As in the past, this year’s Automechanika in Frankfurt from 14 to 19 September will be accompanied by the Automechanika Aftermarket Forum. Part of the renowned complementary programme of the fair, the Forum has already attracted considerable interest with, to date, registrations having been sent in by around 500 participants from all over the world.

This year, the Aftermarket Forum will be distinguished by a completely new format including an extra day and a new venue in the Portalhaus, not to mention an unmatched range of subjects with top speakers. Among the focal point of the Forum will be the new E-Mobility Day and the Damage Repair Management Forum.

Damage repair management is a subject of major significance for the automobile, repair and insurance market. The majority of accident repairs are not carried out by the authorised workshops of the automobile manufacturers but by independent bodywork and paint shops that, in turn, cooperate with authorised dealers. At the Aftermarket Forum, this complex and controversial field will be discussed from a variety of different perspectives at a special Damage Repair Management Forum. In addition to giving an overview of Europe’s most important damage-management systems, Dr. Klaus Weichtmann, General Manager of the German Federation of Body and Automotive Engineering (Zentralverband Karosserie- und Fahrzeugtechnik e.V. – ZKF), will talk about the German system. The aim of the first Damage Repair Management Forum is to make trade visitors from home and abroad aware of the demands that will confront them in the near future. The Forum will be held concurrently with the plenary discussion on ‘Workshop equipment – product innovations and new sales channels’.

At the request of numerous participants of the last Aftermarket Forum in 2008, and to take due account of the importance currently attached to the subject, an additional day on the subject of E-Mobility has been integrated into the programme. Thus, representatives of industry, politics and business will discuss the future of electric vehicles on 17 September 2010. Rainer Bachmann, Head of B2B at RWE Effizienz GmbH, will take a look at the subject from the point of view of an energy supplier. Simon Czerny, Director Marketing and Product Management Hybrid and Electric Vehicle Technology, Robert Bosch GmbH, will talk about drive-train electrification and review different types of electrification and the latest developments in the market. Also of major significance will be the lecture entitled “Through a hundred emotions to zero emissions” by Frank M. Rinderknecht, CEO Rinspeed AG, who will present a new mobility concept that circumvents the range barrier of electric vehicles by integrating individual and public transport.

The potential and challenges of e-mobility is the subject of the lecture by Wilfried Nietschke, General Manager, IAV GmbH, who will pay special attention to inductive energy transfer and the future-oriented development of wireless charging systems for electric cars. The aim of this is to achieve unlimited mobility. Additionally, Peter Krams, Project Manager for the MINI E BMW Group, will discuss the implementation of e-mobility concepts using the example of the MINI E car.

Suitably qualified workshop employees are vital if the idea of e-mobility is to be implemented in its entirety and Werner Steber, Specialist of the ‘Technology, Safety and Environment’ department of the Federation of the German Motor Vehicle Trade (ZDK ) will discuss points of importance that should be observed in this connection. Subsequently, Wolfgang Eichler, Member of the Board of Management of TÜV SÜD Auto Service GmbH, will examine the challenges posed by e-mobility for the inspection organisation. The emphasis of this lecture will be on electric-vehicle safety and testing.

With around 50 top international speakers, the Aftermarket Forum will present a comprehensive programme of lectures. On the first day of the  fair, after the official opening ceremony, Prof. Willi Diez, Director of the Institute for the Automobile Sector in Geislingen, will take an in-depth look at the Automechanika Study on a ‘New Era in Automobile Service’. The study will be presented for the first time at the Automechanika Business Press Conference in Frankfurt on 9 September 2010.

Participation in the Automechanika Aftermarket Forum is free of charge and all contributions will be translated simultaneously into English and German. Visitors who register on the internet at www.automechanika.com/frankfurt/aftermarketforum by 31 August will receive a free admission-ticket voucher for Automechanika Frankfurt and a certificate of participation in the Aftermarket Forum. The programme of lectures can also be seen in detail on the website.