AAPEX eyes including other industry shows

LAS VEGAS — After closing the doors on AAPEX 2022, where attendance returned to near-normal numbers post-pandemic, organizers are eying ways to expand the annual automotive aftermarket show.

AAPEX (the Automotive Aftermarket Products Expo), which ran concurrently with the SEMA Show in Las Vegas, Nov. 1-3, drew about 49,000, around 94% of the attendance at the 2019 show, before the COVID-19 pandemic.

The 2020 in-person event was canceled, and AAPEX 2021 drew about half the normal attendance.

AAPEX is co-owned by the Auto Care Association (ACA) and the Automotive Aftermarket Suppliers Association (AASA), the light vehicle aftermarket division of the Motor & Equipment Manufacturers Association (MEMA).

Organizers now are exploring bringing other, smaller industry shows under the AAPEX roof.

"We're going to continually look at other opportunities for us to bring other types of either shows or exhibits that are automotive aftermarket-related into AAPEX to, No. 1, help AAPEX and No. 2, to help defray some of the travel that some of these exhibitors have to go through if they are in three or four different shows," ACA President and CEO Bill Hanvey told Tire Business.

"We want to make AAPEX the true industry homecoming. So we are very much interested in expanding that in any way we can and where it makes sense."

AAPEX organizers also plan to expand the Repair HQ exhibit area introduced at the 2021 show, Hanvey said, adding, "We'd love to get more heavy-duty exposure at AAPEX. Many of our distributors and retailers sell heavy-duty product and we'd like to embrace that and branch out to that as well."

Attendees and exhibitors at AAPEX 2022 seemed glad to mingle together in a face-to-face event this year after the pandemic limited in-person gatherings for two years.

"People are saying that the show is very vibrant," Hanvey said during the expo. "They are saying that the attendance is really good. They are saying that the exhibits are meaningful and feature quite a bit of training, which is valued by everybody that is participating."

The crowds of attendees on two floors of the Venetian Expo were noticeably larger than in 2021. But Hanvey said he still considers the downsized 2021 show "a complete success because we got the train back on the tracks and now the train has fully left the station. It's got a full head of steam and ready to get into '23 for sure."

In addition to two floors of exhibition space, AAPEX featured a full schedule of training/education sessions for business owners and technicians.

Last year, AAPEX introduced the Repair Shop HQ section on Level 1 of the Venetian Expo, featuring exhibitors targeting vehicle service professionals.

The central attraction was "Joe's Garage," with eight open service bays complete with vehicles for exhibitors to demonstrate service equipment and products.

This year Joe's Garage expanded to 10 "bays" with scheduled product and equipment demonstrations. The exhibit area around Joe's Garage included a handful of exhibitors in each of the sections designated for transmissions, diagnostics/telematics, alternative fuel, tire servicing, and tools and equipment, including several shop management software providers.

The much more expansive Level 2 exhibit floor, which historically draws about 2,500 exhibiting companies, added Automotive Aftermarket Central to showcase the products for service and repair professionals and warehouse distributors; an e-commerce distribution section; and a mobile heat transfer/heating/air conditioning section.

Hanvey said show organizers want to continue to expand the Repair HQ exhibit area to focus on shop-related products and equipment.

"We really want to focus on the downstairs on training and brand awareness for the shop owner," he said.

The last two years of AAPEX were held without most of the usual exhibitors from China, due to COVID travel restrictions. But AAPEX organizers were able to counter the loss with exhibitors from other parts of the world, according to Hanvey.

"We've expanded participation from Turkey, India, Italy. I think a lot of the distributors and retailers are beginning to look at their supply chain and re-shore and look for alternatives in terms of that supplier community, which is why some of these other international pavilions are having so much success," he said.