Las Vegas, Nevada — The 2024 SEMA Show officially opened on Tuesday, setting the stage for more than 2,400 exhibiting brands to interact with members of the automotive aftermarket on one of the industry’s grandest show floors.
Collision Repair’s first visit of the day: a special vehicle unveiling at AkzoNobel’s Central Hall booth. The coatings company is once again hosting brand ambassador, custom car builder, designer and painter Dave Kindig, owner of Kindig-It Designs and star of MotorTrend’s Bitchin’ Rides.
AkzoNobel decided to kick SEMA off in a major way—unveiling a custom Twelve Air V-12 1953 Corvette painted in Modern Klassikk hue Infrared. The vehicle won the prestigious Ridler award earlier this year.
As a surprise to Kindig, Andreas Somogyi, an expert refinishing and lead fabricator on the show Overhaulin’, gifted Kindig a canvas painting of the vehicle. Somogyi used six AkzoNobel paints in the art piece, including the actual coating used to paint the Twelve Air.
“I got to say, Dave, you said it flows nicely—using AkzoNobel coatings on a canvas is a blast, dude,” Somogyi told Kindig at the unveiling.
AkzoNobel also has an outdoor booth outside the Central Hall in the Silver Lot (#81220) with 2,400 sq. ft. of exhibit space and several one-of-a-kind vehicles, including a 1959 Porsche painted in Modern Classikk’s Under Slated hue; a 1963 VW Convertible Beetle painted in a new Modern Classikk colour, Bering Sea Blue; Kindig custom CF1 Cabriolets painted in Modern Classikk Deep Freeze and a custom Sikkens mix the company has dubbed British Racing Green.
News from the new product showcase
SEMA announced the 2024 winners of the New Product Showcase on Tuesday. I-CAR Academy walked away with the top prize as the best new Collision Repair/Refinish product. Runners-up were SagolaSPRAY (Sagola by Elcometer) and RTS app (I-CAR), respectively.
I-CAR Academy was launched by I-CAR’s U.S. branch this past June. The platform claims to be the first industry-neutral, comprehensive early career program to educate and recognize entry-level technicians. The program is designed specifically to attract, train and retain technicians while simultaneously recognizing the schools and repair facilities that train up-and-coming industry members.
“I-CAR Academy is designed to kickstart a technician’s education journey, providing an engaging, solid foundation to launch into I-CAR Professional level (ProLevel) curriculum and Platinum Technician certification, along with OEM and supplier certified programs,” wrote I-CAR U.S. in its June press release unveiling the program. “For shops, additional training and best practices for effective mentoring, which is key to technician development and progression, and culture best practices for shop leaders, which aids in retention, will be available.”
The best new ADAS product was awarded to Revv ADAS Plus by Revv ADAS. Runners-up were Revv ADAS Mechanical by Revv Adas and Solar Wireless Driving Assistant by Vision Automobile Electronics Industrial.
Revv ADAS is a SaaS platform that allows collision repair facilities and calibration businesses to identify new revenue streams from required ADAS, safety, steering and functional calibrations on repaired vehicles. The company claims its Revv ADAS Plus platform can generate between $1,000 to $5,000 per job.
Click here for the full list of New Product Award winners.
Collision Repair magazine is on the ground at the Las Vegas Convention Centre all week to cover the action, including new product launches, technological advancement, discussions on top trends facing the collision repair ecosystem and more.
Here are our highlights from day one.
