International aftermarket experts identify key industry trends ahead of leading regional event

International participants at Automechanika Dubai, the Middle East and Africa’s largest international automotive aftermarket trade show, have identified several significant trends set to shape the future of the industry as organiser Messe Frankfurt Middle East begins the final countdown for the show’s grand opening.

The three-day trade show will return to the Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC) on 14^th-16^th December 2021, with exhibitors participating from 57 countries, including 15 national pavilions. Participants will be split across six product sections: Parts & Components; Electronics & Systems; Accessories & Customizing; Repair & Maintenance; Car Wash, Care & Reconditioning; and Tyres & Batteries.

Ahead of the event, industry experts have revealed that digitalisation and sustainability remained the top two trends discussed at a local, regional and international level, with many pointing to COVID-19 as a catalyst for change.

Representing Morocco – a country debuting at this year’s Automechanika Dubai – Soufian Chriki, Sales Director for Siprof said: “The market is in transition with digitalisation, climate change, cryptocurrency, artificial intelligence and sustainable energy all having an impact.”

Polish-based AS-PL, producers of alternators and starters, said while digitalisation has played a large role in its processes for years, the pandemic exacerbated this change.

Robert Snider, CMO at AS-PL, said: “The process of digitalisation has been transforming the industry processes for some time. The pandemic accelerated this transformation as well. More and more processes in the industry have been automated for better effectiveness.

“And companies such as AS-PL, which cooperates with customers from various markets and countries, introduced systems that enable us to react faster and more efficiently when it comes to customer relationship management.”

Lithuania’s Elinta Charge, which is responsible for manufacturing public EV charging stations across Europe, explains its use of proprietary technology allowed for continued customer support despite travel restrictions.

“All our charging stations are equipped with our elios.cloud back-end system solution, which allows us to monitor the charging station, communicate with it, detect an issue remotely and in many cases solve an issue without physically interacting with it,” said Ignas Mikutis, CEO of Elitna Charge.

Mikutis, who believes digitalisation and ‘going electric’ are dominating trends within the automotive industry, explained that sustainability also plays a key part in the design of their products.

“Most importantly, we discuss with the team what is sustainable and how to avoid the pitfalls of greenwashing. Our take is very simple, we make things that last, and we build our solutions on three pillars: timeless design, advanced engineering and smart electronics.”

Automechanika Dubai hosted over 30,000 visitors and 1,900 exhibitors in 2019, and has established itself as an international meeting point for global and regional players in the automotive industry. The three day event is one of 17 instalments of Automechanika – the most successful automotive aftermarket trade fair brand in the world.