached nearly $27
billion, higher than Americans’ purchases and rentals of videos,
DVDs and video games.
As impressive as those figures are, it’s even more impressive
that the market shows no signs of letting up. If anything, it’s
steadily increasing. This year the market is expected to grow by
$2 billion, which is as much as the entire economies of some small
countries.
For years domestic automakers either didn’t notice, or ignored,
the burgeoning aftermarket industry.
That is no longer the case, however, as the Big Three automakers
continue to stake out larger sections of the SEMA showroom floor.
If you saw either “The Fast and the Furious” or its
follow-up “Too Fast, Too Furious,” you have an understanding
of what the aftermarket industry is all about. The idea is to personalize
your vehicle – make it go faster or stop better – by
adding aftermarket parts.
In addition to its new Mustang, Ford will have plenty of other vehicles
on display at SEMA, including a Focus RS8, a supercharged Mustang
Cobra, Lightning “Super” and the FR100.
Ford subsidiary Jaguar will use the show to debut a “bonspeed”
X-Type sports sedan with a modified suspension and 19-inch wheels
and tires.
According to Ford spokesman Alan Hall, the bulk of Ford’s
display will be dedicated to the Mustang, which is the most highly-modified
car in the aftermarket. Ford will have 15 modified Mustangs on display
this year, all of which have been designed by Ford’s aftermarket
partners, which include Roush and Saleen.
“Our research shows that in terms of modified vehicles, the
Mustang is the number one of all vehicles, including trucks, in
terms of marketshare that gets modified, and that’s about
9 to 10 percent,” Hall said.
“So, the Mustang has really been our flagship when it comes
to our involvement in the aftermarket.”
For the past several year, import tuners have been all the rage
in the aftermarket industry. But, according to Hall, that’s
not necessarily the case anymore.
Last year, Ford’s influence was on its best-selling F-150
pickup, which will also have a strong presence at the show.
“The imports were hot the last few years, but if you look
back, trucks were really where the aftermarket started from, and
we offer a lot in the way of trucks,” Hall said.
Ford has a three-tiered approach when it comes to the aftermarket,
Hall said.
“The three pillars that we’re going to focus on in terms
of product line are the Mustang, F-150 and Focus. That’s where
we’ll be attacking as we move forward,” Hall said. “And
we have a strong line of crate engines, and that can cover restoration
projects as well as drag racing and other forms of race cars. So
the crate engine business crosses boundaries.”
While the aftermarket has always been important to Ford, Hall said
it “has continued to grow every year with no end in sight.”
According to SEMA, last year’s show featured more than 1,500
project vehicles, had approximately 1,000 entries from its new product
competition and attracted more than 100,000 industry professionals
from 145 countries.
The 2004 show will be organized into 12 sections at Las Vegas Convention
Center. Carmaker’s exhibits will be distributed throughout
2 million square feet. In comparison, the North American International
Auto Show (NAIAS), held annually at Detroit’s Cobo Center,
only encompasses just over 1 million square feet of exhibit space,
which includes 250,000 sq. ft. in second-story displays.
“The SEMA Show provides us with the opportunity to showcase
the flexibility of our vehicles for personalization and accessorization.
We’ve learned that the SEMA Show goes far beyond its trade
show walls at the Las Vegas Convention Center, receiving international
media coverage. As the ‘Vehicle Manufacturer of the Show,’
we have a fantastic opportunity to display the all-new 2005 Mustang
to an international audience of auto enthusiasts,” said Jim
O'Connor, group vice president, Marketing, Sales & Service,
Ford.
On the first day of SEMA, which lasts through Nov. 5, Ford will
host a panel called “40 Years of Mustang Performance,”
which will feature automotive legends such as Carroll Shelby, Parnelli
Jones and Steve Saleen.
According to Ford spokesman Nick Twork, the aftermarket industry
played a significant role in forging Mustang’s reputation.
“[The discussion will be] focusing on the Mustang legend and
how the Mustang icon has been built by tuners and the aftermarket,”
Twork said. “And one of the first people to do that was Shelby
in 1965 with the GT350 and Jones, who helped put Mustang on the
map with racing.”
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