SEMA Show 2025: What’s new and what to expect

The 2025 SEMA Show is just around the corner, coming up in less than five weeks, from Nov. 4–7 in Las Vegas, and Repairer Driven News has gathered some details on new features to look forward to, as well as expansions on returning facets of the show.

Tom Gattuso, SEMA’s events vice president, said there are 2,400 exhibiting companies expected this year to fill up 1.1 million square feet of indoor space and 700,000 square feet outside at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

The 58th SEMA Show will house a new ADAS feature at the east end of Upper South Hall — home to the collision repair portion of the show.

“That’s going to feature the latest stakeholder knowledge for both repair and modification,” Gattuso said. “There’s a lot going on right now with right to repair and right to modify; ADAS is in the center of both. What we’re doing is taking an opportunity to be able to share some of the advancements that’s happening from both the vehicle manufacturer side, call that the repair part of it, and then also have some input on the modification part as well.

“All of it works in concert with each other. It all has the end user and safety in mind, which really is just a good thing.”

ADAS will also be part of at least three Repairer Driven Education (RDE) sessions at the SEMA Show:

• • “Take Control: How Bringing Auto Glass In-House Can Boost Profit and Procedural Compliance” (Nov. 4 from 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m.)
  • “OEM Certifications: The Business and Tooling of Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow” (Nov. 4 from 12 p.m. to 1:30 p.m.)
  • “Shaping the Future of ADAS in Collision Repair: A Community-Driven Approach” (Nov. 5 from 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m.)

RDE is brought to the industry by the Society of Collision Repair Specialists (SCRS). Each track can be found on the SCRS RDE homepage and on “Map Your Show.”

Leading up to the show, Gattuso recommends attendees plan their visit using the SEMA Show website or mobile app. He noted that discounted hotel rooms are still available for under $200 a night.

Show registration is open online or can be completed at the show.

Gattuso said SEMA Live will return after its inaugural run at the 2024 show. It is a live broadcast of the show, packed with interviews, car reveals, and more, that is aired online nonstop for 31 hours. He said it’s operated with the “mentality of ESPN Sports Desk meets SEMA Show.”

“It’s a great way for somebody who might not be able to make it to the show this year to still be able to be in touch with the innovation and those types of things that are happening, but also take companies who may not be aware of what the show can offer and the things it could do to help their business,” Gattuso said. “And this will give them a glimpse of what that can be so that they attend in future years.”

The first run of SEMA Live was well received. However, Gattuso said viewers told SEMA they would’ve liked to see more from the show floor.

“We’ll have more of the car reveals, more product reveals, and more of just what’s going on in the aisles and around the show,” he said.

The New Products Showcase will also be expanded this year, and in a different location. It will be adjacent to Registration.

“The New Product Showcase is probably one of the best aspects of the show because you get to see all this innovation in one place,” Gattuso said. “We’ve broken it down into 15 different categories. It makes your time on the show floor even more efficient because you can see some companies that you may not have known exhibited, but you liked the product that they had displayed, and then you can change your plan to visit them on the show floor.”

FutureTech Studio will also return, featuring synthetic fuel innovations from electric to hydrogen vehicles, Gattuso said.

“FutureTech is sort of a glimpse into where we are thinking we’re going to be three to five or 10 years from now,” he said.

There will be a couple of changes this year to SEMA’s awards ceremony as well. Now called SEMA Industry Honors, it will be held at the nearby Fontainebleau’s BleauLive Theater on Nov. 6 at 7 p.m., following a reception that will begin at 6. Gattuso said there will be more celebrities at this year’s event and more notoriety for the SEMA Hall of Fame.

“No matter where you are in the makeup of our industry, we’ve got opportunities for you to attend, whether it’s manufacturing of a product, a service, or a sales company for our industry, and even the general consumer can come now on Friday,”  Gattuso said. “We’re excited to be able to welcome the entire marketplace this November.”

Images

Featured image courtesy of SEMA