Automechanika Academy initiates dialogue on vehicle modifications

In an attempt to congregate the deciding powers and key players in this industry, the seminar was hailed successful by all the attendees, who believe a momentum had been set on the Automechanika Acad-emy platform, to start a dialogue in the U.A.E on car customization and modification.

Mr. Michael Dehn, Senior show Manager of Automechanika Middle East said:

"The area of car modification and the restrictions governing it need to be made more transparent in this region, and the car owners should be trained and made well aware of the repercussions of any alteration they do to their car."

Altering or making modifications to your car could make it illegal for you to drive it and put you at risk of a fine and penalty points. Using tinting windows beyond the allowed legal limit or adding a noisy ex-haust can be a safety hazard and cause trouble to other road users.

"The tuning business in the U.A.E got its first support at the Autome-chanika Academy held during this year's Automechanika Middle East trade fair. In the presence of the Roads & Transport Authority (RTA, U.A.E), Gulf Standardisation Organisation (GSO, KSA), Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA, U.S.A), Top Performance magazine (UAE), Motorsports Industry Association (MIA, UK), and a number of business owners, the Automechanika Academy represented the first step taken towards a much needed legalization of car modifications in the U.A.E, constituting a great push in the right direction," stated Mr. Zlatko Mulabegovic, Editor, Top Performance magazine.

"Since we are facing many problems in the field of car modifications in the U.A.E, specially with the authorities; it was extremely important to bring together the RTA, the SEMA, and the car modifiers in the re-gion in order to try to find a common language that would facilitate the task of everybody, while at the same time the modifiers business would flourish, the end users would enjoy their modifications, and the local authorities will be happy to have everybody under the law. The Automechanika Academy's initiative was successful in doing all the above, and we hope it served as a springboard towards further development," commented Mr. Farid A. Semaan, Managing Director, Ramy Trading.

"We came to Dubai for the second time this year with our Chairman and CEO. The discussions we had at and around Automechanika Middle East went beyond our expectations and we believe that in the near future the dialogue that was initiated here will lead to an ex-change of experiences and ideas," said Ms. Linda Spencer, SEMA director of international relations.

From modernization of wheels and undercarriages to a revamp of the interiors, anything from big exhausts to large sound systems is used to craft a modified look. But car customization is an expensive business and before any modifications are made, it is necessary to cross check whether what's being planned is legal.