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Las Vegas Once Again Hosts Popular SEMA Show
F1 Cars
A large crowd was able to get an up close look at every kind of vehicle imaginable at the recent SEMA Show in Las Vegas, with a number of awards and contests also part of the event. - photo by MIKE BURGHARDT
LEXUS
This Lexus electrified car was among the many new and unique vehicles on display at the SEMA, Specialty Equipment Market Association, show in Last Vegas. - photo by MIKE BURGHARDT

Each year in Las Vegas, Nevada, the Specialty Equipment Market Association, known as SEMA, puts on a huge Trade Show. The show, itself, is not open to the general public, except on the first Friday of the event. This is known as the SEMA Igniter and features many entertainment festivities. These include concerts, entertainers, car shows and parades as well as many equipment demonstrations.

The show is contained within Las Vegas Convention Center. The halls are divided into various groups that feature everything from custom cars and trucks, restored vehicles, concept vehicles, automotive related tools and equipment, and automotive related electronics. The overall purpose of the show is to provide a meeting place for automotive related businesspeople and businesses, large and small, to exchange ideas and to further develop the automotive industry. This is important to allow manufacturers to keep up with the times with respect to laws, technologies and safety, especially in the aftermarket parts industry. Automotive students and their teachers/instructors are encouraged to attend the SEMA show to improve their educational knowledge in the automotive (especially aftermarket) industry.

There are various awards and contests during the show. One such award (2022 SEMA Launch Pad) was presented to Kevin Robison of TRAC LLC for the TRAC Tire Jack, a tool designed to make removing or installing a wheel/tire from a vehicle safer, simpler, and easier. He walked away with a grand prize package valued at nearly $100,000.

There are Build contests where builders showcase their custom design automotive builds and ideas within various categories including Hot rod/Hot rod Truck, Sport compact/Import Performance, Off-Road and Young guns.

Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM), broken down into six categories, including the new EV (electric vehicle) category, with the winners being:

Car of the Year – Dodge Challenger; Sport Compact of the Year – Toyota GR86; 4x4/SUV of the Year – Jeep Wrangler; Full-size Truck of the Year – RAM; Mid-size Truck of the Year – Jeep Gladiator; and Electric Vehicle of the Year – Volkswagen ID.4

Thousands of products, including transmissions, drive trains and engines are displayed, many with cut-away versions to show their inner workings. There was even welding equipment, with booths, that allowed for prospective customers to actually test weld with the equipment.

The SEMA Show is the place to see latest trending products and hottest vehicles.