Every year, I scour the annual SEMA Show to find the best new vehicles and products on display. The 2025 show had some highlights, but was thin on innovation and truly new products worth talking about.
There is little doubt that the pandemic, supply chain issues, tariffs, and economic uncertainties have impacted the automotive aftermarket. Business consolidation remains a prevailing trend in the industry.
The SEMA Show is the largest car show in the world, the second-largest trade show in the world, and is focused on the automotive aftermarket. While it is primarily an industry trade show, it is becoming more and more a consumer show. Anyone can buy tickets to attend on Friday, and there is also a big SEMA Fest concert/show event for everyone to cap off the week.
2025 The SEMA Show Best in Show Awards
Let’s dive right into my picks for best in show from the 2025 SEMA Show. These products stood out from the sea of Asian knockoff products, half-built show vehicles, and “new” products that we’ve already seen and reported on.
Best Off-Road Vehicle: Scion O1 Concept
By far the most innovative and cool vehicle at the 2025 SEMA show was the Scion 01 Concept in the Toyota booth.
This four-seat UTV pulls heavily from the Toyota parts bin, including a 326-horsepower hybrid and an eight-speed transmission from the Tacoma. To top it off, the vehicle is fully built to race spec, with a cage/structure that meets SCORE (Baja 1000) and FIA (Dakar Rally) standards.
Besides looking cool, having tons of power, and being ready to race, the Scion 01 Concept looked very production-ready. The welds, the materials, the fit and finish — all looked very close to ready for a retail showroom. Toyota isn’t saying if it’s going to production with the concept, but if the public reaction to this thing is any indication, I think we’ll see it soon.
Best On-Road Vehicle: Subaru Brataroo
The latest installment in the Hoonigan Gymkhana series is set to debut in December and will be called Aussie Shred. It highlights Travis Pastrana piloting this Subaru Brataroo 9500 Turbo, a custom rally car built by Vermont Sportscar, and made to look like a 1978 Subaru Brat. Think high-revving rally engine, anti-lag, active aero, and so much more.
“This BRAT’s completely unhinged — in the best way possible,” Pastrana said. “It’s got the soul of a vintage Subaru with the tech to do things no Gymkhana car has ever done. Every part of it is designed to take abuse, fly big, and come back for more. It’s hands down the craziest Gymkhana car we’ve ever built.”
Best Van Life Product: Van Compass Rear Door Storage System
Van Compass has developed a new rear-door storage system for the Sprinter van. They showed off the prototype at SEMA 2025.
The door panels are full-height of the rear doors and have four points of contact, so that they are super-strong and can carry a big load. The prototype storage box the company showed off had a bunch of cool features, including a draining lower bin for wet gear like wetsuits and the ability for the box to be mounted left or right side of the van.
No word on availability or pricing just yet on the door panels or storage box, but expect them in the first half of 2026.
Honorable mention also has to go to Van Compass for its A-pillar Grab Handle Light/Antenna Mount. This product is a quick and easy install, and provides an easy way to clean your van window, as well as install some ditch lights on your van. A set retails for $365.
While they’ve been out for about 6 months already, I want to point out the rad wheels Van Compass is making for Sprinters as well. These 17×8+30 wheels offer a 4,200-pound load rating and are designed with 35×12.5 tires in mind. They are just cool, with throwback designs to the Mercedes classics. I love clean wheel design! The wheels retail for about $350 each.
Best Camping Product: Thule Widesky
There were fewer rooftop tents (RTT) on display vehicles than I’ve seen in over a decade at The SEMA Show, but there were still lots. It’s both a fashion accessory and also helps convey a vehicle’s adventure intent — this is true at SEMA and out in the real world.
Thule showed off its latest RTT offering, the Widesky. It’s a two-person hardshell unit with a full-pop design. It has an aluminum shell and ABS corners. It offers a three-sided ladder attachment, integrated LED lights, and should weigh around 130 pounds.
The tent has two cool features. First is the quick deploy and stow, with just four latches and a pull strap. The second is an internal bench, where the mattress/floor locks up as a backrest so you can sit up in the tent and take in the views out the massive windows.
The Thule Widesky should hit the North American market around April 2026 and retail in the neighborhood of $4,000. Also in the picture, holding the tent, is the new Thule Xcape truck rack, which is hitting the market next month.
Best Outdoor Adventure Vehicle Accessory: Yakima Step-Up Swing
Yakima continues to offer top-quality outdoor adventure gear transport options. Its latest is the Step-Up Swing hitch bike rack, a mid-tier rack in its lineup.
The Step-Up Swing can carry up to two 65-pound bikes and bikes with up to 52-inch wheelbases. It also has a kids’ bike setting and can accommodate 16- to 29-inch wheels. It is only offered for a 2-inch hitch receiver and is only for two bikes — you can’t add a +2.
The Yakima Step-Up Swing hits the market in spring 2026 for $999. A non-swing version will also be available for $749.
Best Vehicle Interior Storage Solution: XG Cargo MSeries
I’m not a big MOLLE panel guy, but it does have its place. It can be a solid solution for securing gear inside a vehicle, and XG Cargo has just developed a slick system that makes MOLLE gear storage extremely easy and useful.
The XG Cargo MSeries is a new Magnetic MOLLE Mount. The mounts have a fairly universal fit to just about any MOLLE panel system.
On offer at launch, before the end of the year, are 5-inch and 7-inch cases and a 12-inch tool roll. Pricing for the tool roll, the most expensive piece, is $119, and includes the mount.
Best Truck Bed Storage: Bedslide Stacked
Bedslide, part of the Leer Group, showed off a prototype of a new truck bed storage system at SEMA 2025, called Stacked.
First, we have to acknowledge that the logo and name are way too close to the established player in this space, Decked. From our understanding, Bedslide will be changing this logo, and Decked lawyers might already be involved.
Now, the product. It seems like a well-thought-out system that remedies some of the downfalls of other truck bed drawer systems on the market. The Bedslide Stacked drawer system is super-configurable, really easy and quick to remove, and offers a 200-pound drawer capacity and 600-pound cabinet capacity.
Each module weighs 150 pounds (75 pounds for the drawer and 75 pounds for the cabinet), making it possible for one person to reconfigure or remove/install it. The Beslide Stacked product will be available in spring 2026 and cost around $1,600 for a two-drawer system.
Best Off-Road Recovery: ARB Winch
ARB is finally getting into the winch game. It has tweaked and rebranded a Bushranger 4×4 winch that’s been available on the market for a few years now in Australia. ARB owns Bushranger, so it only makes sense. Interestingly, for now at least, the ARB winches will not be available in Australia.
There will be a 10k and 12k winch on offer at launch, with March 2026 availability in North America. The synthetic line winches will come with a power cutoff switch and a wireless/wired remote, and it will include a hook and hawse fairlead. An optional thimble and silver color fairlead will also be available.
Pricing is $1,350 and $1,460 for the 10k and 12k ARB winches, respectively.
Best Car Care Product: Meguiars Quik Solution Kits
Meguiars continues to make car cleaning easier. It is launching a wide range of Quik Solution Kits, which bundle up its products for easy solutions to specific car cleaning needs.
What caught my eye at SEMA was the Carpet and Cloth Cleaning kit. It includes a brush attachment for a hand drill and a new pH-neutral Total Interior Cleaner. This setup should be great for deep cleaning interiors, especially those dirty carpets and floor mats. The kit will be available next month.
Best Book: Life at Shutter Speed
I preordered Larry Chen’s Life at Shutter Speed book and have been enjoying it for a month or so on my coffee table. With something like 4,000 images and all sorts of short stories, it is a deep dive into car culture over the past few decades.
Chen is SEMA’s featured artist, with his photos appearing all over the show for the next 3 years, and he had a booth at the show this year. He was signing books and giving away image prints, while also showing off a few of his cars.
You can buy your own copy of Life at Shutter Speed through Carrara Books, Amazon, and other bookstores. But, they do continue to sell out, so get one when you can.
The SEMA Show 2025 Honorable Mention
I also wanted to share a few more things that caught my eye at The SEMA Show 2025, but didn’t fit into the Best in Show awards.
RVs Inbound
While RVs aren’t common, and travel trailers are even less so, SEMA seems to be expanding its purview in recent years, with the addition of powersports, planes, and now RVs. This year, there were a few travel trailers and a few expedition campers — there are always a few expedition campers.
One new travel trailer that caught my eye is the Urban Caravans Tungsten X-Treme X. It’s an Australian-built off-road camper trailer with all the bells and whistles. It is hitting North American shores in early 2026 and will cost around $140,000. It carries a 10-year warranty.
The company is working on moving production to the U.S., for North American sales, and working on making it a proper four-season camper, which it currently is not.
Most Talked-About Booth
The Method Race Wheels booth this year was by far the most talked about. The space had a massive hanging box over a cardboard trophy truck on a platform. Think art installation, not tradeshow booth.
The “Beyond the Box” booth also had a small plaque on the platform with the following: “Every great build starts with a box. Ours happens to hold more than wheels. It carries confidence, craft, and a bit of grit. It delivers the spark that starts every journey, from daily drivers to Baja champions, from ideas to icons.
“This build began where they all do, with an iconic Method Race Wheels box. Now it stands here as proof that what we deliver isn’t just a product. It’s passion, pride, and a place to belong. Beyond the box lives the spirit of Method.”
I’m a fan of Method’s wheels, and this is a cool piece of art that got people talking. But it is kind of a slap in the face to people at the show doing business. There was no one in the Method booth, and I can only assume little to no business was done on the show floor.
Kind of an odd move for an industry trade show, but more understandable as you realize that The SEMA Show is becoming more and more a consumer show every year.
While it had to be pointed out for its uniqueness, I don’t feel right giving it a Best in Show award. However, it was likely a winner for the brand, as it has everyone talking.
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