With Fast & Furious opening at No. 1 in its first weekend and bringing in $72.5
million in ticket sales, the automotive industry is buzzing with the
anticipation that this fourth installment of the Fast and the Furious franchise
will translate into the same big-dollar specialty-equipment sales that was
ignited by the first movie.

The Fast and the Furious, which grossed more than $40 million in its first
weekend, was the first installment of the racing series and was released in June
2001. In 2001, sales for compact-performance products totaled $2.86 billion,
according to SEMA research. In 2002, total sales for the year equaled $3
billion.

Greg Neuwirth, President of AEM, a Hawthorne, California-based manufacturer of
performance and racing products, recalls the increase in business that occurred
the year following the release of the first movie. "There was a 25% jump in our
sales," he said. "The bump was enormous, and it was across the board."

Jonathan Wong, editor of Super Street magazine, also recognizes the impact The
Fast and the Furious had on the specialty-equipment industry. "We're all hoping
that this latest movie will have the same impact as the first movie did, which
got more of mainstream America interested in modifying their cars," he said.

Not only did Simi Valley, California-based Turbonetics Inc., a manufacturer of
performance products, experience a definite boost in sales after the first film,
the company saw enough potential in the latest release to invest a considerable
amount of time and money to be featured in it. The result is the Turbonetics
logo prominently displayed on the front of lead character Paul Walker's blue
Nissan Skyline.

Tyler Tanaka, marketing manager of Turbonetics, realizes that he cannot predict
whether Fast & Furious will produce the same consumer interest in
specialty-equipment products that The Fast and the Furious did, but he is
satisfied just to have people inspired by car culture. "I think what's most
important is that people are talking about cars and talking about fixing cars,"
he said. "It's a positive and healthy thing for a movie about cars to pull in
more than $72.5 million its opening weekend and for people to get excited about
it. It's definitely helpful for the industry."

Neuwirth also agrees that the hype being generated by the movie can only lead to
good things for the specialty-equipment industry. "Any enthusiasm that is built
around cars, whether it's tuning cars or adding to cars, can't help but have a
positive impact on our market."

While Wong is uncertain whether the current economic situation will allow
modification to be as affordable a luxury as it was when the first movie came
out, with a $72.5 million opening weekend, he agrees that it is a definite
possibility.

At the very least, with Fast & Furious having the highest-grossing opening for a
car-themed movie, (even beating Cars' $60.1 million, according to
http://www.boxofficemojo.com), the specialty-equipment industry can boast that
Americans do, and always will love cars, especially fast, good-looking, modified
cars.