ACMA Automechanika New Delhi debuts with grand success

The latest addition to the Automechanika brand, ACMA Automechanika New Delhi, proved to be a huge success for its debut show. The sold-out event, held from 7 – 10 February 2013 at Halls 8 – 11 of Pragati Maidan in the nation’s capital, featured 261 exhibiting companies (149 domestic, 112 international) and attracted 8,157 business visitors. Participating firms focused on showcasing their latest innovations to the Indian automotive aftermarket. Sectors featured at the debut fair included Parts and Systems, Accessories and Tuning, Tyres and Batteries, Repair and Maintenance, IT and Management, Service Station and Car Wash.

Overseas exhibitors had a stellar showing, as companies came from countries and regions including, Bangladesh, China, Czech Republic, Germany, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Poland, South Korea, Spain, Taiwan, Turkey, the UAE, the UK, and Ukraine. In total, overseas exhibitors, including national and regional pavilions from China, Italy, Germany, Taiwan and the UK, covered 4,500 sqm of exhibition space.

Shri Praful Patel, Honourable Minister for Heavy Industry and Public Enterprises, Government of India, officiated the show’s inauguration ceremony. He stated: “ACMA Automechanika New Delhi is a very important show to India’s automotive industry, which currently represents 22 percent of India’s manufacturing GDP. India today produces high-quality components and has a strong manufacturing base. In addition, the country’s growing economy is a key indicator of the rapid development in the automotive industry, and is poised for extraordinary growth. A show like this gives India’s auto industry the perfect chance to showcase its current progress.”

Also present at the inauguration ceremony was Mr Surinder Kanwar, President, ACMA, who commented: “ACMA Automechanika New Delhi 2013 has indeed been a very successful new venture for ACMA and Messe Frankfurt India. The show has exceeded all of our expectations in terms of exhibitor participation and in attracting key decision-making buyers. Additionally, the two-day conference on ‘Opportunities and Challenges for the Indian Auto Component Industry and Aftermarket’, organised concurrently with the exhibition was also well attended. Participants greatly benefitted from the incisive discussions on the key challenges being encountered by the auto component aftermarket value chain and the issue of combating counterfeiting.”

Mr Raj Manek, Managing Director Messe Frankfurt Trade Fairs India Pvt Ltd, added: “To tap emerging opportunities in India, it was highly imperative that ACMA and Messe Frankfurt formed a partnership, utilising our respective expertises for developing this extraordinary show. With ACMA representing over 600 companies, their reach into the Indian Automotive Aftermarket is unparalleled. Combined with Messe Frankfurt’s knowledge in organising highly sought-after exhibitions around the world, the show was bound to be a huge success. Buyers came from a range of backgrounds, including intellectual property owners, OEMs, dealers and distributors, retailers, suppliers, manufactures, and global automotive leaders from both India and abroad.”

Show praised as a hub for access to technology and India’s automotive aftermarket

Growing from a low-value component supplier to an international hub for sourcing high-value, critical auto components, India has now established itself as an indispensable market for many key global industry players. Suppliers from around the world have started to make stronger efforts in tapping the country’s numerous business opportunities.

Exhibitor and leading manufacturer of auto products, Escorts Auto Products, was highly pleased with the outcome of the event.
Mr Love Dua, Assistant Manager – Products, exclaimed: “ACMA Automechanika New Delhi has been a good experience for our company. In addition to promoting our existing wares to the local market, we also came to source raw materials and spare parts. ACMA Automechanika New Delhi significantly reduced our workload by gathering some of the industry’s key players under one roof.”

Maha India Automotive Testing Equipment Pvt Ltd took part in the exhibition to establish their presence in the Indian market.
The Director, Mr Rengarajan expressed his satisfaction with the trade fair by saying: “The visitors who came to the fair were fully in line with our target group profile. We received good responses especially from car makers. ACMA Automechanika New Delhi was very well organised. I am sure we will take part in the next edition of the show.”

Explaining why they chose to show at ACMA Automechanika New Delhi, Mr Bernd Grasser, General Manager, ZF India Pvt Ltd, expressed: “We took part in the fair to draw attention to ZF and our trademark brands Sachs, Lemfoerder, Boge and ZF Parts in the domestic market. We met customers who deal with our parts and conducted lots of interesting discussions. Our expectations on the event have been fulfilled and the ZF presentation at ACMA Automechanika New Delhi was a success.”

Ms Isabella Giuliano, Automotive and Manufacturing Industry – Senior Consultant, Piemonte Agency for Investments, Export and Tourism of Italy, attended the show as part of the Italian pavilion with the aim of highlighting the latest automotive component solutions from Piemote of Italy. She noted: “We had lots of buyers at our booth, and we can tell from the conversations that the buyers were very knowledgeable on the automotive industry. Due to extremely positive results, I am confident we will be able to bring even more exhibitors to the next show”.

Mr Bryan Kim, Manager, Yong Sung Corp, a Korean OEM shared: “The Indian automotive market is booming; Hyundai alone sold 400,000 automobiles in India last year! We currently have no presence in the country, which is why we wanted to explore the market. We met over 30 buyers and two automobile manufacturers who were really interested in our products. I am confident we can make some deals from the leads generated at the show!”

From the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders Ltd (SMMT), an agency dedicated to the interests of the UK Automotive Industry at home and abroad, Ms Sarah Thevenet, added: “It was important to be present at the fair. The 2013 show has exceeded the expectations of all of our exhibitors. The level of organisation at the show was very good and we were equally impressed by how smoothly the show ran. I am sure we will be back for the next edition with a larger group.”

Ms Simone Sguiyyardi, Export Director, MAPCO, a company that manufactures specialised machined products, was another supplier who attended the fair with the goal of entering the Indian market. She remarked: “Our expectations for the fair were exceeded by a wide margin. We made a numerous amount of good contacts with small-to medium-sized and even big companies. We are also fully satisfied with the way the event was organised.”

Regular exhibitor at Automechanika shows across the globe, Heko, a Polish company mainly concerned with the manufacture and distribution of plastic automotive accessories, was delighted to add ACMA Automechanika New Delhi to their tour circuit. Mr Adam Konieczny, Overseas Sales Manager mentioned: “We were curious to know how the aftermarket in India functions. We were pleasantly surprised to find that there is great potential here. The quality, number of visitors and their interest level has amazed us. We hope to have some business from the several meetings scheduled after the fair.”

With hundreds of professional buyers visiting stalls every day, a host of companies decided to use ACMA Automechanika New Delhi as a platform to launch new products. Aisin Seik Co Ltd announced the commencement of their aftermarket operations in India, BASF India Ltd launched a range of radiator coolants under their brand Glynsantin, EUROLUB GmbH showcased their new EUROLUB Additive Programme and PCL SUMO Air Technology launched a new Nitrogen inflator and generator.

Visitors to the trade fair were equally impressed by the show’s quality, scale and range of exhibitors. Although visitors mainly came from the Indian sub-continent, the fair also received buyers from as far as Australia, France, Turkey and the Ukraine.

Ms Nirosha Damayanthi from M Seneviratne Pvt Ltd, Sri Lanka, commented: “Our main concerns are in retail and wholesale dealings of agricultural spare parts and components. We have been attending Automechanika shows all over the world and are quite surprised at how well the trade fair was organised at this edition in New Delhi. In addition to making several contacts at this show, we placed orders with brands including SPACO, Escorts and Anand.”

When asked for feedback on his experience at the exhibition, Mr Ajay Gupta, Director, Anshuman Auto Impex Ltd, stated: “We have already signed a deal with Mahle and are in talks with Escorts.
The trade show has given me the opportunity to meet and speak with a lot of companies at one central platform. We are extremely happy with the fair. This trade show covers the whole spectrum of the industry and is a very good initiative by ACMA and Messe Frankfurt.”

During the exhibition, the shows’ two organisers also highlighted issues that are jeopardising the performance of the auto industry through their combined initiatives ‘ASLI-NAQLI’ and ‘Messe Frankfurt against Copying’. Mr Jatinder Singh Khattar, Executive – Regional Service, Lucas Indian Service Ltd, India shared his reason for attending. He said, “My main objective for coming to ACMA Automechanika New Delhi, as a manufacturer, was to understand how I could keep my product from being counterfeited. The ‘ASLI-NAQLI’ and ‘Messe Frankfurt against Copying’ initiative definitely heightened my awareness and knowledge of counterfeiting in the industry on a global scale.”

Fringe programmes widely acclaimed for focusing on the domestic industry’s biggest challenges

Held concurrently with the exhibition was the two-day ACMA Automechanika New Delhi Seminar on the opportunities and challenges faced by the Indian Auto Component Industry and Aftermarket, where participants were able to share their professional views with industry peers. Targeting leading influencers and decision makers, the seminar’s topics addressed current and future trends within the auto component distribution chain, developments in the auto servicing industry, and stressed the ramifications of counterfeiting.

One of the speakers at the seminar, Mr Sanjay Kaushik, Chief Operating Officer, Pinkerton, said that the conference was perfectly suited to the domestic industry’s current issues. When asked about the relevance of the topic he presented, he said: “Due to the wide circulation of counterfeit auto parts, India has witnessed an increasing number of on-road deaths and major losses in economic capital. If OEMs and auto parts manufacturers want their profit margins to go up then they have to join hands with the government and form an integrated response. Seminars like this facilitate the meeting of such minds.”

“The representation of so many countries at ACMA Automechanika New Delhi highlights their growing recognition of the Indian market. This will clearly help the domestic industry grow in the coming years. Automechanika has been introduced to India at a crucial time and has provided us with the opportunity to meet and do business with several countries. Since the Indian auto industry is still in its development phase, seminars like this help in providing thought leadership, which is essential to charting a successful future,” exclaimed Mr Mohit Arora, Executive Director, J.D. Power Asia Pacific, Singapore, who spoke on the topic: ‘Developments in the vibrant aftermarkets of South East Asia – What India can learn.’

ACMA Automechanika New Delhi is one of Messe Frankfurt’s 12 Automechanika fairs held in Africa, Asia, Europe, Central and South America. The next edition of the New Delhi show will take place in 2015. For further information about ACMA Automechanika New Delhi, please visit www.acma-automechanika.in / www.automechanika.com.

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Background information on Automotive Component Manufacturers Association of India (ACMA)
The Automotive Component Manufacturers Association of India (ACMA) is the nodal agency for the Indian Auto Component Industry. Its active involvement in trade promotion, technology up-gradation, quality enhancement and collection and dissemination of information has made it a vital catalyst for this industry’s development. Its other activities include participation in international trade fairs, sending trade delegations overseas and bringing out publications on various subjects related to the automotive industry.

ACMA is represented on a number of panels, committees and councils of the Government of India through which it helps in the formulation of policies pertaining to the Indian automotive industry.

For more information, please visit our website at: www.acmainfo.com.

Background information on Messe Frankfurt
Messe Frankfurt is Germany’s leading trade fair organiser, with 538* million Euros in sales and 1,891* active employees worldwide. The Messe Frankfurt Group has a global network of 28 subsidiaries and approx. 50 international Sales Partners, giving it a presence for its customers in more than 150 countries. Events “made by Messe Frankfurt” take place at more than 30 locations around the globe. In 2012, Messe Frankfurt organised 109* trade fairs, of which more than half took place outside Germany.

Messe Frankfurt’s exhibition grounds, featuring 578,000 square metres, are currently home to ten exhibition halls and an adjacent Congress Centre. The company is publicly owned, with the City of Frankfurt holding 60 percent and the State of Hesse 40 percent.
For more information, please visit our website at: www.messefrankfurt.com.

* preliminary numbers (2012)