Automechanika, known as the meeting place for the automotive industry, offers  a unique spectrum of products from the fields of automotive parts, car washing, workshop and filling-station equipment, IT products and services, accessories and tuning. Robert Bosch has won the overall award for future-oriented technology in the field of electronics remanufacturing.

The award was won for its system of remanufacturing electronic automotive components. Explaining the jury’s decision, Dr Gerhard Angerer of Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research ISI said,

Repairing, reconditioning and reselling defective electronic components is a future-oriented technology that is growing in importance. Robert Bosch GmbH has made supplying exchange electronic automotive components an economically attractive proposition, which represents a breakthrough in the practice of throwing away defective electronic products and means valuable raw materials are kept in the economic cycle.”

Exhibitors with “green credentials” competed to be included in the “Green Directory” for the 2014 show.  The 25 exhibitors with particularly sustainable and resource-friendly products to be listed in the ‘Green Directory’ guide for visitors have now been selected out of 44 applications received by judges. All entries were examined with regard to their innovativeness and sustainability with points given in the subsequent analysis of material and energy efficiency and emissions balance.

Among the companies that obtained the prestigious entry in the Green Directory were: Carwood Motor Units Limited for their Remanufactured common rail diesel fuel pump, Hella KGaA Hueck & Co for its Q90 LED work light, and Valeo for its electric supercharger.

The idea of the Automechanika fair came in what the event organiser describe as “a time of need”. In 1971, the International Motor Show IAA in Frankfurt was cancelled in view of the international automobile crisis – sparked by a monetary crisis similar to the events of today – and replaced by the 1st “Automechanika ’71, International Exhibition for Automobile, Workshop, Filling Station and Garage Equipment”. This gave the automobile, equipment, accessories and other companies normally represented at the IAA the chance to make presentations and give specialists from the sector an overview of the market.

Since 1971 the number of exhibitors has increased 10-fold from approximately 400 to around 5,000.