| Automechanika Shanghai is organized by Messe Frankfurt (Shanghai) and the China National Automotive Industry Corporation. It is one of the 13 global Automechanika Fairs held in Asia, Europe, North America, South Africa and Africa. Undoubtedly Messe Frankfurt hosts the best Automotive Parts, Equipment and Services Supplier Trade Fairs in the world. The Automechanika brand continues to attract key industry players & quality visitors to their shows.
About the Show
Within the last six years, Automechanika Shanghai has become Asia’s largest trade fair for the automotive parts, components and aftermarket industry. In 2009, the show established itself as a major domestic and international event. Held from 9-11 December at the Shanghai New International Expo Centre, the show attracted 2,414 exhibitors from 24 countries over 103,500 sqm of floor space and 38,551 visitors from 132 countries. 29 per cent of these visitors came from overseas, compared to 16 per cent at the 2008 show.
The show’s growth can be attributed to the partnerships and support of 16 local and eight international industry manufacturers and associations, the huge China market as a backbone, and unprecedented opportunities the market offers. But most importantly in recent years as United Arab Emirates Visitor stated, Mr. Ali R Ehtiyatkar from Eurocraft Auto Spare Parts, this growth can also be attributed to an increase of quality output. “Five years ago it was difficult to find quality products because everyone wanted to sell at cheap prices, but now many manufacturers come with good quality products and new technology”.
Birgit Roloff, Sales Manager Frankfurt also commented on other show improvements “Chinese companies are learning quickly, yes, quality is improving. In Europe we place a huge emphasis on overall stand presentation. This year’s show is more professional, we’ve seen local exhibitor’s make huge efforts on stand construction and an emphasis on company profile, image/branding and product positioning”.
Exhibitors
Mr. Detlef Braun, Automechanika’s member of the board of management, pointed out that in lieu of the downturn, 80 per cent of 2009’s customers were small to medium size business working on cost side, focusing resources on leading trade shows to seek and capture business opportunities.
It was reassuring to witness high levels of activity and to report on companies that continue to power ahead.
Hyundai Enercell has reaped the rewards from exhibiting in previous years “The last two shows brought us a lot of business. We’ve made good business contacts this year with buyers from Asia, Europe and Middle East. There are always ups and downs in the economic cycle, so we should be well-prepared for the recovery by exhibiting at good trade fairs” said company representative Mr. Jack Park.
For the first time, Spain set up a pavilion with nine Spanish companies. Mr. Eduardo Casero Blanco, Export Manager of TRW Automotive, representing REMSA, a household brakes name in Europe and soon to be distributed in Australia has been visiting the show for many years. He commented “This is now a professional show offering us the right level of exposure. It has genuine visitors ready to do business. It gives us the opportunity to meet with many of our customers. We are also here to expand our distribution channels and have made good contacts”.
Mr. Mark Ripotot, Aftermarket Manager for French company Hutchinson also comments on the quality of the visitors “I was surprised by the level of professionalism of the show and by the volume the distributors who visited us represented”.
Other exhibitors included match making companies such as www.gasgoo.com, offering a tailored service for auto sourcing in china. They currently have 200,000 qualified Chinese automotive suppliers and Ningbo International Auto Mall a programmed run by Ningbo City located in Jiangdong district www.nbautomall.com
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Visitors
2009 Automechanika Shanghai lured visitors from nine new African countries and surrounding islands as well as Central and South American continents and the Caribbean region. The top ten visiting countries and regions outside China were (greatest first) Taiwan, South Korea, Malaysia, Iran, Japan, Russia, Turkey, India, the United States and Hong Kong.
Netherlands Vacor International BV Managing Director, Mr Johan De Groot said of his first show visit “We found new products which are interesting for us. We are very impressed with what we have seen and I think it is worthwhile to come to the show”.
Market Opportunities
There is a huge potential for the repairs/maintenance sector. There are opportunities to set up maintenance franchise networks and for the supply of tools and garage equipment to the local market.
Mr. Jason Cao, general manager of Messe Frankfurt Shanghai, re enforced this by stating “maintenance & repairs is definitely a high growth sector. Every year China has 10 million more vehicles on the roads. (There is also a high rate of accidents). A lot of these cars are two to three years old. The possession of a car as a household item is still being developed in China, but it is believed that a large percentage of Chinese car owners will look into keeping their vehicles in good working condition, helping with the growth of the sector”.
Companies cashing in on this include third time exhibitor Snap-On. Mr. Nicky Marr Snap-On’s equipment manager, OEM and training, pointed that the show is not only for overseas customers, but offers exhibitors the opportunity to meet and do business with domestic equipment resellers who are looking for new products and business opportunities. He said, “This show is a good platform for equipment manufacturers to showcase their products and advantages. There have been some potential Chinese resellers discussing opportunities to be our resellers”.
Furthermore, the development of the Auto industry is fairly recent in China, car modification, tuning & accessories is relatively new to the market too. These product categories have huge growth potentials. Mr Jason Cao also commented that car modification is still not fully legalized in China and will take a few years for this segment to grow. Nevertheless he said “we aim to grow these product segments for the show by cooperating with the local government and with international trade associations. Set up special zones to help develop these segments overtime”.
Automechanika Shanghai 2011
Frankfurt took 35 years to develop to a truly global platform; Automechanika Shanghai is still in its infancy stage and has much to learn from the mother show. Currently the show’s strength is in the depth of the auto parts category due to the local production/manufacturing; however the show lacks complete representation of all automotive categories.
Mr. Jason Cao reassured exhibitors who fall in these categories by sharing his strategy “our aim is to complete the show’s profile by attracting international participants to help grow weak product segments. We will increase international involvements with associations and invite key industry leaders for seminars and conferences”.
After feedback from exhibitors and visitors wishing to expand their benefits and opportunities, the 2010 Automechanika Shanghai will run from a three day to a four day show, commencing 8th to 11th December.
We would like to know your thoughts on Automechanika Shows and if you think Messe Frankfurt should host ‘The’ Australian Aftermarket Auto Show, so please send your comments to nirma@glenv.com.au and we look forward to bringing you coverage on the next Automotive Trade event.
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