Automechanika Birmingham 2017 closes its doors until 2018

At an event which was 70 per cent bigger, hosting over 800 quality exhibitors, Automechanika Birmingham delivered a hugely successful exhibition in its second year. The UK automotive trade event welcomed over 12000 visitors including motor factors, workshops, retailers, dealerships, vehicle manufacturers, tier 1 and 2 manufacturers, who had opportunities to learn, discover and network.

Across five halls of the NEC, visitors saw companies including Schaeffler (UK) Ltd, ZF Aftermarket UK, Bosch UK, Denso Sales UK, Valeo Service, Delphi and Draper Tools.

Highlights of the event included over 40 aftermarket and supply chain seminars, hosting industry experts, who delivered sessions covering daily challenges and industry developments, advanced technology and future solutions for day to day work.

The Workshop Training Zone attracted a large audience to hear the announcement of Garage of the Year winner. The winner, Motorserv-UK Solihull took to the stage to collect the award and a £1000 cash prize. Kamran Saleem, director of Motorserv-UK Solihull said: “We are thrilled to be the winners of Garage of the Year! We are always striving for excellence by investing heavily in training, keeping up to date with future innovations and improving our internal management systems. Thank you to all those who voted for us, we are so happy that we are able to deliver a valued service to our customers and this award is just another step in the right direction for us.”

Hall 6 featured a brand new Connected and Digital Technology Zone which hosted new and upcoming technologies to benefit the future of manufacturing vehicles. Products included the new Range Rover Velar, a Kuka robot from REECO, Semcon brought HoloLens augmented reality glasses and Adient showcased advanced seating commodities among other innovations.

The visitors included buyers from across the industry, such as Ford, Jaguar Land Rover, Bentley and Nissan as well as Faurecia, Aisin Europe, GSF Car Parts, Euro Car Parts, Andrew Page, Lookers, Pendragon Plc, Halfords, Kwik fit GB Ltd.

Simon Albert, event director, Automechanika Birmingham said: “Automechanika Birmingham 2017 has hosted a 70 per cent bigger event than in its launch year and welcomed over 800 exhibitors, including 250 new to the 2017 event – it has been absolutely amazing. We are delighted with the quality and quantity of senior buyers who attended, as well as the number of independent companies taking time out of their daily work to review and direct their business – it is what Automechanika Birmingham is all about. We have closed the 2017 event knowing that exhibitors are very happy with over 300 already reserving space for 2018.”

Next year’s event at the NEC Birmingham running from 5-7 June 2018 will deliver a newly improved layout with supply chain exhibitors in Hall 6, aftermarket suppliers in Halls 19 and 20 and a dedicated Workshop Quarter in Hall 18, set to welcome relevant exhibitors looking to meet garage owners and technicians. Automechanika Birmingham will continue to develop in order to establish further as the UK’s key automotive trade event.