19,000 attended Reifen 2012

The 27th Reifen show in Essen was the best yet with 19,000 trade visitors in attendance, according to show organisers Messe Essen. While the company announced that it had the largest number of exhibitors in the event’s history and the strongest international participation before the show, increased footfall was confirmed at the end of the event. Talk of tyre labelling and the new products linked to this legislation dominated the trade fair.

Visitors are said to have travelled from 130 countries across all continents to attend the show. Over a third of the visitors ordered something at the fair and concluded deals in situ on the show booths. 88 per cent of visitors were described as “decision takers” with purchasing and procurement powers in their companies. The 653 exhibitors from 44 nations, including all the renowned tyre manufacturers, showed that they were very satisfied with the 2012 event.

Messe Essen boss, Frank Thorwirth commented: “The course of ‘Reifen’ has impressively shown that nothing can replace the personal contact, the ‘face-to-face’ conversation, even in times which are becoming economically difficult.” Only the fair offers these intensive possibilities of networking, getting to know each other and the direct exchange of opinions. “Furthermore, ‘Reifen’ was yet again a family reunion in the sector,” according to the chairman and CEO of Messe Essen. 

2014 dates announced

With the date for the next Reifen show already released (the 28th International Reifen trade fair will run from 27 – 30 May 2014), 93 per cent of exhibitors have suggested they have “firm intentions” to visit the event in two years time. In the meantime the fifth “Reifen China” is scheduled for (22-24 November 2012).

Michael Borchert, managing director for marketing and sales, Pirelli Deutschland GmbH stated: “No question: ‘Reifen’ in Essen has become established as the world’s premier fair in the tyre sector. For everybody who has to deal with tyres professionally, it is a must, every two years, to be involved in this international highlight. Thus, the fair helped us to hold a lot of good and important discussions with our national and international customers. On the other hand, the fair was particularly important this year because it took place at nearly the same time as the introduction of the EU tyre label. Against this background, Pirelli is proud of the fact that, with the Cinturato P7 Blue, its programme includes a tyre which exhibits the best mark A in selected sizes in the label categories relating to rolling resistance and wet grip and will already be available on the market as from July.”

Dieter Köppner, Nokian Tyres managing director for Central Europe commented: “We are very satisfied with the overall course of the fair! ‘Reifen’ is definitely the most important tyre fair in the world. Here, we meet our customers from all over the world. Moreover, our appointments were all booked-up. The booth was always well-visited although we were remarkably the only tyre manufacturer at the fair without any tyres on the booth. Nevertheless, there was always brisk business here because experts are familiar with us as a reliable partner. Our winter tyres traditionally register a strong demand but our summer range on offer also aroused great interest at the fair. All in all, it was primarily the rise in the number of international visitors which was remarkable. Next time, we will certainly be involved again.”

Nexen Tire Europe GmbH’s Ji Ahn added: “For us, ‘Reifen’ was an entirely successful event. We felt that we were looked after ideally but we were pleased, above all, about the numerous visitors from throughout the world. Here, we were able to establish very good contacts, for example, to Eastern European, African and Arab customers. All in all, our booth was well-visited around the clock four days’ long. In particular, our SUV&RV tyres for offroad vehicles were very popular.”

Harald Van Ooteghem, senior manager for business planning and marketing, Bridgestone Europe NV/SA said: “We are very satisfied and cannot make any complaints whatsoever. We have achieved what we wanted to achieve. On all the days of the fair, we had a remarkable onrush of visitors and were able to meet clients from all over the world in this case. Especially our tyre innovations were very much in demand. We will be involved in the next ‘Reifen’ once more!”

Michael Schwämmlein, director for the Global Business Segment, Rema Tip Top’s opinion was: “The fair has been super for us! Our TPMS devices were particularly popular. ‘Reifen’ is definitely the premier international fair in the sector. For us, it was very positive to encounter such an international public and, even now, we are already planning to take part again in two years.”

Andreas Dickmann, Director for Brand Strategy, Brand Communications and Corporate Communications, Lanxess AG continued: “As a raw materials manufacturer, ‘Reifen’ is indeed not exactly predestined for us but is instead absolutely new territory as a fair. However, precisely for this reason, we are very satisfied with our appearance here. We have definitely attained our objective, i.e. to communicate our fuel-saving app. In this respect, the timing of the fair within the preparation period for the tyre label was spot on precisely for us. The app was very much in demand amongst the tyre dealers as well.”

Mike Mathis, VP for International Marketing, Arturro Tire commented: “We are very glad to have been involved once more. Here, we were able to support our dealers in an ideal way and, at the same time, to establish new contacts. We received particular interest from Eastern Europe and the Middle East. ‘Reifen’ is definitely one of the most important fairs for us. In the present economic climate, we as a premium budget brand are very well-situated within the sector.”