The 13th Auto Expo 2016 – Components show turned out to be a massive success, providing an excellent B2B platform for focused trade discussions. With the show spread over an area of 80,000 sq. m. at Pragati Maidan, our team comprising four photographers and four correspondents had a mammoth task of covering a total of 1,500 exhibitors, 900 of which were Indian firms.
Jointly organized by the Automotive Component Manufacturers Association of India (ACMA), the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), the fair truly reflected the potential of the Indian auto component industry, with its particular focus on ‘Make-in-India’.
The eight dedicated international pavilions from China, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Taiwan, South Korea and the UK attracted a large number of business visitors. Over 1,14,328 focused trade visitors across four days, from 62 countries, made it a premier business event in the region. After three days of covering the entire length and breadth of the venue, we were left craving for more on the last day of the event, which was testimony to the quality and quantity of exhibitors at the show.
We witnessed companies that offered technology for each and every façade of the automotive world. Beginning from bearings, mirrors, air filters, oils, lubricants, rubber metal parts, garage equipment and automatic vehicle wash machines to more sophisticated transmission, gaskets, gears and axles, the component show left nothing untouched.
Separating wheat from chaff
It was the second time in a row that the component show was separated from the glitz glamour of the motor show at Greater Noida. This led to a lot of hectic business meetings and networking engagements reflecting the positive sentiment in the automotive sector in India. Expressing satisfaction over a successful Components Show, Mr Arvind Balaji, ACMA President, said: “We had significant international and domestic participation, reflecting the potential of Indian auto component industry. It is heartening that the exhibitors displayed products that would meet the customer expectations in terms of quality and technology.”
“The displays at Auto Expo not only provided an exposure to the Indian industry to the latest and best, but also offered an opportunity to strike collaborations to develop technologies indigenously”, said Mr Deep Kaupira, Charman, CII Trade Fairs.
Mr. Sanjeev Singh, Director, Aftermarket, Federal-Mogul India, observed: “It was a very smart move from the organisers to divide the show into Motor and Component show. We were able to spend some quality time with serious buyers and have received a lot enquiries even for export.”
“We received focused footfall even this year like the last edition of the show. It is good to spend time with people who understand the products we sell”, averred Mr. Arnob Guha, Director Operations, Gibraltar Airsprings Pvt. Ltd.
Most of the exhibitors expressed satisfaction over the number of enquiries they received, interested people they met and the scale of the event. “The feedback from the exhibitors at the Components Show has been very encouraging – especially in terms of quality of visitors which has helped in better business prospects for the industry”, said Mr Chandrajit Banerjee, Director General, CII.
Innovation Pavilion
It was for the first time in the history of this biennial mega event that an innovation pavilion was setup. Spread over 100 sq. mtrs. with 13 leading exhibitors, the Innovation Pavilion was created to draw attention to the latest offerings from the auto component industry – products designed, developed, tested and validated in India. The Pavilion offered a unique platform to component manufacturers to display their talent in developing cutting-edge technologies and was much appreciated by the prospective customers.
Speaking on the new initiative by ACMA, Mr. Vinnie Mehta, Director General, ACMA, said: “The auto component industry is making conscious effort to graduate from Build to Print to innovation, R&D and creation of products and IP. Therefore this year ACMA setup an innovation pavilion that attracted huge interest from the visitors by showcasing the automotive technologies developed by the Indian companies. The pavilion was intended to offer a unique platform to component manufacturers to display their capabilities in product and technology development.”
In continuation of its efforts to create awareness of the disadvantages of counterfeiting and on the need for usage of genuine parts, ACMA’s AsliNaqli pavilion highlighted the ways in which genuine products can be distinguished from their fakes. As many as 12 auto component companies participated in the AsliNaqli Pavillion.
Coinciding with Auto Expo, ACMA also organised the New Delhi Automotive Summit 2016 on February 5 with the theme ‘Make Quality & Technology in India’. That had participation from several leading global and domestic auto component leaders who shared their views and experiences on making quality products for exports, while top-notch OEMs talked about their expectations from component manufacturers with respect to value addition and innovation using frugal engineering.
Mr. Anant Geete, Minister for Heavy Industries & Public Enterprises, formally inaugurated the event on February 4. In line with the Government’s agenda of ‘Make in India’ and to drive home the message on the need for focus on R&D and innovation in the auto component sector, the event was themed ‘Automotive Technologies that Drive the World’.
In conclusion, one could comfortably say that Auto Expo Components has confirmed its status place as the most preferred B2B platform for the Indian auto component manufacturers to showcase new products, technologies, solutions and services. We hope that the message of ‘quality B2B focus’ of the show reaches the industry loudly so that more brands, both from India and abroad, would ensure presence in the next edition of the country’s premier auto component trade fair two years hence.