Described by the 546 exhibiting companies as the best of all the exhibitions held every year for the past 12 years, PAACE Automechanika Mexico 2006 attracted a record number of 17,557 visitors from 34 countries attended the three day event, according to the sponsoring organizations INA, MEMA, SEMA,  APRA, AAIA and Messe Frankfurt in their review of the International Week of the Automotive Industry in Mexico.

Inaugurated by Mexico’s President Vicente Fox Quesada and by the Economy Minister Sergio García de Alba this particular show, which covered 21,000 square meters, attracted the largest participating contingent ever of Mexican autoparts companies, 161. The show is Mexico’s most important for the automotive industry and is one of the most important in Latin America.

PAACE Automechanika Mexico’s international character was visible by the 11 international pavilions from Germany, Argentina, Brazil, China, Colombia, South Korea, Hong Kong, Italy, Japan, Thailand and Taiwan and exhibitors came from 20 countries.

The exhibition was attended by the makers of original equipment, the aftermarket, service, tools and accessories marketers and by practically the whole of the automotive sector’s productive chain.

The Salon de SEMA was held for the third consecutive year and covered an exhibiting area twice that of previous years in which more than 30 vehicles were specially prepared by young people from six of Mexico’s states.

The Salon de SEMA featured a variety of Mexican companies which specialize in the manufacturing and distribution of special automobile and truck accessories as well as the co-host of the Overhaulin’ TV show, A.J., who exchanged experiences with the public and also shared the public’s pleasure in being in the presence of customized automobiles. She exchanged points of view on many subjects with the hundreds of tuning buffs who visited the salon.

The Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) also took part in the technical seminars through the companies REACO and Big Country, whose top directors attracted more than 200 people who are aware of how the specialty equipment market is taking off and how products are being distributed through specialized networks.

The technical seminars for industry professionals covered three days and were attended by almost 4,000 specialists. The seminars offered a full program of conferences, starting with one about diagnosis, and outline technologies regarding, battery upkeep, advice on the purchase of a patrimony, brake system maintenance, steering and suspension parts, automotive transmission operating systems, and leakage detection.

An event which emphasized the week’s industrial character was the celebration of the IV International Congress of the Automotive Industry in Mexico, organized by the Mexican industry association INA, which brought together 360 experts who presented, discussed and analyzed the macroeconomic, financial, raw material, energy, remanufacturing and purchasing aspects of the industry under the heading “Mexico-U.S.A.: Evolution or Revolution?”, and in which President Vicente Fox Quesada was a keen participant, along with Economy Minister Sergio Garcia de Alba and the heads of the host associations, INA, MEMA, SEMA, APRA y Messe Frankfurt.

A total of 34 speakers took part in the activities of the Automotive Congress’s different panels, which met over three days. The Mexican government and attendees expressed their satisfaction with the high level of interest generated by the panels.

The International Week of the Automotive Industry, which included the congress, known as CIIAM, and PAACE Automechanika Mexico was covered by 135 accredited journalists.

PAACE Automechanika Mexico will be held again on July 11, 12 and 13, 2007, at the Centro Banamex in Mexico City.

Exhibitors’ opinions

Antonio Pérez, Head of X Ray, SPX Division.- The public’s response to this year’s show has been phenomenal. We’re delighted that every year the quality of the visitors to the show improves and our expectations for the event have been surpassed. We expected between 350 and 400 people to attend our technical seminar and 520 mechanics turned up. It’s been the show’s best year and we now face a challenge to do even better next year.“

Fernando Ube, Marketing Manager, DESC Group.- This is a great place for meeting our customers. It gets better and becomes more international every year. We use this type of exhibition to make contact with our customers, with the mechanics and the aftermarket outlets. It’s been great taking part in PAACE Automechanika México and you can feel the event’s strong globalization element.

Emilio Isais, Interfil’s Commercial Director.- Year after year we notice an improvement in the show’s organization, its publicity and quality of visitor. The most important thing to do now is to follow up the contacts we’ve made during the show and to do business. We’re very happy with the results from the show and the attendance has been wonderful.

Salvador Elías, Managing Director, DAISA.- PAACE Automechanika Mexico grows by the year. It’s improved tremendously even with the large student presence. The attendance of the specialized public, which is what interests us the most, is very important as we, the Mexican companies, compete in quality with products from other countries.

Walter Baumstark, Commercial Director, LUK, and Director of AS Autopartes.- As always, PAACE Automechanika Mexico is a very successful event for us. This year we invited mechanics through a promotion related to our products and the response was very positive. Some 4,500 technicians from the Mexico City Metropolitan Area came. We pray the exhibition will continue to be as successful as now. We’re happy with the results.

Sergio Odgers, National Sales Manager, Big Country.- Every year the number of show visitors increases and this year our contacts with customers were 30% up, the same percentage as our floor space. Things went well for us also in the seminars as the attendance was very good. See you here next year!

Yael Vera, Business Coordinator for original parts, Ford Motor Company Mexico.- We thoroughly recommend this show. PAACE Automechanika Mexico has surprised as it’s the first time Ford’s original parts area and Motorcraft have been here. It’s a great show where thousands of visitors can see what we distribute. It’s been very valuable for us to be here.

Carlos Henriquez, Head of Technical Service, Hella.- There are more specialized people here than last year. This allows us to do business with mechanics who are interested in the courses and training we offer on fuel injection. We’ll see you at PAACE Automechanika Mexico next year.

Juan Bernardo Torres, REACO’s Regional Manager.- We’ve had a presence at all the PAACE Automechanika Mexico shows and we can assure you it’s the most important exhibition of all the auto shows. We think the size of the accessories market will grow and we hope it happens next year. Judging from the visitors we had, there’s great potential and we’re very satisfied with that.

What they said about the Salon de SEMA

Gustavo Orozco, from the city of Tampico, Tamaulipas state, Mexico.-  It’s been a very satisfying adventure to be here at the Salon de SEMA Salon. It’s growing year by year and here you can see the best tuned cars in the country. I hope that next year the car I bring will be better equipped and tuned.

José Luis Cano, Los Angeles, California, USA.- I’ve been agreeably surprised by the Salon de SEMA. It’s very well turned out, the cars are well equipped and the number of visitors is very large. This event will grow... I hope more events can be staged within the salon.

Press Contact:

Contact USA:
WT Glasgow, Inc.
10729 W. 163rd Place
Orland Park, Illinois 60467
Tel. 708.226.1300
Fax. 708.226.1310
Mail: info@wtglasgow.com
Web: www.paaceautomechanika.com

Contact International:
Messe Frankfurt, Inc.
1600 Parkwood Circle, Ste. 515
Atlanta, GA 303391, USA
Tel. 770.984.8016
Fax: 770.984.8023
E-mail: paminfo@usa.messefrankfurt.com
Web:   www.automechanika.de

Contact México:
Messe Frankfurt México, S. de R. L. de C. V.
Leibnitz 162, Col. Anzures
11590 México, D. F.
Tel. +52 (55) 5545 4488
Fax: +52 (55) 5545 0947
Mail: info@mexico.messefrankfurt.com
Web: www.messefrankfurt.com.mx