2006 SEMA Compact Performance Market Report:

The following is a short excerpt from the 2006 SEMA Compact Performance Market Report:

History and Background
As this is the first Compact Performance Market Report since 2003, we have decided to begin this report with a brief history, outlining the events that helped launch this growing niche. If your knowledge of this segment is thorough, feel free to skip ahead. Otherwise, take a few moments to review this brief summary.

In order to fully appreciate and interpret the current direction of the market, SEMA members need to understand its background. While it is usually helpful to begin with an obvious start-up date, the history of the compact industry is not exceptionally straightforward. Automotive authorities and grassroots gurus alike butt heads on who, when, where, how and why this segment began.

In spite of the debate, enough consistent information exists to piece together a reasonable and accurate display of its past. The purpose, other than for story-telling and nostalgia, is to illustrate many of the motivations behind consumer behavior. After all, that is one of the most important goals of this report—to understand buyers.

Clarification
Under the current conditions, it can be argued that the title we attribute to this scene has become dubious or obsolete. “Sport Compact” labels an obvious scene but often brings rise to confusion and contentions since the classifications we used in the past may no longer apply. Since the early years—most notable the ‘90s—this segment has been referred to as the compact-performance market, sport compact market, import scene, youth market or more colloquial terms such as the tuner market. In the beginning the boundaries were simple; a Honda Civic belonged, and a Ford Mustang did not. The rules were simple and the audience was clearly defined. Enthusiasts were young, loud, fast and sometimes furious.

Things changed. Today, while some of these traits are considerably different, the essential principles are as strong as they were in the beginning. Features that mattered most then, are popular now. Performance, entertainment, creature comforts and style remain at the top of the list, but the blatant flash has passed.

The growth of sport compacts as an automotive phenomenon has come from two distinct perspectives. European and Japanese car makers broke new ground with innovative changes to vehicle size and purpose, resulting in platforms performing similarly, if not better, than larger American counterparts. On one hand, European engineers recognized that small cars were nimble, light, and sporty, and began developing small models for professional racing. The other perspective came from the Japanese, who employed the concepts of efficiency and consumption as their tools to capture an audience.

SEMA members can receive a complimentary copy of the 2006 SEMA Compact Performance Market Report as another benefit to being a SEMA member. This, and several other recently published reports, are available exclusively to SEMA members at www.sema.org/research, as well as on the new 2006 Market Research CD, which can be obtained by contacting Shirley Presecan at shirleyp@sema.org.

Source: SEMA Research and Information Center