Automechanika makes its U.S. debut with Chicago show

April 24, 2015
CHICAGO — Automechanika Chicago opened its doors Friday morning, bringing to fruition a goal the event’s parent company, Messe Frankfurt, has been working toward for nearly 18 years: to bring the Automechanika brand to the United States. 

CHICAGO — Automechanika Chicago opened its doors Friday morning, bringing to fruition a goal the event’s parent company, Messe Frankfurt, has been working toward for nearly 18 years: to bring the Automechanika brand to the United States.

Automechanika Chicago runs through the weekend, bringing more than 450 exhibitors, 100-plus free training courses from more than 50 instructors and numerous networking opportunities to repair and collision shop owners, managers and technicians.
“We are in a constant dialogue with our customers from manufacturing, distribution, retail and the entire automotive supply chain to ensure that we meet their requirements and to ensure that we organize shows in markets that they want,” Detlef Braun, executive board member with Messe Frankfurt, said during the opening ceremony. “And therefore, I am even more delighted to be here opening Automechanika Chicago, which is the newest show in our brand portfolio as an event with an emphasis on education and training.”

Classes this weekend cover management and service, collision and general repair topics. Technicians were able to attend the classes for free on more than 2,000 scholarships from industry manufacturers and groups. Messe Frankfurt partnered with UBM Advanstar, parent company of Motor Age and ABRN, to bring the event to Chicago.

“We want to say a special thank you to the tens of thousands of service and collision repair shop owners, managers, techs and mechanics who interact with us every day through Motor Age and ABRN,” said Chris DeMoulin, executive vice president of the Automotive Group for UBM Advanstar. “You guys are the ones who told us you needed an event designed especially for you, for training and product discovery, and so you are in some ways the ones really the most responsible for Automechanika Chicago.  I hope that for all of our exhibitors and attendees, the next three days are very productive and informative, and you all leave with new tools and new relationships to help you improve your businesses.”

Messe Frankfurt is no stranger to the U.S., having textile events in Atlanta, Houston and New York City since 1991, this is the first foray into the aftermarket in the U.S. Those involved in preparing the event also thanked the city of Chicago, Choose Chicago and McCormick Place for their assistance in making the event possible.

“The reason for this event is simple. The market has asked for an automotive aftermarket event focused on training and product discovery for the shop owners and technicians in the U.S.,” Braun said. “The reason for Chicago is simple, 23 percent of all independent shops in the US are within a 500-mile radius of this city.  The other reason is that Chicago is a great host city for International events like Automechanika Chicago.”

He added that Messe Frankfurt and UBM Advanstar chose Chicago as the U.S. location and designed the show’s concept using the key event in Frankfurt.

“This is an incredible opportunity to showcase the city and McCormick Place," said Don Welsh, president and CEO of Choose Chicago.

The event presenters know the bar is set high to make the inaugural show a success, as Automechanika Chicago is the largest Automechanika launch, but all said Friday morning they will meet the challenge.

“We have a huge responsibility to our customers as the brand Automechanika serves over 16,000 exhibitors worldwide and 600,000 trade visitors – that is our asset and is what we take care of every day,” Braun said. “With our high level of customer service and continuous brand marketing and communication, we hope to add more value by positioning Automechanika Chicago as the largest training event for the automotive industry.”

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