Autopromotec aftermarket trade fair opens in Bologna with 1,651 exhibitors 

The 28th edition of the Autopromotec, the biennial five- day international exhibition of automotive equipment and aftermarket products, opened today in Bologna, Italy. 

Autopromotec, which is Europe's key trade show focusing on the aftermarket and service industry for over 50 years, offers a comprehensive display of the latest aftermarket products and services from leading industry players.

This year’s Autopromotec offers a look into the future of car assistance, a market that is moving fast globally towards autonomous driving, connected cars, EVs and shared mobility.

Spread across 162,000 square metres of exhibition space comprising 17 halls and five outdoor areas, it features 1,651 companies from 53 countries with 43 percent of them being international companies. This is an increase of 4 percent over 2017. Over 150 delegates from 35 countries are likely to attend the trade show with over 100,000 visitors including 23,000 overseas visitors are expected to visit between May 22-26.

The trade show includes over 500 product categories covering all sub-sectors of the aftermarket. One of the key focus events in the exhibition is AutopromotecEDU, a dialogue and debate platform focusing on innovation and main trends in the aftermarket industry, an opportunity for training and education for aftermarket professionals.

Italy is the fourth largest European automotive market after Germany, the United Kingdom and France, with 1.97 million new registered passenger vehicles sold in 2017, representing an 8 percent increase over 2016. Italy is trying to integrate with the larger European automotive markets and also other major global markets such as India and China. As a result, this year’s edition has more Asian delegates and companies attending the trade show to find business opportunites in Italian automotive aftermarket. 

Officina X.0
Autopromotec’s Officina X.0, a project developed in collaboration with Accenture, focuses on promoting the role of digitisation and connectivity in the car repair segment. It aims to provide comprehensive services, implemented and made efficient by the use of new technologies, new tools and, importantly, the Internet of Things.

According to the Accenture report, car repair shops and the repair service industry are speedily adapting to connected and digitised mobility: vehicles are connected in a network and live in a digital ecosystem allowing a continuous flow of data and information, called for by various vehicle components. Similarly, equipment is also connected with vehicles and will produce data that, once integrated with those originating from vehicles, will give a more comprehensive picture. A ‘medical record’ of the car, continuously updated in real time, allows the car to engage in a dialogue with the shop equipment.

Autopromotec Motorsport
Another major feature this year is Autopromotec Motorsport celebrating the correlation between aftermarket industry companies and motorsports, under the patronage of ACI Sport and ANFIA-Motorsport.