Record attendance drives success for region's largest auto spare parts show

They had met 5'492 visitors from within the UAE along with many from other parts of the region. Many expressed keen support for the event which next year is scheduled for 28th - 30th May 2005. According to the organisers, Epoc Messe Frankfurt, this promises to be even bigger.

With an estimated 65% of all auto parts re-exported from the UAE, the event is seen by most as a unique opportunity to meet with buyers from dozens of different countries. It provides the visitors with the chance to see literally hundreds of products all under one roof. A visitor to Automechanika, Mr Sabah Hamed from Baghdad, said: "Attending a show like this allows me to visit all the manufacturers I need in one place, instead of travelling to 20 different countries looking for the products."

Automechanika's project manager Michael Dehn explained: "Category growth in the aftermarket is spiralling upwards as a function of growth in the overall vehicle ownership market. This is why we have a constant flow of new exhibitors to the show as well as retaining many of those from previous shows. Our re-booking figures on site prove that the extremely positive results for the participating companies at Automechanika Gulf are immediately noticeable. Companies who reached their targets already during the exhibition booked their space straight away to secure prime locations for next year. Other companies will follow in the next two weeks when they realize that the contacts they made during the exhibition turn into serious business partners. Apart from manufacturers, Automechanika is an excellent platform for agents as they use the exhibition like a massive showroom. Rather than just local customers, they have walk in visitors from as far a field as Africa and Turkey. It makes good business sense all round."

This sentiment was echoed by Jacek Siwinski, General Manager of Bosch. They have plans to massively increase the number of service outlets in the Gulf countries from 6 to 20, supplying a range of over 2,000 parts from a worldwide network of 250 subsidiaries. He said: "Businesses in the industry need a show like this as a platform for communication. We have had an abundance of high quality visitors and our stand has made a number of successful deals."

Al Danawi Stores, sole agents for a unique line of specialist paints from Germany, Glasurit, presented a variety of stunning paint jobs undertaken in their own body shop. Featured on their stand as examples of the effects of the paint system was a wood finish Mini Cooper and a BMW cabriolet. The sparkling paintwork shows up to eight different colours from one single pigment, but the real art is knowing how to apply the paint professionally.

Many participants at Automechanika Gulf 2004 came from overseas seeking local distributors. This seems to be the right entry time to the region, according to Christoph Armpht from GAT Eurokat, manufacturers of Catalytic Converters. Another exhibitor, Barry Harrison, Marketing Manager for Bearmach PLC, said that the exhibition helped them expand their sales. "The UAE provided an excellent platform to do this because of the number of visitors from neighbouring countries and huge re-export market."