The summer sport compact market has new kits for new faces

3dCarbon performed wind- tunnel testing and computational fluid dynamic testing to make sure its Prius kit wouldn’t slow the vehicle down with any added accessories.

The sport compact market was made for summer seasons and summer vacations. It feels like a warm-weather sport, when everyone finds time to get to the races, the strips and drifts, autocross and rally, maybe even a little road racing. Or, maybe that’s just the look they’re trying to achieve on sunshine drives through the canyons or to the beach, urban and suburban evening cruises with the windows open for warm air even after the sun goes down.

Summertime is a good time for restylers and installers, but it is better when they know what demands to expect from their consumers. To that end, we spoke with a few companies who listen to this market’s heartbeat. Here’s what they had to say.

Take a look at these
Consumers love to shop in summer, particularly in this market, when a good chunk of its base is on vacation, and the girls the guys are trying to impress with their cars are walking around dressed in … well, summer clothes. Let’s start with the products that restylers and installers might look to add for these guys in their summer — and even fall — sport compact product lines.

The sport compact market may have a lot of new names, but the Honda Civic is a name everyone knows and loves. Photo from Grip Tuning.

Extreme Dimensions notes the 350Z has always been a big hit with the company. So the 370Z, being the next generation, was a logical step to begin offering products for it.

“Lip kits have really grown in popularity for sport compacts, and have almost displaced full replacement fascias for that segment of vehicle,” says Matt Srugis of Grip Tuning in Warren, Mich.

Lip kits are attractive as they are a low price point. And, according to Srugis, they are typically 

easy to install, and require a more modest paint and prep cost. He adds, “Wheels and tires are usually a good starting point, along with suspension, vinyl graphics and even interior packages and lighting.”

Ernie Bunnell of 3dCarbon in Newport Beach, Calif., says, “We released the Ford Fiesta five-door body kit in May, the same month the vehicle came out for Ford.” Bunnell notes that 3dCarbon is a Ford-licensed supplier for body kit accessories. “The Chevy Cruise comes out this summer,” he adds, “and we have designed a body kit for that which will be available. We also have body kits for the 2010 and 2011 Toyota Prius, and we are working on the Toyota IQ and the tC.”

All of those are first-time cars for 3dCarbon, a company that began working with the manufacturer during a challenging time for Toyota. However, despite its obvious recent struggles, Toyota still sells well in the aftermarket, with unexpected models having surprising success.

When looking at parts for vehicles new or old, consumers often start with the wheels and tires. Photos from Grip Tuning.

Toyota, too, still proves well for others. Sean Tito of RKSport in Murrieta, Calif., says, “Believe it or not, the Camry has been quit a hit. We were unsure we were going to do it at first, but then Toyota helped us out, and from there it’s been great. We sell a lot of ground effects kits for that car. We even sell some hoods. It was a surprise. That’s the only ground kit we offer for Toyota. We just finished the new one for the 2010 model.”

Tito adds that the new Camaro has done “great” for them this year, but it’s not the only Chevy selling accessories in the aftermarket. “The first year we sold the Malibu kit, we were selling some, but it’s really starting to pick up a lot. Believe it or not, we’re selling a lot of that kit in Dubai.”

The Mazda 3 five-door is one of the hot new vehicles for the sport compact market. Photos from Grip Tuning.

Geoffrey Brown of Extreme Dimensions in Fullerton, Calif., notes they released a couple of new sport compact Hot Wheels edition kits at SEMA last year, “which are still very new and very hot. One of them is for the brand new Nissan 370Z, and the other creation is for the new Hyundai Genesis Coupe,” he says “We have lots of new things coming out for new applications.”

Anyone who watched the Super Bowl saw several commercials for Hyundai and Kia, all aimed at establishing a new perception of their products. As of late, Hyundai has stepped up its presence in the aftermarket, as well.

Brown says his company has served notice of its intentions in other ways, too.

“The release of the Genesis sedan has made quite a wave in the automotive industry, taking on competitors like Lexus, Mercedes and BMW. The release of the Genesis Coupe is aimed toward tuners, and it’s really refreshing to see such a great car come onto the market; a small, compact, two-door coupe with multiple engine options and a six-speed manual transmission option, which are very appealing to this market. Those are all positive things for us that make us smile,” says Brown.

For your consideration
It’s fair to ask why these are good models to keep items in stock for, especially considering the number of new vehicles for the market. If the economic struggles of the Past year have taught businesses anything, it is that they should be prudent in new ventures. Why take a chance on these newcomers?

“The sales numbers on all of the cars I mentioned are pretty strong,” says 3dCarbon’s Bunnell. “Also, they are all designed with fairly new styling. In the case of the Fiesta, it’s new. In the case of the Chevy Cruise, it’s never been in the States before; though it’s been in Asia, Australia and Mexico. The Prius was kind of a fluke for us. Typically, the consumer on that car doesn’t want to be impacted by any changes to his fuel mileage, obviously. We did a lot of testing on that, wind-tunnel testing and computational fluid dynamic testing just to make sure that we weren’t going to slow the vehicle down with any accessories we added; and it didn’t. The changes to the aerodynamics improved the appearance, and their impact on fuel economy was insignificant.”

3dCarbon released its Ford Fiesta body kit in May.

Extreme Dimensions’ Brown acknowledges that, “Certainly, it’s hit or miss with new products for new applications on the market in terms of brand new vehicles. The Genesis Coupe is the first-generation run. Do you spend a lot of money manufacturing parts and hope that the car takes off, or do you wait until the market settles in and you see what other people are doing and what the reaction is?

“With the drive being toward tuners with that particular car, we knew that it was going to be a slam dunk, that everyone was going to start modifying this car and that it was going to be huge. For us, it was an automatic green light to offer as many SKUs as possible for that car.”

As for the 370Z, Brown explains, “The 350Z has always been a big hit with our company. The 370Z being the next generation, everything is improved on that car, so it was a logical step to begin offering products for it,” says Brown.
There other reasons to consider, as well, says Grip Tuning’s Srugis: “Some of the abovementioned parts offer a low price point (lip kit, vinyl, lighting) and give the installer a good margin due to the relative ease of installation.”

Tito, of RKSport, concurs: “With the Camry, Toyota does offer its own kit, but it is very expensive. Ours is very similar to theirs at a fair price point. We actually have Toyota dealerships buying our kits instead of theirs, and it has helped them a lot. As for the consumers’ view, it singles them out and adds a value and a better look to their vehicle, and it doesn’t cost very much to do.”

As muscle cars become more fuel efficient and sport compacts add horsepower, the lines between the two blur, while manufacturers and retailers enjoy the market crossover. Photos from RKSport.

New faces for the market
Taking a look in the crystal ball, there is near unanimous industry agreement that there are several sport compact cars that are seen as strong candidates for this year’s market for restyling.

“We do have a kit that’s pending right now for the Suzuki Kizashi. I have been getting a lot of e-mails and calls about that, and it is in the works and will be out soon,” Tito says. “It is all-wheel drive, and I think that’s going to be a huge hit all over the world, not just here in the States. I think its appeal will be similar to that of the Mini Cooper.”

Srugis suggests that anything from Honda, Acura, Toyota, Kia or Hyundai is a candidate. “Kia and Hyundai are proving to be good alternatives, as the vehicles are inexpensive, the warranties are comprehensive, they are fuel efficient and it seems that aftermarket support for them is growing,” he says.

Brown adds that there are some new vehicles in the works to look for, as well, including the FT-86, the project Toyota and Subaru are working on together. “This year, for Extreme Dimensions, we’re looking at the Mazda3, the new hot-hatch that they just released for 2010,” he says. “Obviously, the restyle of the new Volkswagen GTi is going to be very popular. It has always been a solid seller for us. In terms of other vehicles, we have found that people are modifying everything from Geos to Ferraris.”

Evidence of the truth in that statement is the fact that during the past few years, as muscle cars have strived to improve their fuel efficiency and sport compacts have strived to improve horsepower, the lines dividing the two have become more blurred than before and the markets somewhat crossover each other.

“The sport compact market is new for us. We have always been strong with the Mustang and some of the crossover vehicles, such as Edge,” says Bunnell. “This is a new area. We were very, very strong in that area in that past. I think we are now starting to see some of the sport compact market come back with the addition of these vehicles.” He adds that sales are picking up for the Mustang and a body kit for the Camaro will be introduced later this year at SEMA.

Dual demographic marketing
Once the question of which models to carry accessories for is answered, the next is how to market them.

It’s a known that Gen Y’ers (born in the years after 1974) grew up with small cars until the mid-1990s when big SUVs took over and now gravitate toward smaller cars. And now their parents — the baby boomers — are buying smaller, sportier cars rather than the large luxury ones. How should restylers market to these groups? According to Srugis, focusing on the technology, reliability and efficiency of the vehicles is a good place to start.

“The release of the Genesis Coupe is aimed toward tuners, and it’s really refreshing to see such a great car come onto the market; a small, compact, two-door coupe with multiple engine options and a six-speed manual transmission option, which are very appealing to this market.” says Brown of Extreme Dimensions.

Further, Brown encourages restylers to “analyze each market individually and see what motivates them. Even within those markets, there are different segments,” he says. “You get the more extreme guys that want to throw a lot of money into their car, some want to add a few features here and there and otherwise leave it stock. You have to do a lot of research and thinking to figure out what you have that you can offer to suit as many markets as possible. Extreme Dimensions is on a number of different [Web] forums, and we do a lot of our research there. We’re talking to the end user directly, which is a great benefit to us because they are able to tell very specifically what they’re looking for.”

Conversing with customers is as direct as feedback gets, and Tito says that RKSport makes a point to attend as many events as possible, a place where the firm is sure to find customers.

Bunnell suggests taking matters into your own hands with guerilla marketing. “You need to participate in the car shows and, definitely, social media is starting to be a big play now,” he notes. “You have to promote products that the buyers will be excited about, something that will allow them to individualize their car at the right price. We also offer pre-painted kits so that the consumer doesn’t have to go to a shop to have it done. He can do it himself in a weekend, or we can ship it to our national network of restylers around the country, and they’ll either do it for the consumer or, prior to the consumer buying the car, they’ll do it for the dealers.”

Bunnell notes that the dealers’ appetite has changed in the last year due to the economy. “Dealers are looking to still offer accessories that will change the looks and, in some cases, the performance of the vehicle. But, their budgets are smaller. They’re into smaller items that offer a lot of value.”

A new scene
In so many ways, this market has changed from what it once was. It went swimming in the mainstream long ago, and those who were once fast and furious are now married with families and mortgages. Just as they have moved on in life, many of them have moved on to new vehicles, more luxurious and more expensive.

And yet, in many ways, it is still what it always was. It is a market for the young and young at heart who favor sporty cars (often made overseas, though domestic models are stronger than ever), that are fast, fuel efficient and flashy, or at least have the potential to become so.

Today’s sport compact market has a new set of consumers to go with those established ones. Like their predecessors, this new market is accessorizing inexpensive vehicles (yet durable, with comprehensive warranties), saving money on payments and fuel costs while shopping in the aftermarket to improve appearances and perceptions. And, if this article is any indication, they all have a great new group of cars to choose from, and a great new group of accessories to restyle them with.