Mobile Electronics Announces Industry Awards Winners at 2009 SEMA Show

Mobile Electronics magazine presented its 2008-2009 Industry Awards at the 2009 SEMA Show in Las Vegas, Nev., and announced the winners of the Dealer Choice awards for best manufacturer programs and service in a range of categories, the Retailer of the Year awards in the single-store, 2-3 store and 4-plus store categories and the Installer of the Year award. Parrot presented its Certified Installer of the Year award.

Lastly, Mobile Electronics also announced the winner of the recent Upload Your Install contest where installers and DIYers were invited to submit their best installation work to Mobile Electronics’ Installercentral.com website.

At the Mobile Electronics Industry Awards reception, attendees ate, drank and networked before sitting down to honor their colleagues and find out who the winners were.

First up were the Dealer Choice Awards. These awards were given based on responses from retailers and installers nationwide (no manufacturers were surveyed) to a survey about the quality of manufacturer programs and services.

For the Dealer Choice Awards, Mobile Electronics awarded companies with first, second and third place in each category as well as gave an overall “Manufacturer of the Year” award.

The Retailer of the Year awards and Installer of the Year award were given based on an extensive process that involved industry nominations and voting to determine the retailer and installer finalists and then the judging of materials submitted by the retailer and installer finalists.

The Upload Your Install award was based on the selection and quality of images submitted to the Project Gallery forums on this site as well as the explanation of each installation provided by the individuals submitting installation photos.

The winners of the 2008-2009 awards include the following companies and individual for Installer of the Year:

Dealer Choice Awards for best manufacturer programs and services:

Best Dealer Programs: 1st – Memphis Car Audio, 2nd – Kenwood USA, JL Audio

Best Warranty Programs: 1st – Memphis Car Audio, 2nd – JL Audio, 3rd – Kenwood USA

Best Sales Support: 1st – Memphis Car Audio, 2nd – Kenwood USA, 3rd JL Audio

Best Technical Support – Security: 1st – Directed Electronics, 2nd – Auto Page, 3rd – Compustar

Best Technical Support: 1st – JL Audio, 2nd – Kenwood USA, 3rd – Memphis Car Audio

Manufacturer of the Year: Memphis Car Audio

Parrot Certified Installer of the Year, 2009: Rob Liebhaber, Muntz Audio Video

Upload Your Install Winner: Jeff Smith, Sound Sensations, Marietta Ga., for his submission of an extensive installation in a BMW 740iL to Installercentreal.com.

Retailer of the Year Finalists, Single Store: Car Toys, Tulsa Okla.; JC Audio, Jackson, Tenn.; Mobile Edge, Lehighton, Pa.; Sound Sensations, Marietta, Ga.; Sub Zero Sounds, Brooklyn Park, Minn.

Retailer of the Year, Single Store Winner: JC Audio, Jackson, Tenn.

Retailer of the Year Finalists, 2-3 Stores: Columbus Car Audio, Columbus, Ohio; Ken’s Car Tunes, Mobile, Ala.; Sound of Tri-State, Claymont, Del.; Soundz Good Stereo, Oxnard, Calif.; Ultimate Audio, Orlando, Fla.

Retailer of the Year, 2-3 Stores Winner: Sound of Tri-State, Claymont, Del.

Retailer of the Year, 4+ Stores Finalists: Al & Ed’s Auto Sound, Van Nuys, Calif.; Car Toys, Seattle, Wash.; Creative Car Audio, Joplin, Mo.; Custom Sounds, Austin, Texas; Freeman’s Car Stereo Inc., Charlotte, N.C.;

Retailer of the Year, 4+ Stores Winner: Al & Ed’s Auto Sound, Van Nuys, Calif.

Installer of the Year, Finalists: Brad Eubank, Dickson, Tenn.; Brian Murphy, Best Buy, Mesquite, Texas; Chris Pate, Mobile Toys, College Station, Texas; Danny Britain, Stereo West Auto Toys, Omaha, Neb.; Dave Ellers, Sound FX, Lewes, Del.; Dustin Santeler, Conroe, Texas; Eric Lero, Sub Zero Sounds, Brooklyn Park, Minn.; James Stanton, Sound Sensations, Marietta, Ga.; Jeff Smith, Sound Sensations, Marietta, Ga.; Paul Kauffman, Sound FX, Lewes, Del.; Robert Davidoski, Mobile One Auto Sound, Houston, Texas; Steve Pello, 212 Motoring, Brooklyn, N.Y.

Installer of the Year Winner: Jeff Smith, Sound Sensations, Marietta, Ga.

Mobile Electronics would like to thank the Industry Awards sponsors for their generous support of the reception and the industry. The sponsors include the following:

Audio Control

Auto Page

Boss Audio

Clarion

Dynamat

Guidepoint

iSimple (AAMP of America)

JBL

JL Audio

K40 Electronics

Kicker

NAV-TV

Ohio Generator

Parrot

Scosche

Stinger (AAMP of America)

Xpresskit (Directed Electronics)