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Cars in Taylor Swift Music VideosThe 2024 SEMA Show Proves Auto Shows Are Back
The 2024 SEMA show revealed some great cars, aftermarket parts, and celebrity appearances. We rundown the entire show here.
SEMA Brings Back the Excitement
Modern automotive trade shows and domestic auto shows have something of a bad rap these days. They’re either ignored by the very automakers intended to fill them or relegated to local dealerships so the OEM doesn’t even have to bother. But you won’t find that kind of vibe at the annual SEMA expo in Las Vegas. After years of pandemic and post-pandemic uncertainty, the ultimate aftermarket trade show in the world is back to full form.
Thousands of aftermarket parts makers, OEM manufacturers, and those involved in the industry gathered across four unique convention halls scattered across 2.5 million square feet of convention space. Celebrities of all stripes and flavors were also on hand throughout the five days of SEMA. Entertainment figures like Jay Leno and Gabriel Iglesias, racing icons like Tanner Foust, and YouTubers like Westen Champlin, Schmee150, and Tavarish make the SEMA show feel like a legitimate big deal.
Aftermarket Industries Fill the Convention Center
With so much ground to cover, SEMA very meticulously planned the event space to accommodate as many unique vendors as possible from across the automotive and auto-adjacent sectors. Starting in the LV Convention Center’s Central Hall, a floor space hallmarked by racing, performance upgrades, restoration, and hot rods made for petrolhead nirvana in 2024. Prominent restomod shops like Blazin Rodz, Ringbrothers, Gas Monkey Garage, and others shared floor space with billion-dollar OEM brands like Kia and Toyota to pack more performance per square foot than anywhere in the world.
The adjacent North, West, and South Halls are accessible by sky bridges between the buildings or via the underground Tesla loop shuttle. A short walk to the North Hall reveals a who’s who of first-time and featured automotive brands, often emphasizing aftermarket audio but also auto-centric mobile electronics. Brands like Rockford Fosgate and GoPro mingled with auto-focused businesses like Shopmonkey and eBay Motors.
New Products Showcase Aftermarket EV Products
In the SEMA New Products Showcase, the aftermarket sector of the future takes shape before your eyes in the form of exciting renewable fuel and energy products from heavyweights like Yamaha, Chevron, and a handful of bespoke Tesla aftermarket providers. One of which was bold enough to invent a police package for none other than the Tesla Cybertruck. Such was the theme at SEMA this year, with dozens of Cybertrucks showing how dedicated the aftermarket is to servicing its most polarizing clientele.
Indeed, EVs played a more prominent role than ever at SEMA in 2024. This was a fact put in motion with the performance of the Nitrocross FC1-X electric rally car by none other than Tanner Foust himself behind the wheel. Close by, the jovial Kansan farm boy turned YouTube sensation Westen Champlin was the maestro behind a 50,000-horsepower burnout show that captivated thousands all show long. You can’t walk to the adjacent West Hall without traversing a parking lot full of custom rigs from across America. It’s a place you could legitimately spend all day walking around if there wasn’t an entire convention left to attend.
Off-Road Experiences at SEMA 2024
Once in the West Hall, a set of OEMs and custom builds of an off-road flavor made for an enticing experience. Ford Performance was the no-doubt OEM highlight of the hall, complete with new off-road-focused upgrade packages for F-Series trucks, powerful crate engines like the Gen-IV Coyote and Godzilla V8, plus a full carbon fiber Ford F-100 Coyote V8 restomod built with parts you can order directly from Ford. Nissan and Infiniti were also on hand to show their breed of OEM performance-minded goodies. They shared real estate with prominent car care brands like 3M, Clear Pro, and WD-40, plus 4×4-minded aftermarket brands like RealTruck, King Shocks, WeatherTech Direct, and EarthRoamer, among countless others.
A Tesla Loop ride and a short walk to the South Hall bring you two levels of coolness to explore. The South Upper Hall gives tool manufacturers and auto detailing/repair service companies a chance to shine. Heavyweights like Harbor Freight, Milwaukee Tool, and Caterpillar came out in force with hands-on experiences and their latest and greatest developments in automotive tool technology. Down below, the South Hall Tower is a space dedicated to the ever-lucrative sector of wheels and tires, with dozens of brands on hand.
MOPAR and More Show Their Stuff
It was also a convenient spot to stuff the RAM/Dodge/Jeep/Mopar booth this year, where a host of restomod muscle cars, ferocious OEM off-roaders based on cars and accessories you can buy right now made for a delightful treat to end our the circuit around the South Hall complex. The full suite of HEMI and Hellcat-based crate engines was just the cherry on top. You could’ve spent the full five days of SEMA without seeing everything there is to see. Trust us, we tried.
But as an entertainment event focused on all things petrolhead, SEMA was as effective in 2024 as it’s ever been. For a show running every year since 1967 (except 2020 and 21), that’s a real impact statement. From the fan’s perspective, and as a showcase to the aftermarket car scene, there’s nothing other than SEMA that even comes close. But it’s also a powerful revenue-generating system for an organization that fights excess industry regulation and helps member companies innovate. In truth, this is probably SEMA’s most important function. Happily, they succeeded with flying colors in 2024.
