Inaugural AUTOCARE Convention a Major Success
The Australian Automotive Aftermarket Association’s (AAAA) inaugural Autocare Convention held on May 4 and 5 at Sydney’s International Convention Centre has been hailed a major success.
Presented by Platinum Sponsor Repco and Diamond Sponsor I-CAR, along with a host of Gold, Silver and Bronze sponsors, Autocare 2018 has proven itself to be a very important and much needed addition to the Australian automotive industry event landscape.
Testament to the Federal Government’s solid understanding of the Australian automotive aftermarket industry, was the delivery of the Autocare 2018 Opening Speech by the Assistant Minister to the Treasurer, Hon. Michael Sukkar MP. This was followed by the convention’s major key note address, which was presented by the Chairman of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), Mr Rod Sims.
“To say that we are delighted with our inaugural Autocare Convention is an understatement,” stated AAAA Executive Director, Stuart Charity.
“The plan to bring a major industry event like this back to Sydney after an absence of five years was a bold one. Like always, our industry banded together to support this new education led convention concept. The industry’s support included a sold-out trade display that featured more than 100 companies, along with generous sponsorship support.
“This enabled us to deliver a wide selection of pre-eminent speakers from around Australia and across the globe to this bumper event,” Mr Charity said.
The inaugural Autocare Convention saw more than 2,000 automotive professionals from mechanical repair businesses join their collision repair and parts supply colleagues, unified in their desire to be well prepared for the current and future challenges of this constantly evolving industry.
Mechanics, technicians, panel repairers, management staff and business owners from every Australian state and Territory were represented at Autocare 2018, alongside delegates from New Zealand and further abroad.
Over 600 Autocare 2018 delegates attended more than 50 convention plenary sessions, seminars and training events that were conducted throughout this major two day, education driven event.
Many more took advantage of the free Autocare Convention trade exhibition that featured more than 100 companies, along with free hourly training sessions and demonstrations taking place on the AutoMate and I-CAR training stages and the Lowbake portable spray booth within the convention.
The success of this inaugural education led automotive aftermarket convention has laid the foundations for the planning to begin on the next Autocare Convention, scheduled to take place in 2020 according to AAAA Executive Director, Stuart Charity.
“We firmly believed that the industry needed an event like Autocare with it’s primary focus being education and training to assist businesses to adapt to the disruption and change that is taking place throughout the industry. The outstanding success of Autocare 2018 confirmed this, giving us the confidence to work on making the Autocare 2020 Convention even more beneficial for our members and the industry as a whole,” Mr Charity concluded.