South Africa will stage the country's first international trade fair for automotive parts, equipment and service providers when Automechanika South Africa is held at the Johannesburg Expo Centre, Nasrec, on March 18 to 21 next year.

Automechanika is the brainchild of Messe Frankfurt, the second largest exhibition company in the world, and Johannesburg is the 13th city in the 12th country to be selected to host the expo outside Germany since 1997. The four-day trade trade exhibition will be strictly business-to-business in its focus with the intention to facilitate two-way trade between a wide range of international and local participants.

The product categories for the expo include: Parts & Systems, Accessories & Tuning, Repair & Maintenance, Tyres & Wheels, IT & Management, Service Station and Car Wash and Safari vehicles & Trailers. The organisers are aiming to attract 8 000 visitors over the four days to view the stands of at least 250 exhibitions.

International exhibitors and the foreign pavilions will be handled by Messe Frankfurt, through its 60 offices worldwide, and South African and sub-Saharan exhibitors will be handled by the licensee and organising partner Dogan Trading, a company owned by Johannesburg Expo Centre and fair organisers. The local Automechanika team comprises
Andrew Mthembu (chairman, Dogan Trading), Philip Otto and Raymond Burke (Directors, Dogan Trading), Karen Langham (Marketing Co-Ordinator, Dogan Trading) and Roger Houghton (Media Officer, Magala Marketing).

The product categories for the expo include: Parts & Systems, Accessories & Tuning, Repair & Maintenance, Tyres & Wheels, IT & Management, Service Station and Car Wash and Safari vehicles & Trailers. The organisers are aiming to attract 8 000 visitors over the four days to view the stands of at least 250 exhibitions.

The launch function for Automechanika SA (recently held in Johannesburg), was attended by local automotive industry kingpins and three members of Messe Frankfurt, including a Management Board Member Detlef Braun. Plans for the exhibition have already drawn positive response from Retail Motor Industry chief executive Jeff Osborne, National Association of Automotive Component and Allied Manufacturers executive director Roger Pitot and NAAMSA director Nico Vermeulen.