There are so many Automotive Aftermarket Shows in China! Often I am asked which shows in China are most effective. I have been selling products for U.S. Companies in China since 1992 and have done so many shows!
My observation is that in the 1990's we were perhaps too early for the market, however our brand, Permatex is now famous due to the hard work of the Loctite China team I had the privilege to work with.
Today however, the auto aftermarket in China is booming. China became the #1 new car market last year and new car sales are forecasted to grow 10% in 2010. There are still too many shows. We did over 7 shows in China last year and I can tell you from our own real world experience: two shows are the most effective in terms of adding new distribution and they are:
Beijing: The CIAACE Show www.ciaacexpo.com . This year's show was held from March 12-14. There was over 2,089 exhibitors and 66,571 buyers. This is a huge show! Over 126,000 people visited CIAACE 2010. The majority of the buyers come from Beijing and northern China. The number of exhibitors and buyers doubled this year. We invested $ 3000 for 6 x 6 meter booth. We launched:
Posh Pile floor mats
Gorilla Glue (Consumer Adhesives from the U.S.)
Vibra-Tite Aftermarket and Industrial Adhesives (also from the U.S.)
CIAACE 2010 exceeded my wildest expectations. We sold 4 new Posh Pile distributors, 3 Gorilla serious prospects (and sold out of all our samples.) and one significant Vibra-Tite buyer.
The CIAACE has a very professional international sales person, Ruby Yang. She can reached at ruby.yang@yasn.com.cn. Ruby is super helpful and speaks perfect English.
The other can't miss show is:
Zhengzhou: The 7th China Auto Accessories Trade Fair from June 30 to July 2. (Zhengzhou has a population of 7.35 million, and buyers from all over China attend this show.) This show has even more foot traffic than Beijing. We look forward to taking our 3 lines to Zhengzhou late June and adding distribution! The website is www.hdcy.com.cn. The English speaking sales person is Ms. Cong Wei Wei, email: hongdahuizhan07@163.com.
If you are serious about building your China aftermarket business, check out these two shows!
Tom Muldowney is the Managing Director of International Market Access Ltd. He formed IMA in Hong Kong in 2000 to help take American brands global. Tom has sold more than $500 million of U.S.-made products to international markets. He has been based in Asia for 18 years working with global brands/organizations such as Loctite, Henkel, Permatex, Teroson, 3M, Meguiar's, ND Industries, and the Gorilla Glue Company. IMA just launched it's own brand of high end car mats called Posh Pile. He has set up subsidiaries in Korea and representative offices in China. Tom can be reached at: tom@intlmarketaccess.com. IMA's new Web site: www.intlmarketaccess.com.