Wednesday, October 26, 2005

General Motors Corp. The concept for a Weekend Club Racer versions of the Pontiac Solstice will be part of the GM display at the SEMA show.

Automakers accelerate aftermarket adaptability

Booming sales helps create car accessory windfall as companies learn that getting personal pays.

By Larry Edsalls / Special to The Detroit News

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LAS VEGAS -- Five years ago, if you wanted to add running boards to your full-size General Motors pickup truck or sport utility vehicle, you needed to remove the rocker panel trim, measure carefully, drill several holes into the frame and then bolt on the new parts.

Even if you owned the right tools, "It was a three- to four-hour job," said Nancy Philippart, executive director of the GM Accessories division.

Not anymore. Beginning with the introduction of the 2002 Chevrolet Avalanche, adaptability to aftermarket customization was designed into many GM vehicles.

"Now," added Philippart, "it's a 15-minute install."

GM is not alone among automakers in the attention it pays to the personalization and customization that vehicle owners increasingly like -- especially when there's $31 billion a year at stake, and when that figure is growing by some 8 percent a year.

"That's just in North America and does not include installation costs," said Peter MacGillivray, vice president of the Specialty Equipment Market Association, the automotive aftermarket product trade group that counts among its membership everyone from the garage-based, mom-and-pop producer to major automakers and suppliers.

The annual SEMA Show will overflow the Las Vegas Convention Center next week, when some 120,000 people gather to do everything from ordering new parts to identifying emerging trends.

For the automakers, SEMA has become a major auto show. .

The first SEMA Show was held in Los Angeles in 1967 in the parking lot of Dodger Stadium. Five vehicles were on display. Ninety-eight vendors -- primarily southern California-based hot-rod parts producers -- showed wares on card tables. Next week, walking past each of the nearly 2,000 displays inside the convention center will involve a marathon's distance. But that's just inside the center's three buildings. Outside, plazas and parking lots will be bumper-to-bumper with tents, temporary buildings, vehicle displays and a variety of test tracks.

It used to be that cars weren't customized until they were in the hands of their second or third owners, SEMA's MacGillivray said. But one of the significant trends in vehicle customization has been the eagerness of the original owner to personalize a vehicle immediately.

Another new trend is going from do-it-yourself to what MacGillivray calls "do-it-for-me."

Regardless of who does the work, "Personalization is not a trend," said GM's Philippart. "Ultimately, this is driven by the consumer," MacGillivray added.

"Consumers at a higher rate than ever are entering dealerships and expecting to find vehicles that can be personalized and customized," he said. "The ability to be customized off the showroom floor enhances its ability to be sold."

Rich Rae, director of Mopar sales, marketing and supply for Chrysler Group, said that consumers want the same lifestyle in their vehicles that they enjoy in their homes; especially when it comes to entertainment and the ability to do such things as plug-and-play songs from an iPod through a vehicle's audio system.

"Ten years ago, the Mopar accessory process began after the vehicle was launched," Rae said. "Now we are embedded in the development process as long as three years before the vehicle comes to market. Accessories don't look like hang-ons. They are integrated.

"Our goal is that we never want any accessory to take more than one hour to install."

To that end, not only do the automakers incorporate the engineering and design of customization parts sold through dealerships as part of a vehicle's development process, they work with SEMA to share specific vehicle measurements so aftermarket companies can have their parts ready as the vehicles begin to roll off the assembly line.

"For the new Ford F-150, SEMA members had more than 100 products available before it was delivered to dealerships," MacGillivray said of the cooperation between the auto manufacturers and aftermarket.

In recent years, the Honda Civic has been among the most popular vehicles for customization. "This is a trade show," said Honda Motor Co. spokeswoman Sara Pines, "but the trades are the most influential people in this marketplace."

Honda is eager for the opportunity to influence the influencers, she said.

"They are parts buyers, shop owners, the professional tuners, and they are early adapters."

Honda won't be the only car company introducing specialized models at SEMA. GM will show the prototype for a Pontiac Solstice Weekend Club Racer and Ford Motor Co. will unveil an open-top version of its GT supercar. Chrysler's Mopar division will launch 50 performance and accessory products. Every car company there will use SEMA to showcase new projects.

Ford will show new performance parts for the Mustang and several souped-up Fusions. GM's display will focus on enhancements for the Solstice, Chevrolet Cobalt, HHR and Hummer H3.

Also showing for the first time will be new products from wheel and tire companies, automotive electronics equipment producers, from companies that make paint for cars to companies that make products to clean that paint, and from makers of all sorts of automotive accessories.

Larry Edsall is a Phoenix-based freelance writer. You can reach him at (602) 300-4518 or ledsall@cox.net.