Interview 25 www.aftermarketonline.net JUNE 2024 UK firms heading to Frankfurt in trade drive Automechanika Frankfurt director Olaf Musshoff and his team talk to Aftermarket editor John Shepherd about the continuing importance and influence of UK aftermarket businesses on the global stage — including the upcoming biennial show taking place in Germany this year from September 10-14 In terms of the UK specifically, how important is Automechanika for businesses based in the UK that are involved in the aftermarket sector? Automechanika offers global opportunities worth more than $448.1 billion (£358bn) out of which $50bn is presented by the UK aftermarket sector. This global brand is the leading trade fair in this category, driving transformation for the industry. It is an important and significant part of the UK automotive industry, ranking fourth in Europe and ninth in the world in terms of the size. British companies are continuing to demonstrate their capacity and resilience in the provision of servicing, maintenance and repairs. Automechanika Frankfurt is crucial platform to drive new business and establishing trading relationships for the aftermarket companies across Britain and the EU. Is it possible to say approximately what the UK representation is expected to be this year in Frankfurt in terms of attendees and/or exhibitors? We have over 130 UK companies committed and 100 registered in processing to the exhibition and we are thrilled that the event is supported by many prestigious partners — among them is SMMT. They bring to the Automechanika Frankfurt 2024 UK pavilion, located in hall 5.1, its largest overseas delegation offering great support to UK exporters. The interest from the UK companies is overwhelming and the scale of new business solutions offered by the companies is proving the speed at which this industry is expanding. We also have a very good representation of well-known and new companies. Has Brexit presented any particular problems for UK companies in terms of trade and cooperation with European partners, that you are aware of? It brings both challenges and opportunities. It is without a doubt that the UK and EU are the key automotive trading partners. As mentioned earlier, Automechanika is a global platform for global companies to present services and industry and we are noticing huge growth in new companies wanting to present their products and solutions from all over the world. The UK has innovative viable solutions and now a new EV factory approaching groundbreaking phase with battery production set to begin in 2026. But of course, the UK automotive sector has many priorities to solve after Brexit, such as UK/EU trade agreement and tariffs. The automotive industry welcomed the extension approval from the European Council on the extension of current rules of origin for EVs until the end of 2026 and there has been many benefits to this for the UK industry. But there is also the feeling amongst those that export/import to the UK, that Brexit is not serving businesses Olaf Musshoff
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