Tom Niesent, our Assistant Manager, and Trevor Butters of our Sales Team attended SEMA in Las Vegas, November 5-8. SEMA is a large 4-day trade show for automotive trade-only buyers, suppliers and exhibitors. It is the best place to see the newest products and trends in the auto industry as well as features educational sessions led by industry professionals. When we asked Tom and Trevor about the highlights and their takeaway from the SEMA convention, here is what they had to say:
“The Jeep Gladiator was THE thing at SEMA this year. It appeared that most manufacturers had a Gladiator with a lift, wheels, tires, bed rack and a roof top tent system. The new Jeep Gladiator also allows 40” tires or more.” – Tom
“With the Ford Bronco on the verge of making a comeback, there were quite a few of the older classic Broncos or EB’s (early Broncos) at the show. One builder decided to take a 2019 F250 regular cab, long bed truck and turn it into the old full-size Bronco from back in the day.” – Tom
“The UTV market was huge at SEMA. Many UTV’s were decked out with lights, lift kits, wheels and tires. Another theme we noticed were big lifted trucks that had matching UTVs.” – Trevor
“With overlanding becoming a more fun way to camp and 4-wheel in the back country, SEMA had their first showing of the Overland Experience. Overlanding had its own section showing off various racks, tents, and vans to use for off-road campers. It is going to be getting bigger each year as overlanding is becoming a popular way to camp and 4wheel remotely.” – Trevor
So what does this mean for Bullhide 4×4 customers?
Bullhide 4×4 loves to attend SEMA each year to learn about the new products hitting the market soon so they can relay the information to their customers. The showing of the early Broncos at SEMA was a great way to get people excited about the future of the new Bronco which may be coming in late 2020. In addition, another popular item was bed racks for the truck crowd since overlanding is gaining more traction.