The fact that I can see all the way down most isles in the massive Las Vegas Convention Center is not a good thing. My seat-of-the-pants assessment of attendance suggests we are down substantially from 2008... Though there are also fewer exhibitors, the roped off parts of the various halls are not particularly distracting.  As in years past, the brilliant wash of corporate color stretches off out of sight in the cavernous buildings.  But conversations with a number of booth inhabitants confirms that most businesses are taking a long, hard look at what this substantial investment returns... in any terms.

Next door at APEX, the traffic reported by a few national equipment suppliers is down at least 50% from last year.  Fewer distribution or OEM deals are being made and the volume/value numbers of those deals are also down.  Participants are openly discussing the future of these sister events, the speculation runs from melding APEX with SEMA to the possible demise of APEX along with a restructured SEMA.  The economic slam to the automotive industry is obviously responsible for much of the stress, but several industry players also noted the impact of the internet.

This annual gathering of gearheads has served as a powerful vehicle (pun intended) to get new products or services in front of the audience that matters.  Over the past decade the internet has grown in breadth and depth so most product information is instantly available to even the most remote jobber or shop.  Everything about every possible product is on-line in very short order... waiting for an annual gathering is neither necessary nor desireable.  The internet is now the vehicle with a huge power-to-weight advantage in the marketing battle.

Speaking of power, Ford seems to think this is a good time to power past the competition.  As the only domestic company with a positive number for the past quarter's operations Ford has a huge presence on the floor of the Central Hall.  People with "Friends of Ford" badges are wandering everywhere and Mustangs are in prominence.  But the car most frequently chosen by vendors to display their wares is the 2010 Camaro.  I stopped counting after 20.  Suspension, engine, tires and wheels, sound systems and stuff that wasn't specific to the Camaro are on offer.  The new Yenko Camaro is only one of many awesome renderings of GM's latest answer to the pony car.

In a related vein, we were alllowed a few laps of the road course at Auto Club Speedway in the 2010 Camaro SS last Thursday and came away pleasantly surprised.  Very pleasantly, I might say.  Even with "sport" suspension and big, sticky tires we expected serious understeer in the short sweeper at the north end of the course.  Trailing brake could reduce the "plowing" but, bottom line, the Camaro handled rather well through the tight stuff without applying serious go-fast techniques.  First time down the back straight, as we put all 426 horsepower to use, the passanger/camera man yelled "Not hurting for power!" over the rapidly rising howl of the engine.  The grin on his face never faded until we pulled off the track.

There are many impressive aspects of this car.  The wall-to-wall plastic across the cockpit is not one of them. Still, for about 40 grand, this is one nasty ride.

One more day at the show, send your questions or comments................