The show floors of the annual automotive passion fest known as SEMA are now turning empty, with countless teamsters moving the final packing crates in a coordinated dance of forklifts. For another nearly 200,000 attendees will have seen the best – and worst – that the still thriving automotive aftermarket has to offer.
In recent years, one abundantly clear trend has been the prominence of high-performance off-road technology and vehicles throughout the show. Not just in the off-road designated West Hall, but everywhere. Sure, there are still bucket loads of chrome-laden lifted show trucks that must carry retractable escalators for entry, but there area also off-road race cars and trucks, Ford Raptors and Broncos, Toyotas of all types and more at every turn.
From this vantage point, in 2025 the real horsepower in the automotive world has transferred away from modern cars and toward trucks, SUVs and side-by-sides.
As major off-road racing draws to a close at next week’s BFGoodrich SCORE Baja 1000, three of the sport’s most influential forces chose SEMA 2025 to make powerful statements of their own. Two in terms of product, one the product of imagination.
Here are my top highlights from the annual Las Vegas trek to automotive nirvana:
Most Significant: Toyota Scion 01
It was early on Tuesday morning when Toyota grabbed a lion’s share of attention at SEMA with the unexpected unveiling of its Scion 01 UTV (pictured above). It was only an hour into the show, but the news Toyota may have entered the still developing side-by-side market with such an impact left a strong new vacuum others couldn’t match.
The result of nearly 18 months of careful development (and clearly many NDAs) the Scion 01 was much more than some outlandish concept promotion. Instead, the newest Toyota may well have refined the entire UTV category into the hybrid SUV/truck product offers already being explored by Polaris, Can-Am, Honda and others.
At Scion 01’s heart was the incorporation of a turbocharged 2.4-liter hybrid drive lifted from the Tacoma/4Runner. Coming hot on the heels of Kawasaki’s recently released 250 horsepower 2026 Teryx4/5 H2, the 300 hp Scion 01 has upped the performance game again. Of far more evolutionary significance, however, is the vehicles incorporation of an eight-speed automatic transmission that puts that power to the ground via plunging axles for 26” of wheel travel at each corner.
Breaking new ground via the Toyota hybrid system is the Scion’s Silent Mode, a feature allowing users to explore the terrain silently with EV power.
There is far more to the Toyota Scion 01 story, and RACER readers can count on an in-depth backstory in the coming days. The bottom line here in not the vehicle that Toyota unleashed on the off-road world.
Instead, the buzz at the show was that Toyota built it all.
Most Innovative: Fox unveils Live Valve Aftermarket Kits
After leading off-road semi active suspension development for top tier desert racers and high-end OEM applications in Ford Raptors and Polaris RZRs, in early 2026 Fox will offer its groundbreaking Live Valve technology to a broader enthusiast aftermarket.
The Live Valve system senses terrain and driver inputs hundreds of times a second, changing the shock absorber settings instantly. Fox’s amazing technology results in a perfectly tuned suspension no matter the conditions. Like the OEM applications, the new aftermarket platform revolves around the Fox internal bypass shock system augmented by electronic solenoids, computing hardware and software.
If all that wiz-bangatry isn’t enough, an in-cab Mode Selector controller allows drivers to manually choose from three different “ride character” modes; On-Road, Off-Road and a Custom mode specific to their vehicle. Within each mode, the driver can further refine their settings by selecting Comfort, Balanced or Sport tuning.
The initial Fox Live Valve product line will focus on Ford Bronco (2021-on), Jeep JL Wrangler (2018-on), Jeep JT Gladiator (20-on) Toyota Tacoma (2024-on) and Ford F-150 SuperCrew (2021-on).
Race proven technology like the Fox Live Valve system making its way to more enthusiasts will only expand the desire for the jaw dropping capabilities of modern off-road suspensions. From any other shock manufacturer, a SEMA launch like this would be suspect, from Fox the news will get off-roaders around the globe salivating at the possibilities.
Most Creative: Method Race Wheels “Beyond the Box”
Standing in stark contrast to the visual noise that’s the overloaded centerpiece to SEMA stood an art installation that needed no product or automotive influencer to grab attention. Instead, Method Race Wheels took the bold and counter intuitive path of letting humble cardboard do all of work.
On a plain white platform stood a 1:1 scale Trophy Truck made entire from Method boxes. Requiring 10,000 square feet of material and more than 200 hours to design and construct, the art piece was modeled from a CAD drawing of a real Trophy Truck provided by 1Nine Industries. Instead of a standard header designating the booth space, Method stayed on message with a large, opened box.
Method’s strategy was not about product directly – because the booth didn’t have any product or staff. The brilliant execution was all about brand storytelling, as the platform contained this message for those willing to find a deeper meaning to it all; “Every great build starts with a Method box. It’s the sum of our passion, our people, and an invitation to join what we stand for. Because beyond the box is where you discover the true spirit of Method: quality, pride, confidence, and community. It’s not just what we ship, it’s what we share.”
Competing for attention at SEMA has long been a black art. The Method Race Wheel management team was decidedly nervous the evening before their vision was “unboxed.” By noon of opening day that anxiety gave way to grateful satisfaction as their cardboard creation flooded social media.
Better still, the only wheel that Method brought to SEMA 2025 stood four halls away in the new products section – the new 709 Heavy Duty Bead Grip earning best new product in the tire and wheel category.
Marketing executives from around the industry took note. It’s likely the SEMA management hopes that a booth without a product at the world’s biggest automotive product show is a powerful one-off.
No matter. For Method Race Wheels and the entire off-road industry, #beyondthebox was a winner.