An outstanding Automechanika Frankfurt took place on 10-14 September. In slightly over three days this footsore reporter barely scratched the surface of the show. Next time I will go for the whole five days.
There were quite a few Australians at the show. Thanks to the Car Craft study tour for including me in their dinner plans three nights in a row. It was great to be able to discuss the points of interest in the body & paint hall with them. Rob Bartlett from Supply Side was there, I had a cheeky beer with Stuart Charity of AAAA and the crew from Sydney Automotive Paint & Equipment were out in force scouting for new products and catching up with their numerous European suppliers.
Automechanika Frankfurt is the biggest and most well respected automotive aftermarket show in the world. Industry suppliers time their new product launches to coincide with the show. It is here that you can see current and future industry trends.
The big S
There were three main themes which stood out. The most dominant was sustainability. Automotive businesses across Europe now have to measure their CO2 emissions and only that have to reduced these emissions year on year. That’s Europe you say - but all of these initiatives are coming to Australia. Both PPG and Axalta have launched their programs to help their customers in the sustainability challenge zone and it is only a matter of time before insurers are insisting their supply chain complies with sustainability directives and that will be followed by Government legislation for businesses to address their carbon emissions. There was an entire sustainability court at Automehcanika where the industry could exchange ideas and best practices.
Automation/digitalisation
The ageing technician workforce is a global problem and freeing up skilled technicians to concentrate on ‘the tricky bits’ is a strong focus. Examples of this are PPG’s LINQ system, Axalta’s Irus system on the paint side where mixing and colour matching can be carried out by practically anyone and the painter simply paints. If you can’t even get a painter there was a robotic painting arm on show which works on a track system in the the spray booth. An ingenious bumper prep prototype system was on display too. It’s basically a sandblasting cabinet which saves hours of sanding preparation as the surface can be prepared in about 12 minutes. AI of course was discussed and showcased in many different automotive applications from estimating to logistics in the supply chain.
Chinese EVs
EV technology was inevitably on show but this year a Chinese EV delegation created a special display to introduces the aftermarket to some of its branding including Geely, Zeeker, BYD, AVATR, HONGQI, DSFK and CATL.
Gen Z
Automechanika invested heavily in the a social media campaign to attract young people to visit the show with a dedicated area for them called Ambition. There were games, 'nightclub vibes', influencers and a host of events, talks and opportunities to find out more about careers in automotive.
Our report is predominantly made of video interviews at the show stands to give you a taste of of the show and there will be full report in the next edition of the magazine.