In recent years Automechanika Frankfurt has become the meeting place for the global automotive aftermarket and this year’s event, which takes place from September 16th to 20th looks set to be bigger and better than ever.

The world’s leading bi-annual aftermarket trade fair attracts thousands of exhibitors and hundreds of thousands of visitors from just about every country in the world, with huge numbers travelling from Ireland to see that latest parts, equipment and service innovations. This includes representative from companies of all sizes ranging from major distributors through to individual garages.

The last time the show was held in 2012 the statistics were impressive. Some 4,500 exhibitors were present with 82% of these international exhibitors from outside Germany. The show attracted an amazing 147,715 visitors from 176 countries. 55% of these visitors came from outside of  Germany, with Italy, the Netherlands, France, Great Britain, Poland, Spain, the Russian Federation, Belgium and Turkey all being well represented.

Automechanika covers a unique spectrum of products from the fields of automotive parts, car washing, workshop and filling-station equipment, IT products and services, accessories and tuning and this year will see an increased emphasis on e-mobility. It includes the entire chain in the automotive aftermarket, from point-of-sale, via services and repair, to recycling and waste disposal. In fact if you cannot find the item you are looking for at Automechanika the chances are it has not been invented.

The body repair sector will be especially well represented at this year’s show with many new suppliers attending for the first time, while other companies are returning after being absent for many years. In particular several of the major refinish paint brands will be represented, some for the first time in well over a decade. These will include, Cromax, Spies Hecker and Glasurit. A very diverse range of bodyshop equipment will also be on display from hundreds of global suppliers.

The huge scale of the exhibition means that to make the most of opportunities it can present you need to allocate sufficient time and most definitely have a plan of action of who you need to see and where they are. You can get more information on the exhibition, including a full list of exhibitors and locations at www.automechanika.messefrankfurt.com.