Auto Industry News: SEMA 2022 Highlights, Elon Musk Twitter Drama, & Vehicles Saying Goodbye in the New Year

Perhaps no week is busier in the automotive industry than SEMA Show week, and this year’s presentation was no exception. The show, held Nov. 1 – 4 at the Las Vegas Convention Center, featured over 1,900 exhibitors and 2,000 vehicles in a massive display of aftermarket possibility. Classic muscle, import performance, off-road and overland adventure, or even electric propulsion – whatever your flavor of enthusiasm is, SEMA found a way to celebrate it.

The Engine Block will be unpacking trends and takeaways for a few solid months, but today we round up some of the biggest and buzziest news to emerge at the show, including who took home the Battle of the Builders trophy and why Dodge’s final “Last Call” tribute model couldn’t attend.

Meanwhile, we also have updates on Elon Musk’s dizzying second week of owning Twitter as well as a list of the vehicles set to hit the chopping block in 2023. (Spoiler alert, it’s a lot of sedans – and more than a few base-level options.)

All that and more in this week’s Auto Industry News.

SEMA Returns to Vegas With Big Plans for Next Year

The 2022 SEMA Show came to a close on Friday, after delivering four days jam-packed with aftermarket excitement. Amid the innovative new products and custom builds was some interesting news: Next year, the trade-only show will begin adding more public enthusiast events – and it will run for a full week.

Aiming for a more festival-like experience, SEMA Week 2023 will have live music and entertainment, car shows and cruises, even an auction. The ultimate goal is to turn the traditional SEMA Show into an “all-city” experience over the next 5 years.

It’s an ambitious move, but perhaps not entirely unexpected.

After two years of pandemic restrictions, show organizers clearly wanted to sweep back into Sin City with a vengeance. And while attendance was up from last year, it was still lower than average.

It’s easy to blame any declines on the rising costs of doing business, but the writing on the wall is pretty clear: The auto industry is changing, and for better or worse, the aftermarket is changing along with it.

For some professionals, the traditional big expo environment just doesn’t dovetail with their vision for the future – especially as marketing grows more niche and segmented. But will a giant Vegas carnival that celebrates car monoculture jive with enthusiasts? Time will tell.

We’ll be exploring this theme a bit closer over the next few months as we unpack the variety of takeaways from SEMA 2022 – so stay tuned here at The Engine Block. For now, check out some of the major highlights from the show in our helpful roundup recap below.

SEMA 2022 Event Highlights

Ringbrothers did it again.

The Wisconsin-based custom car builders brought four incredible vehicles to this year’s SEMA show, two of which snagged Battle of the Builder category awards. Of those finalists, it was the shop’s groundbreaking 1948 Chevrolet Pickup Loadmaster that took top honors.

Dubbed “Enyo,” the F1-inspired truck features an incredible 10,000 hours of build time – and it shows.

The body has been narrowed, lengthened and slammed, and rests on a custom, one-off chassis stiffened by a four-wheel cantilever fully independent suspension with Ohlins shocks. An 8.4-liter tall-deck LS-based V8 makes 1,000 horsepower, transferred to the Bowler Performance 4L80E automatic transmission via a custom-made carbon fiber torque tube. Staggered 18-inch Goodyear Eagle G-19 tires wrapped around HRE custom wheels put all that power to the ground.

The specs will turn your head, but it’s the exterior styling that’s likely to snap your neck. Lean, mean and wearing a color aptly-named “Mythic Battle Green,” Enyo rightfully earns its new category title which Ringbrothers christened as “anti-street rod.”

Automakers proved they can still think out of the box.

Even with fewer big-name brands on the roster, there were plenty of unique concepts unveiled at this year’s SEMA on behalf of manufacturers.

Nissan revealed six vehicles designed to inspire, including an EV-swapped ‘87 Sunny compact pickup, a V8-swapped Frontier built for off-road adventure, and an all-electric Ariya crossover reimagined as a surf wagon complete with (simulated) wood siding.

As teased, Mopar brought three concepts to the show. The Jeep CJ Surge is an “electromod” meant to showcase potential plug-and-play aftermarket electric kits, while the Ram 1500 Backcountry X takes custom storage and remote work to new levels for off-grid adventures. The TRX Gold Shot concept turns the quickest, fastest, and most powerful pickup truck in the world into a custom, high-performance toy hauler.

Toyota showed off its Trailhunter Concept – a Tundra-based overlander – as a way to preview a new trim level that will soon be available on unspecified trucks and SUVs. According to the automaker, Trailhunter vehicles will be outfitted with overland-ready components, reinforcements, and functionality straight from the factory.

SEMA offered a new award that proves times are a-changin’.

World-renowned photog Larry Chen accepted the first-ever “SEMA Automotive Influencer of the Year” award, which recognizes content creators and social media influencers who have significantly supported and helped build enthusiasm for the automotive industry and car culture.

For nearly two decades, Chen’s watermark has appeared on captivating images from all corners of the industry – from off-road racing and rally car to drifting, drag racing and more. As Kristin Lee summed up perfectly in her profile on Chen over at The Drive: “If you want your sh*t to look good, you hire Larry Chen.”

Other finalists for the inaugural award included ChrisFix, TJ Hunt, Adam LZ, and Alex Taylor.

Dodge unveiled an upgraded Charger Daytona EV – but no final “Last Call” tribute model.

The sleek two-door EV appeared wearing carbon-fiber 18-inch wheels and a Stryker Red paint job that calls to mind the long, lacquered fingernails of some 1940s femme fatale. The interior leaves something to be desired – but the performance specs sure seem promising, if a bit unnecessarily complicated.

Essentially, Dodge is taking a “stair-step approach” to power.

This means, there will be multiple output options (nine, to be exact) with variation in between. The brand brought three of these power levels to SEMA – a base level “340” (named for its kilowatt power output) that makes 456 horsepower, an upgraded “440” that brings 590 horsepower, and a factory-delivered 800-volt SRT Banshee powertrain package that puts out an as-yet-unannounced number of ponies.

Where it gets a little tricky is that the brand will also offer Dodge Direct Connection performance upgrades for each power level. These boosters basically unlock mo’powah as an over-the-air purchase.

We’re not sure if these “crystal” key upgrades, as Dodge calls them, will be one-time purchases or subscription-based charges. However, the latter is certainly a growing trend among automakers looking to capitalize on feature-rich options.

It’s a bold move, bringing electric muscle to a show rooted in hot rod culture. But Dodge feels confident that “technology moves forward and the customizers and tuners move right along with it,” according to CEO Tim Kuniskis.

The brand is hardly done with ICE power, though.

Dodge Direct Connection introduced two new supercharged and turbocharged crate engine series at the SEMA Show. The supercharged “Hellephant” series of crate engines will offer cast iron and aluminum engines ranging from approximately 900 to 1,100+ horsepower. Meanwhile, the “HurriCrate” lineup will include a Cat 1 crate engine that delivers up to 420 hp and a Cat 3 engine that reaches up to 550 hp.

Additionally, the brand is moving forward with its “Last Call” tribute models to commemorate the Charger and Challenger which will end in 2023. The final and presumably most exciting of these special edition rides was set to debut at SEMA, but Dodge walked back the announcement a few weeks ago.

We finally have more information on why that is. And, it appears to be because the vehicle, uh, keeps blowing up.

According to CEO Kuniskis, the modified high-powered V8 teased during Speed Week in August can’t quite seem to survive the brutal but necessary testing phase. “So far we’ve grenaded seven engines, but I think we’ve got it figured out — if we don’t blow up any more engines,” he said. “We think we got it fixed but I’m still holding my breath.”

Maybe not the most ringing of endorsements, but if anybody has proven they can deliver bananas power, it’s Dodge.

Did you know…?

After more than 35 years of exclusively providing premium factory soft tops for Jeep Wrangler, the Jeep brand has chosen Bestop to offer three official Jeep-licensed soft tops to JK Wrangler owners.

The world famous Trektop, Trektop Glide, and Trektop Pro will be available in Premium Twill and Black Diamond fabrics at Bestop.com and supporting Bestop resellers. This latest collection will be the first time a premium Bestop soft top will showcase the Jeep brand on select tops. Keep an eye out, as the accessories are set to arrive sometime this fall season.

So Much Is Happening With Elon Musk & Twitter Right Now

Tesla CEO and richest man in the world, Elon Musk, is officially the owner of Twitter. After a rollercoaster ride of will-he-or-won’t-he, the tech billionaire finally went through with the sale on October 27 to the tune of $44 billion.

Since then, it has been a different kind of twisty ride watching the social platform descend into pandemonium.

A polarizing figure to begin with, Musk has proposed a variety of unpopular cost-cutting and money-making endeavors to recoup some of that eyewatering purchase price.

For example, one of his first moves was to fire several longtime top Twitter executives. He also laid off roughly half of the company’s 7,500-strong workforce. Some reports indicate Musk axed entire departments, including the “curation team,” which tackles misinformation.

Expressing concerns over Twitter’s potential “new direction,” several brands paused their advertising on the platform. This caused a significant drop in revenue, according to Musk, who blames activist groups pressuring the companies to pull their ads.

The CEO’s intentions to turn a profit were also met with dismay, specifically his suggestion that the platform begin charging a monthly fee for “verified” accounts (denoted by a blue check mark). When a few verified celebrities changed their names to Elon Musk and tweeted their disapproval, the new CEO quickly announced that “any Twitter handles engaging in impersonation without clearly specifying “parody” will be permanently suspended.”

Frankly, watching this bizarre development play out in real time, on the most real-timey of social platforms, which also happens to be the subject of this whole fiasco is a little too meta – even for us. Suffice to say, this is an ongoing story.

In Other News…

On the employment front, it appears Elon isn’t alone in his quest to trim the fat.

Last week, Stellantis offered a voluntary termination package to certain U.S. salaried employees. The company hopes doing so will assist in its transition to zero-emission vehicle development. Essentially, Stellantis is looking to offload some expensive staff and replace them with younger and cheaper workers.

Detroit neighbor Ford made a similar move in August, eliminating some 3,000 jobs in the U.S., Canada and India. More recently, the automaker announced a new “talent-management policy” aimed at weeding out underperforming white-collar employees.

At the time of Ford’s decision, GM announced it had no plans to lay off workers. However, the company did stress it was adopting a more conservative and selective hiring process.

Vehicles Dying for the 2023 Model Year

Between the 2022 SEMA Show and the upcoming LA Auto Show, new vehicle announcements are in full force. But what of the models set to hit the chopping block in 2023? Check out the list below – complements of The Detroit Bureau – to see if your beloved ride is on borrowed time.

• Acura ILX
• Acura NSX
• Buick Encore
• Chevrolet Spark
• Chevrolet Trax
• Ford GT
• Honda Insight
• Hyundai Accent
• Hyundai Ioniq
• Hyundai Veloster
• Infiniti Q60
• Jeep Grand Cherokee WK
• Lamborghini Aventador
• Mercedes-Benz A-Class
• Nissan Rogue Sport
• Ram ProMaster City
• Toyota Avalon
• Volkswagen Passat

The Engine Block is your one-stop source for any and all auto industry news. Keep an eye on our weekly round-up of enthusiast coverage, product reviews, vehicle spotlights, auto show/expo features, and more. Be sure to check back Wednesday for a primer on oil viscosity and on Friday for everything you need to know about the SCORE Baja 1000.