Automechanika brand builds on Asian exhibition potential

Automechanika, Messe Frankfurt's global automotive trades show brand, is looking to Asia and mainland China in particular for significant growth through the current period of global economic slowdown. Frankfurt-based Automechanika brand manager Mr Michel-Alexandre Morlat said: "Asia is one of the prospering economic regions of the world and has a large number of interesting market segments to offer the automobile sector." The Automechanika shows cover a whole range of automotive sectors from private cars to heavy commercial vehicles and the related parts and repair. The shows are aimed at manufacturers, dealers, spare-parts suppliers and providers of other motor-vehicle related services. Of its ten Automechanika trade fairs, Messe Frankfurt runs four of them in Asia, Automechanika China in Beijing, Automechanika South China in Guangzhou, Automechanika India in New Delhi and Automechanika Asia held in Singapore. Despite the decision to postpone this year's Automechanika Asia in Singapore, which fell victim to the poor regional economic situation, the Automechanika brand is looking at the continuing automotive boom in China and, to a lesser extent, India to bolster the shows' performance. The next Automechanika Asia, which covers the markets of the ASEAN region, has been put back from its scheduled date of April this year to spring 2003. Since Singapore relies entirely on imported vehicles, the demand for spare parts, auto accessories and workshop equipment is high and the island state acts as the regional trading hub for these products. Automechanika Asia therefore concentrates on the after-market sector. Explaining the decision to postpone the Singapore show, Messe Frankfurt Hong Kong general manager trade fairs Ms Betty Heywood said: "The economic climate is still rather poor there. We think it is better to delay the show and ensure we have both a better quality and larger quantity of exhibitors and visitors than we could at the moment." Despite this delay, Messe Frankfurt remains confident of the show's long-term potential for growth. The second show in 2000 saw 30% more space rented than in 1998, for example. Figures showed visitors came from 46 different countries and a substantial proportion were decision-makers in managerial positions. Messe Frankfurt is upbeat about prospects in mainland China, where it runs two shows. China's economic expansion and modernisation of its infrastructure has fuelled demand for various kinds of heavy goods vehicles. At the same time, greater consumer spending power has led growth in private-car ownership. Domestic manufacturers are predicted to produce one million vehicles this year, a 30% increase on last year's figure. While China is building up its own domestic automotive manufacturing industry and has a number of major joint ventures with foreign manufacturers, owning an imported foreign car remains a status symbol for the more affluent sections of Chinese society. As part of its recent successful application to join the World Trade Organization, China has substantially reduced tarrifs on imported vehicles. Automechanika China targets the after-market and original-equipment sectors. With the automotive-parts market valued at around US$18billion for the year 2000 alone, the trade fair is tapping into a lucrative and expanding marketplace. The last show in 2001 attracted 297 exhibitors and 13,483 visitors. The opening up of the Chinese market is encouraging global interest from multinational companies in China-based trade exhibitions. "To do business here, you simply have to be on the spot and have a proper platform," said Mr Jürgen Baumgarten of JB German Oil, who attended the Automechanika China event in 2001. Aside from the event in the capital, Messe Frankfurt has a second Chinese trade show, Automechanika South China, in the southern province of Guangdong. This region accounts for about 30% of all foreign imported vehicles in China and new vehicles sales amount to 600,000 units annually. This year's show will be held in the province's capital Guangzhou, the hub of transport development in the region. "We expect exhibitor and visitor numbers to be as high as the 2000 event," Mr Morlat predicted. China, however, is not the only relatively underdeveloped Asian marketplace Messe Frankfurt has identified. India is a growing and potentially huge market for the automotive industry. The country is the fifth biggest manufacturer of trucks, for example. Automechanika India will have its third show from January 21-24 next year in New Delhi. The show's central focus will be on original equipment and trucks. The show in 2001 was attended by 75 exhibitors and 5,250 trade visitors. The Automechanika brand is also looking to extend its range of fringe activities and in particular to "encourage exhibitors to hold training programmes and product courses on the spot", said Mr Morlat. An associated Messe Frankfurt brand, Automechanika Academy, runs conferences on technological and business innovations alongside the main shows. Automechanika is looking at supplementing the traditional areas of autoparts, autorepair, accessories and vehicle care with newer sectors such as environmental issues and autobusiness. Environmental issues cover such "green" topics as products for environmental protection and recycling materials. Autobusiness covers the building and organisation of dealers' premises and workshops, services and used-car disposal systems. Mr Morlat points to the evolving character of vehicles: "We shall be witnessing many new trends in autoelectronics, telematics and design." Industry shows therefore have to demonstrate a similar ability to transform themselves to meet the shifting demands and interests of exhibitors and visitors alike. "Trade fairs are the ideal platform for networking and gathering information on new concepts and ideas," he said.