Some of the automotive industry’s top suppliers, distributors and technical experts gathered in north London in March as Alexandra Palace hosted regional aftermarket trade show, MECHANEX, for the first time.
With shows in the north, the Midlands and South London later in the year, the excellent location of the latest addition to the rota gave a host of new garages and technicians the chance to see the hottest products and attend seminars from respected industry experts.
MECHANEX Exhibition Manager Emma Renphrey was keen to thank all who attended, she said: “The Alexandra Palace show was a really great start to the year for MECHANEX. It was fantastic to see so many garages, many of which were first-time visitors, investing in their future.
“We are always striving to develop the show and to make it accessible to as many forward-thinking garages as possible. We’d like to thank all exhibitors for their support and hope visitors were able to benefit from what was on show. We look forward to doing it all again in Manchester in May”
Below, exhibitors share some of their experiences and success stores from Alexandra Palace.
Absolute Alignment
Absolute Alignment had one of it’s the best MECHANEX events yet with, strong sales of its popular Rav TD1760 Bluetooth wheel aligner on the day and many leads to follow up. What stole the show for many customers was the brand new Hub Clamp which wowed workshop owners and technicians alike and the company expects strong sales on the back of its very successful launch.
Technical Director Chris Dear said: “MECHANEX has once again proved a perfect platform to reach knowledgeable prospects across the motor industry and the move into Alexandra Palace has provided an important new catchment area.”
Alldata
As part of its show offer Alldata put a voucher in the show guide to come and sign up for a free trial and collect a free a tub of specialised handwash paste, which resembles hummus. A gentleman visited the stand during a demonstration of the product, ALLDATA Repair, and decided to dip his finger in and went to put it into his mouth! At this point staff had to quickly stop demonstrating and shout over that it wasn’t actually hummus!
Autodata
The first MECHANEX of the year provided a perfect platform to showcase Autodata’s innovative new online system to the UK market. “Over the two-day period we spoke to a host of current customers being upgraded to the new Autodata and presented first-hand some of the exciting new features and enhanced user experience.” The show also gave the team an opportunity to discuss with garage owners how Autodata can improve the accuracy of their repairs and help boost business performance.
Boltbuster
“Boltbuster are delighted to have attended the first MECHANEX show to be put on at the Alexandra Palace venue”, said Boltbuster Director Paul Morgan.
“Many interesting and interested technicians visited the stand and were delighted to see that we had put on live demonstrations of our induction heating system. It brought out all the usual questions, which we were only too happy to answer.
Systems were sold from the stand over the two days and we hope to sell many more after the show, once the visitors have had chance to review the information that they took away with them”
CarVue
MECHANEX provided CarVue us with its first large scale opportunity to meet and talk to customers. Both days saw the team engaging with attendees, answering interesting questions, carrying out in-depth demonstrations for workshop owners and ultimately signing some of them up to trial accounts. “We met with a varied audience, from start-ups through to multi-site operations, and the feedback we got from attendees will prove to be really useful as our product continues to evolve”, said CarVue Marketing Director Alex Knight.
“While our product is an online subscription model, it’s important when you’re launching into a market that garages firstly know who you are and what you do, and secondly have the opportunity to see the team behind the product and see it working.”
Chicago Pneumatic
Chicago Pneumatic once again held its tyre change competition at Alexandra Palace, and it proved popular on both days. The competition timed entrans to remove five wheel nuts on the race wheel, remove the wheel and place it on the ground. Then put it back on and tighten five wheel nuts to torque.
The winner on each day was awarded a CP7732 Impact Wrench. “Our previous held record (18.59 seconds) was broken at this show by Wayne, who set a new record of 17.29 seconds”. Visitors also had the chance to use the new CP8848 Cordless Impact Wrench ½”.
ClickMechanic
“With being our first MECHANEX show we didn’t know what to expect but after a whirl wind two days we can confidently say that attending was really valuable”, commented ClickMechanic Co-Founder Andrew Jervis. “Not only did we get to sign up dozens of new mechanics to the network, we managed to catch up with a lot of our existing mechanics and gather feedback.”
Delphi
The first MECHANEX show of 2015 was a great opportunity for Delphi Product & Service Solutions (DPSS) to meet with its customers. DPSS enjoyed discussing its latest diesel and aftermarket products, diagnostics and training, as well as explain the enhanced level of support its providing the growing network of Delphi Service and Delphi Diesel Centres. Additionally, DPSS utilised the show to roll out a brand refresh to its stand, which received rave reviews from the customers in attendance.
DENSO
DENSO Aftermarket seized the opportunity to meet with installers and answer their technical questions at another successful MECHANEX show.
A brand new state-of-the-art stand showcasing cut-away product samples from DENSO’s OE product and parts programmes attracted high footfall during the show. The company commented that the new venue at Alexandra Palace also provided the opportunity to meet first timers to MECHANEX.
One of the key highlights was the ‘Diamond’ registration area – available on both DENSO and TRW stands – which saw new members sign up to automotive Diamonds, the multi-partner reward scheme programme aimed at garages and installers.
Dynastat
“The quality of visitors was superb and we had over 20 qualified leads to follow up after two days work. We will be busy doing demos for the next two weeks, what else can you ask for.” Guy Carter MD Dynastat Brake Lathes
Kalimex
Kalimex’s objective for exhibiting in London was to introduce mechanics to the new JLM DPF Cleaning Toolkit. It was clear from visitor feedback that on the one hand there is demand for an easy to use professional DPF Cleaning system but also that there is still a lot of confusion about DPF issues in general.
Mike Schlup, Kalimex MD, explains more “The exhibition helps us to communicate directly with many mechanics in a short period of time. We really appreciated the wealth of feedback from all those who visited our stand.”
Launch UK
Dave Richards, Launch UK Managing Director said: “The latest MECHANEXwas one of the busiest events for Launch. Garages were very keen to see the new products – such as the CRP 229 and Pad II in action – and look at how our “Golo” telematics opportunity can help ensure they remain competitive against the main dealer.”
MANN-FILTER
Innovation is part of the strategy of MANN-FILTER and the company launched its new exhibition stand at Alexandra Palace, which creates a more dynamic and interactive area for visitors. In parallel, the company introduced the ‘MANN-FILTER Challenge’, which gives visitors the opportunity to compare their ‘contaminant catching ability’ with that of the genuine OE efficiency of MANN-FILTER products.
This experience not only allows visitors to win instant prizes, but also raises the awareness of the importance of OE quality filtration. Ken Read, Marketing Manager at MANN-FILTER said “Many participants scored quite high efficiency, although none managed to beat the 99.7% target. However, there will be further opportunities to ‘beat us’ as the challenge will continue at the remaining 2015 MECHANEX shows”.
Motor Codes
“Exhibiting at MECHANEX was an excellent way to talk with garage owners and mechanics about the Motor Codes Trading Standards Institute-approved code of practice for service & repair”, said Kevin Parker, Head of Marketing and Communications at Motor Codes.
“There was some real interest from potential new subscribers which was a great outcome. The event also gave us a valuable opportunity to engage with our current subscribers and industry partners and keep up to date with the latest developments in the service and repair sector.”
NGK Spark Plugs (UK) Ltd
Marko Wowczyna, Automotive Director, NGK Spark Plugs (UK) Ltd, said: “We met up with a lot of current and potential new customers, and we were encouraged by the level of interest shown in our products in this our 40th anniversary year in the UK.”
Pro Align
Alexandra Palace was a spectacular venue to launch the new Hunter Revolution Tyre changer. The advanced robotics of this system soon drew a crowd. This ‘no effort’ tyre changer means it can change any car or light commercial vehicle tyre in the same way, in the same time, every time!
Visitors looking for a business opportunity weren’t disappointed either when the Quick Check’ alignment demonstration just proved that in literally a matter of seconds you can present your customer with a six point alignment result printout. The Pro-Align team even tested their skills on stand, with the fastest Quick Check demonstration taking only 36 seconds!
Sogefi
Filter supplier, SOGEFI, has hailed MECHANEX a resounding success. Many visitors flocked to the SOGEFI Stand during the two-day show at its new venue Ally Pally, to discuss the benefits of its aftermarket brands Fram, CoopersFiaam and Purflux, as well as its SOGEFI Pro range.
A key highlight on-stand was four racing simulators, where entrants were asked to set lap times around the famous Catalunya Racing Circuit in the ‘SOGEFI branded’ Mitsubishi Evo 10. Ben Enter from DREAM Automotive in Bushey, Watford won a fabulous SOGEFI branded Mini Quad Bike after setting the fastest time over the two days.
WhoCanFixMyCar
WhoCanFixMyCar.com finds the MECHANEX shows to be the best way to get in front of its target audience, and Alexandra Palace was no exception. “We recruited a number of new members over the two days, with further sign-ups coming in on Thursday and Friday, as various attendees who we had spoken to took the time to digest things and come on board, as we edge ever closer to 6,000 members” said Alex Rose, Marketing Director at Who Can Fix My Car.
“We also had the great pleasure of meeting some of our existing members in person for the first time, one of whom was so enthused about meeting us that he spent no less than two hours helping us recruit new garages himself.”
The next show takes place at Event City, Manchester, on May 19th and 20th.
To register your FREE place, visit http://www.mechanex.info or call 01923 237799. For all the latest news and info on upcoming shows, follow @MechanexShow.
