Wheel Manufacturers Sends Mexican Regulators Back to Drawing Board

WASHINGTON (April 15, 2002) - SEMA, the Specialty Equipment 
Market Association, working with the U.S. government, and a group 
of companies that import goods to Mexico, has succeeded in its 
efforts to scrap a proposed Mexican domestic wheel standard.

The proposed standard, PROY-NOM-150-SCFI-2001 Auto, would have 
greatly increased the costs of importing wheels for the Mexican 
market, according to Linda Spencer, SEMA director of 
international and government relations. "PROY-NOM-150, if it had 
become government policy, could have significantly increased the 
price of imported wheels in Mexico, because it would have 
required all aftermarket wheels to be tested in Mexican labs, 
certified, and imprinted with Mexico-specific information. That 
would mean a separate wheel-mold process for wheel manufacturers 
who want to do business with our NAFTA partners to the South," 
she said.

SEMA will be part of the industry and governmental group involved 
in the next steps in determining the governmental standard for 
how aftermarket wheels or rims will go to market in Mexico, 
Spencer said.

Currently, the market share of aftermarket wheels in Mexico is 70 
percent.

Estimated cost for the changes which PROY-NOM-150 would have 
instituted is approximately USD 1,800 per model per application, 
according to SEMA research. Wheel manufacturers faced as many as 
25 different tests to qualify their line of replacement wheels 
and rims.

Spencer said that the proposed regulation would have minimal, if 
any, benefit to Mexican consumers, doing little to improve 
consumer safety. "And, there have been no reported problems with 
the quality or safety of wheels in Mexico," she said.