The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Auto exhibition generates business enquiries worth Rs. 200 crore

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Nov 14, 2006
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Auto exhibition generates business enquiries worth Rs. 200 crore

Special Correspondent

It received 20,000 traders and businessmen from India and abroad

CHENNAI: Business enquiries worth Rs.200 crore in automotive services, aftermarket products, components, garage and service equipment and car care products and accessories were generated at the Auto Serv 2006 exhibition that concluded here on Monday.

The exhibition, organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry, showcased products and services of 80 companies and was visited by over 20,000 traders and businessmen from India and abroad, a CII release said.

Several foreign firms dealing in garage equipment, including Car-o-Liner, Mann+Hummel GmBH and Celette SA, participated in the event. Driving their interest was the growth of the Indian garage equipment industry. It was growing at a compounded rate of 15 per cent a year.

Chief executive officer of Car-o-Liner Peter Afzellus said given the boom in demand for collision repair equipment in India, the company had created a database of Indian car models and established the standard process for repairing cars involved in accidents. It had been training the mechanics to improve their skills in collision repairing.

"We are manufacturing and supplying all types of standard garage equipment sold through our partner in India. Though the market for general repair services is getting increasingly organised, we expect the real growth to come from the modernisation of garages for collision repair services," he said in the release.

Huber Chambaud, a senior executive of Celette, said that with the vast changes in the quality and technology of the cars, the standards of the aftermarket products and maintenance services should be improved. The garage industry in India needed to be well trained and equipped with European technologies approved by the original equipment makers.

Celette has a tie-up with the Coimbatore-based Elgi Equipment.

Joachim Streich, Head-Product Management and Automotive Aftermarket of Mann+Hummel, said the company developed 30 filters exclusively for the Indian car models. Mann+Hummel, which has a joint venture with MICO Bosch, is setting up a plant in India to produce automotive filters.

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