The '2022 Automechanika Frankfurt,' Europe's largest automotive parts exhibition, took place from September 13 to 17 at the Frankfurt Exhibition Center in Germany. While this representative biennial exhibition has been held since 1971, it was canceled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This year marked its successful return to an offline format after a four-year hiatus.

<Overview of Automechanika Frankfurt 2022>

[Source: Automechanika Exhibition Website]

​The automotive parts exhibition in 2022 attracted 78,000 visitors from 175 countries, with the participation of 2,804 companies from 70 countries. Although this year's exhibition did not reach the record-breaking visitor count (315,000) and company participation (4,987 companies) seen in 2018 before the COVID-19 pandemic, it is regarded as a successful event that provided significant business opportunities for global automotive component manufacturers dealing with the transition from internal combustion engine vehicles to electric vehicles.

At this automotive parts exhibition, key trends such as digitization, recycling, and environmentally friendly vehicles, including electric cars, were extensively discussed, providing substantial assistance to many workshops and companies. The event introduced more than 350 activities for the first time, including lectures for new market participants and free workshops for automotive experts, receiving a satisfaction rating of 92% from visitors. The new special show, 'Innovation4Mobility,' addressed topics such as battery technology, electric cars, hydrogen, solar technology, e-commerce, and vehicle networking, attracting popularity among many attendees. The non-profit youth association 'Talents4AA,' participating in the exhibition for the first time with the goal of developing the next generation of experts for the automotive aftermarket, achieved great success as many young individuals visited the automotive parts exhibition to learn about vocational education and career opportunities in the automotive parts market. Additionally, prominent global companies such as ADI, Bilstein Group, Continental, Misfat Group, NRF, and SKF officially joined the Talents4AA association during the exhibition. After the exhibition concludes, it is expected to welcome more new members.

<Interior View of the Exhibition Venue>

[Source: Captured by KOTRA Frankfurt Trade Office]

Visited the Korean Pavilion at the Frankfurt Market, Experiencing the Global Popularity of Our Products Firsthand.

KOTRA Frankfurt Trade Office operated a 436.5㎡ Korean Pavilion at this exhibition, supporting the participation of a total of 39 companies. They also conducted active attraction activities while operating a promotional booth for the '2030 Busan Expo.' Gyeongsangbuk-do and Daegu Metropolitan City jointly operated an integrated Korean Pavilion, with 18 companies participating in a space of 227㎡. In addition, a total of 101 Korean companies, including 44 from various industries, participated in this exhibition, showcasing a variety of innovative products on the global stage.

Notably, Peter Feldmann, the Mayor of Frankfurt, visited the Korean Pavilion on the opening day of the exhibition. Together with KOTRA's Europe Regional Director Lee Kil-bum and KOTRA staff, as well as representatives of leading Korean companies, he explored innovative products leading the global automotive parts market, such as autonomous driving LiDAR and high-pressure hydrogen pipes for hydrogen vehicles, expressing deep interest.

<The Korean Pavilion>

[Source: Captured by KOTRA Frankfurt Trade Office]

Our participating companies leading the trends in the global automotive market.

AutoL, which started as a Hyundai Motor Group's in-house venture and spun off in May 2021, is a specialized developer of LiDAR sensors for autonomous vehicles. At this exhibition, we introduced our high-performance LiDAR sensor, G32, capable of forward detection of over 300m (during the day), and M32, a compact long-range LiDAR sensor with a maximum detection range of 150m, suitable for easy integration into almost any part of a vehicle. Our 32-channel LiDAR, with its high resolution, received significant attention from visitors due to its excellent performance in spatial information, distance information, and channel information, overcoming the limitations of cameras and radars in autonomous driving and significantly reducing the risk of blind-spot accidents. Through this exhibition, AutoL actively promoted its core technology in LiDAR as a leading company in autonomous driving to the global market, garnering considerable interest from attendees.

<AutoL's Lidar>

[Source: Captured by KOTRA Frankfurt Trade Office]

Hajinsu, the CEO of our successful exporting company Jack Tech Korea, which has long been active in the U.S. market, made its debut in the European market at this exhibition by showcasing their self-designed maintenance equipment, the 'Strut Spring Compressor.' This product received significant attention from international buyers for the first time. Hajinsu explained, "Unlike the existing products from other companies that take up a lot of space, our product is space-saving during use or storage. It is convenient to move, easy to adjust in terms of angle and size, and, during spring compression, it locks securely using the force of the spring. This ensures safety, efficiency, and convenience, especially when working with strong springs."

A German buyer, Mr. A, expressed significant interest, stating, "Your product is easy to operate, safe, and particularly efficient as it doesn't require power during manual operation, saving on energy costs.

<Jack Tech Korea Booth and Product Photos>

S.W. Korea, under the brand name Carton, presented self-car care products and attracted significant attention from international buyers. Our electric spray gun, equipped with four spraying modes, conserves water during car washing and is user-friendly, allowing anyone to easily wash their car. Additionally, the spray gun is equipped with a light function, making it usable even in dark areas. Hyunsanggyun, the CEO of our company, expressed, "With a sense of mission that our spray gun becomes the Dyson of the car care world, we prioritize quality above all else." He is actively driving forward our entry into the European market.

<S.W. Korea Booth and Product Photos>

[Source: Captured by KOTRA Frankfurt Trade Office]

Shinhwa Junggong, participating again in the Frankfurt Auto Parts Exhibition after 2018, successfully achieved the goals of direct business consultations with existing international customers and customer diversification. Foreign buyers visiting the booth expressed significant interest in the compatibility of their products by presenting drawings of the products they use, inquiring about the possibility of reproducing similar items. With 65% of its total revenue coming from exports, Shinhwa Junggong is expanding its presence in the global automotive parts market with reliable and high-quality clutch plate products.

<Shinhwa Junggong Booth Overview and Product Photos>

[Source: Captured by KOTRA Frankfurt Trade Office]

InfoWorks showcased the FMCW 4D LiDAR using frequency-modulated continuous wave technology, surpassing the limitations of traditional LiDAR at this exhibition, demonstrating the excellence of our technology in the global market. Our 4D FMCW LiDAR is an advanced technology that includes distance, height, depth, and speed functions. It is highly resilient to external environmental factors such as sunlight, fog, and rain, resulting in minimal error detection. It is also immune to interference from other surrounding LiDARs (signal collisions), ensuring outstanding object recognition. This future-oriented technology enhances safety and reliability in the era of autonomous driving. Notably, our AVM product, installed in heavy-duty vehicles, detects and alerts movements of surrounding objects, reducing the risk of accidents in blind spots. It has gained significant attention from visiting buyers as an innovative product recognized for its safety features in the global market.

Note: AVM (Around View Monitor) is a safety system that recognizes pedestrians around the vehicle.

<InfoWorks Booth and Product Photos>

[Source: Captured by KOTRA Frankfurt Trade Office]

Established in 1966, ENPlus is attending an overseas exhibition for the first time. At this exhibition, the company showcased various electric vehicle (EV) products such as heat gap fillers (GF-200, GF-300, GF-500) to prevent EV explosions, heat pads (GP-300, GP-500), secondary battery electrodes (cathodes, anodes), and carbon nanotubes (CNT). The EV products, especially the heat dissipation materials, gained popularity, drawing significant interest from international buyers. ENPlus products offer superior performance compared to competitors, yet are more cost-effective. The company's ability to provide customized manufacturing further enhances its market competitiveness. With a focus on the growing global electric vehicle market, ENPlus anticipates future export growth.

<ENPlus Booth and Product Photos>

[Source: Captured by KOTRA Frankfurt Trade Office]

Pofcons showcased precise and compact components at this exhibition, specializing in printed circuits for the electronics and automotive parts industries. These components are used to connect electrical signals on electronic circuit boards and shield electromagnetic waves. They drew attention from visiting buyers as these are futuristic components also employed in autonomous vehicles and electric cars.

<Pofcons Booth and Product Photos>

[Source: Captured by KOTRA Frankfurt Trade Office]

[Source: Captured by KOTRA Frankfurt Trade Office]

Key Points

The 2022 Automechanika Frankfurt, an automotive parts exhibition, served as a platform for global automotive component companies to showcase innovative technologies driving the transition from internal combustion engine vehicles to environmentally friendly electric cars, especially in the era of autonomous driving. The exhibition, with its rich history, successfully engaged visitors through various intriguing events.

Talents4AA, an association, used the exhibition to promote the automotive aftermarket sector and attract talent, addressing the labor shortage faced by the automotive industry due to the retirement of the baby boomer generation.

Participating Korean companies demonstrated outstanding and diverse products, including energy-saving components, user-friendly equipment, high-performance LiDAR advancing autonomous driving, and essential components for eco-friendly vehicles such as electric and hydrogen cars. This showcased the capabilities of "made in Korea" products ambitiously on the global stage, reinforcing the reputation of Korea as a powerhouse in the automotive industry.

KOTRA Frankfurt Trade Office, building on the success of the exhibition, plans to expand Korean companies' presence in the European market by hosting the '2022 Global Partnering Europe' online event in October and November. This event will feature 30 European companies and 50 Korean companies in the fields of electric cars, hydrogen vehicles, and autonomous driving for two months of online B2B consultations.

The next Automechanika Frankfurt is scheduled for September 10-14, 2024.

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