The Automechanika Shanghai exposition – Asia’s largest trade show for automotive parts, accessories, equipment and services – once again set attendance records in December by attracting 4,906 exhibitors and more than 89,000 attendees from 143 nations and regions throughout the world.
Taiwan topped the list of international visitors, followed by Korea, Russia, Malaysia, Turkey, Iran, the U.S., India, Japan and Thailand. They walked the aisles of 17 permanent halls at the sprawling Shanghai New International Expo Centre plus 10 temporary halls representing a 5 percent increase in display area compared to the 2013 edition of the event.
The tally of international exhibitors rose by 6 percent for a total of 581, with a 5 percent increase in participating Chinese companies to 4,325.
Nearly 40 nations and regions were represented among the booths, including five new countries – Belarus, Jordan, Peru, Portugal and Switzerland – which joined returning displays hosted by firms and trade organizations from Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Iran, Italy, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, Pakistan, Poland, Russia, Singapore, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, Thailand, the Netherlands, Turkey, the UAE, the UK, the U.S. and Vietnam.
Seventeen nations fielded overseas pavilions; Argentina and Pakistan were a new presence among the larger country-centric collections of exhibits.
The Accessories & Tuning category experienced the biggest uplift in booth presence as the number of exhibitors increased by 10.4 percent, followed by Repair & Maintenance, which had a 7.3 percent rise in participation.
“Seeing this encouraging result of Automechanika Shanghai is an excellent indication of its growing importance throughout China and across the globe as being a one-stop platform for the automotive sector,” says Jason Cao, senior general manager at Messe Frankfurt (HK), the show’s producer along with the China National Automotive Industry International Corp. (CNAICO). The increased level of support demonstrates the broad and deep influence the show has within the industry.”
“The flourishing market in China makes it an exciting time for both Chinese and international companies,” observes Ji Xuecheng, CNAICO’s general manager.
“Automechanika Shanghai has achieved excellent success in China’s first-tier city and mature markets,” he says. “At the same time, we are putting further efforts into the second- and third-tier cities, which are offering us enormous growth potential. In addition, we are also targeting emerging markets, which include Eastern Europe, the Middle East and South America.”
The emphasis on including regions situated outside of China’s major metropolitan areas that are now ripe for automotive growth is a particularly important development for the global marketplace, according to Ji. “We have expanded the promotional domain of the show, especially in the Middle, Northwest and Southwest of China,” he elaborates, “in Hubei, Hunan, Sichuan, Shaanxi, Yunnan, Xinjiang, Gansu, Guangdong and Guangxi provinces. These areas contain the most second- and third-tier cities and have huge potential for auto consumption.”
CNAICO and Messe Frankfurt (Shanghai) will be collaborating on presenting the debut of the July 21-23 Chengdu International Trade Fair for Automotive Parts and Aftermarket Services (CAPAS).
The 2014 Automechanika Shanghai show marked TI Automotive’s debut as an exhibitor at the event, with managing director Dave Barbeau noting that “we continue to expand our reach within the region.”
Based in Michigan with 24,000 employees at 130 locations in 29 countries, TI has been marketing its fluid systems technology in China for almost 30 years. The company produces fuel pumps and modules for the Chinese aftermarket and complete fuel tank systems, fuel delivery systems, fluid carrying systems, HVAC systems and powertrain products for OEMs in China.
TI currently has 15 sites in China, and in March of 2014 it opened a new fuel tank systems manufacturing facility in Guangzhou.
“While the Automechanika Shanghai show focuses primarily on the aftermarket, local manufacturing and distribution reach within China, it is important for us to highlight our global OEM customer presence, brand attributes and technological leadership,” Barbeau says.
NEVs in the fast lane
Among the more significant Automechanika Shanghai programs was the third edition of the NextGen Auto International Summit China. Some 15 topics were addressed relating to NEVs – New Energy Vehicles. These include new-energy and smart vehicles as well as lighter-weight cars and trucks. NEVs are becoming increasingly important as government authorities seek to resolve the nation’s air pollution problems through various economic subsidies and other assorted incentives and mandates. In 2014 about 50,000 electric vehicles were sold in China.
“China’s NEV industry is driving into the fast lane,” according to NextGen’s organizers. “There is an active involvement of the industry and consumers on the corresponding parts development and measures to support the NEV growth.”
Messe Frankfurt (Shanghai) general manager Richard Li explains that “a key focus this year is to help vehicle manufacturers and auto parts suppliers to manage partnerships, so they can execute much needed industry reform.”
Both the central Chinese government and a number of local governments have introduced a range of policies supporting NEVs. The National Development and Reform Commission, which assisted in presenting the NextGen conference, is implementing free electricity at electric vehicle charging stations until 2020, which is the target year cited by officials to have 5 million EVs and plug-ins on Chinese roads.
To push ahead on meeting these goals, “there are also proposed reductions of new energy vehicle parking fees, fuel and sewage charges in the industry, as well as the waiving of license fees for new energy vehicles,” NextGen organizers report.
“These policies will enhance the rapid development of next generation automobiles and shape the future development of the automotive industry,” says NextGen. “How vehicle manufactures and auto parts suppliers can manage their partnership to deliver the changes needed in the industry is, therefore, a key focus.”
With a theme of “Leading the Revolution in Auto Parts,” the NextGen Summit featured executives from OEMs such as BMW, Volkswagen, Tesla, Volvo, SAIC and Toyota along with other experts in the NEV field; 386 delegates from across the global automotive supply chain attended the event.
“I am pleased to have met some important government policy makers at the Summit,” says Shawn Gao, director of public policy and charging infrastructure at Tesla Motors China. “They talked about the policy orientation in the industry, which is crucial to the future development of electric vehicles. Through the Summit, I noticed that there is more attention on our industry, and I am delighted to have found some potential investors here,” he adds.
“This is a good platform to share my company’s supporting systems for electric vehicles, and interact with other companies about setting the industry standard,” says Gao. “I hope we can make some breakthroughs together in the market environment so more companies can get involved in the development of electric vehicles.”
“After my presentation, I met a lot of auto parts enterprises and OEMs who are interested to learn more about Volkswagen,” reports speaker Zhenjie Qiu, a VW divisional senior manager in China. “I am very happy to share my experience and knowledge with them since this is certainly helpful to my business.”
OEM EV investments
During the past year Tesla opened nine dealerships and service centers in six cities, including Beijing, Shanghai and Hangzhou. It constructed some 40 superchargers in 17 metro areas and nearly 600 destination chargers in more than 60 Chinese communities. Tesla was anticipating that its 2014 Chinese sales figures would reach 5,000 units; 3,431 EVs had already been sold during the first nine months of the year.
Produced at a plant in Chengdu, Volvo plans to launch its S60L Petrol Plug-in Hybrid in early 2015.
In April of 2014 BMW Brilliance Automotive, a joint venture between BMW and Brilliance China Automotive, established a rental enterprise for its ZINORO 1E, billed as the first EV made by a premium car manufacturer in China.
“We are one of the pioneers in this new field,” says BMW Brilliance President and CEO Olaf Kastner. “We are very excited that more and more people are eager to look deeper into the new technology. We have several thousand test drive requests which we are responding to at the moment. And, besides individuals, many companies and institutions are showing big interest in renting this NEV product as it supports their sustainability strategies.”
After two years of construction, the company has opened its new BMW Training Centre Beijing that provides instruction for 260 dealership students on a daily basis. “BMW believes that the investment in training is essentially an investment in people. It is a solid foundation and competitive factor in the market,” the company says, referring to the automaker’s commitment to ongoing growth throughout China.
Volkswagen and its two Chinese joint venture partners, FAW Volkswagen and Shanghai Volkswagen, are investing heavily in the nation’s automotive future. By 2018 they plan to double the count of VW dealerships in China to more than 3,600 outlets while boosting the amount of manufacturing and marketing employees to encompass 500,000-plus people.
“Our team of over 2,700 engineers in China and our partners are working together on pioneering technologies, and we are banking on China’s innovative power,” says CEO Dr. Martin Winterkorn.
VW’s electric up! program is part of the company’s new China Efficiency Strategy. “We are committed to be the most sustainable car manufacturer in China,” says Dr. Jochem Heizmann, chief of operations in the country. “Top of our list are eco-friendly technology innovations – made in China and made for China.”
VW plans to release more than 20 NEV models in China by 2018 under an ambitious “e-revolution” endeavor. “Our strategy is an electric car has to be perfect in every way – technically mature, practical, safe and affordable,” Heizmann says.
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