The Company Hot Import Nights and its parent company, Vision Entertainment, were formed by show expo professionals based in and around Los Angeles, California. In its early stages of Import Carshow production the company struggled as did all ventures in the industry. The company began its initial shows in significantly smaller fairground settings where they were able to test the market and create a general buzz about the show. During this time only a handful of companies (Goodtimes Motorsports being the most notable competitor) were venturing into this area. Hot Import Nights understood that they had a product that could be sold, but how to market and to capture an audience was a whole different story and a different market than they were used to targeting.
They began by recruiting young and energetic individuals throughout their target cities and molding these individuals to become the show managers and essentially the face of the show when it comes to a specific market. The results were beyond compare. In the years to come the import car show industry grew significantly. Spectators would reach numbers in tens of thousands half way through the show schedule and upwards after.
Twelve of the most notable individuals that Hot Import Nights recruited outside the initial company of Vision’s 50 employees come from Los Angeles, CA, San Diego, CA, Fremont, CA, San Francisco, CA, Houston, TX, Miami, FL, and Seattle, WA.

Events

Hot Import Nights hosts single-night events in a number of different cities across the US, with an average of roughly two such events per month. The locales include standard metropolitan cities such as Boston, MA, Seattle, WA, San Diego, CA, Las Vegas, NV and Chicago, IL, as well as more exotic ones such as Honolulu, HI.
The show is open to the public, with general admission ticket prices between $25 and $30. Individuals wishing to show off or exhibit their own vehicles pay a higher fee of around $30 per motorcycle or $55 per car.
Many noteworthy hip-hop and rap musicians also perform at this show. There have also been performances by noteworthy trance and electronic dance music artists.

Models

In addition to a large number of vehicles, Hot Import Nights events typically feature a number of promotional models. These models promote the products of individual companies/magazines/websites with booths at the event, some participate in fashion shows, and others dance on stage with a DJ playing the music selections. These car shows are typically set up with a night club atmosphere (dark with night club lighting & music), but are still geared towards people of all ages.
Although the show is open to all ages, somewhat revealing or risque outfits on the models are not uncommon. Typically they wear miniskirts, cut t-shirts, spaghetti string tank tops, etc... that are usually supplied by the company/magazine/website that they are representing.
The show's night club atmosphere serves to attract a larger male-dominated audience of anywhere from 13 to 25 to the event.

Media coverage

Limited portions of specific events are frequently shown on the G4 program, Street Fury. During such segments, the host mingles with the owners of the cars, speaks with them about the modifications made to the vehicles, and takes the opportunity to interview show goers. These events are also frequently covered by import websites, import magazines, and freelance photographers, and television shows from all over the world.