Dedicated automotive aftermarket show Automechanika Middle East opened its doors yesterday in Dubai.
This year’s event is the biggest yet, with the show floor expanding by18% larger over last year’s event taking the number of visitors to 1,102 exhibitors from 52 countries.
One of the attractions of the event for international exhibitors is to get the attention of local and regional distributors and dealers. This year 21 official country pavilions, encouraged by 31 international industry associations are supporting companies from countries as diverse as Thailand, Turkey and the UK.
Typical of other recent trade events, Chinese companies are by far the largest single group at the show, but both Germany and the US have taken their largest ever amount of exhibition space as they tussle for market share.
However in such a crowded market place some smaller exhibitors prefer to see the show as a stepping stone into the region and are looking to use the week to visit companies based in Dubai and Jebel Ali.
“Once the show is over I’ll be getting into a car and hitting Al Quoz,” a UK exhibitor told PMV. “We see this event as a way of fact finding, getting out and meeting people rather than expecting them to come by our stand.”
“We are glad to welcome the largest-ever participation of national pavilions from Germany and the US, which underlines Automechanika Middle East as the key to unlock the potential of this promising regional market,” Ahmed Pauwels, CEO of organiser Epoc Messe Frankfurt said. “This year’s event continues to highlight key developments and trends in the field and reflects the increasing concentration on energy-efficiency, green technologies, and parts and accessories designed to improve efficient use of resources”
He added: “We are extremely grateful to our patron HH Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum and the UAE government for their support. Automechanika Middle East has always been well received by the regional aftermarket, thanks to its widely representative nature and dedicated focus on market fundamentals.”
