• by Karl Greenberg , November 1, 2010

SEMA, it seems, is back. The Specialty Equipment Market Association's yearly automotive love-in in Las Vegas -- where what happens will hopefully not stay in Vegas -- shows that marketers are ready to joy ride again, after a more sparsely attended 2009 show.

The association says that 1,541 companies have signed up to show at the Las Vegas Convention Center, with SEMA taking 800,000 square feet of exhibit space this year, up by more than 100,000 square feet from the 2009 show. It also says that 267 companies will exhibit for the first time, and 142 companies that skipped last year will also present their wares for the 2010 show.

The real draws of the show, running through Friday of this week, are the grown-up toy-store arrays of tricked out cars and trucks from accessory companies, customizers and automakers.

This year, for example, Ford will use the show to spotlight its new Mustang Boss 302 by putting it in a kick line of nine other Mustangs customized by Ford's Vehicle Personalization division and other designers. Says Jim Owens, Mustang brand manager: "SEMA is a great way for Ford to not only show customers what's new for Mustang, but what they can do to make it their own Mustang."

"People understand Mustang and they fall in love with the emotion of the car, but at the same time they want to bring a little of their individuality to the table," said Melvin Betancourt, Ford design manager. "So if you're a Mustang enthusiast looking to set your Mustang apart from others, SEMA is like going into a toy store full of inspirational imagery."

Among the other Mustangs are a pony car by Team Baurtwell and celebrity customizer Funkmaster Flex that was designed for rapper and actor Snoop Dogg, and a hot pink Mustang GT convertible customized by Creations n' Chrome for the American Cancer Society to raise awareness for breast cancer.

Kia is also big at the show with two concepts of its newly redesigned Sportage crossover, one called "Work" and the other "Play." Kia teamed with Antenna magazine to develop the two cars. Antenna teamed with Kia for last year's SEMA show on "Soul Xpression," a hip version of the 2010 Soul.

Chrysler's Jeep, Ram Truck and Dodge division is bringing several of its vehicles to SEMA as much to spotlight the company's Mopar accessories division as off road and muscular on-roaders. There will be a stripped-down, bare-bones Jeep Wrangler called J7 Stripper that has things like a lift kit, Mopar prototype tow-hooks from Egypt's military truck specs. The color is a precursor to next year's "crush" color. Jeep will also have a Jeep truck based on the J8 military vehicle also from Egypt's military fleet.

Ralph Gilles, president and CEO of Dodge cars and SVP of product design, said Dodge will unveil three new concepts: a redline dodge charger. "I let my guys rip on it," he said. "We see vehicles like Charger as canvas for enthusiasts."

Subaru is using the show to display its "Fastest STI Ever," a Subaru WRX STI. The show is especially important for the Cherry Hill, N.J. company this year because after spending the last couple of years focused on redesigns of its mass-market Legacy sedan and Forester crossover, the automaker just relaunched the 2011 Impreza WRX and WRX STI, which are Subaru's performance cars aimed at bringing in younger drivers. The automaker will have SRT (Subaru Racing Technology) USA drivers Travis Pastrana and Dave Mirra there to sign autographs.

The general public can't get into the show, but this year SEMA is doing a social media campaign targeting car buffs. The Facebook contest lets people vie for a trip to next year's show by voting on which of the display cars and trucks at this year's show will get the nod for "Hottest Car," "Hottest Truck," and "Hottest 4X4 SUV."