At the program of its annual general meeting in early May 2025, the Federal Association of Manufacturers and Importers of Automotive Service Equipment (ASA) set several agenda items. This includes an assessment of the current sentiments and developments in the industry. This year, due to the sudden death of Karsten Meinshausen last fall, the election of a new Vice President was also necessary. Additionally, they strengthened their partnership with the organizer of the Frankfurt Automechanika. There was a subdued annual review and a call for member companies to advocate more politically for an improvement in the economically depressing situation. This is reported by Messe Frankfurt and the ASA Association independently of each other.
The Bad Reichenhall association, which represents the interests of its members at the political level in Berlin and Brussels, currently counts 89 automotive equipment companies among its members, who collectively employ about 15,000 people, according to its own information. More than 70 people from 39 of these affiliated companies attended the secret election in Leipzig. The eligible voters elected Wolf-Erik Schmitt, the head of the ASA specialized area of lifting technology, as the successor to Vice President Karsten Meinshausen, who died unexpectedly in September 2024. In his profession, Schmitt is Director of Marketing and Communication, Vehicle Service Group EMEA, and authorized officer at BlitzRotary. He prevailed with 72 percent of the votes against Jens Dahlheimer, who works as area sales manager at Corghi with special tasks.
Schmitt has been heading the lifting technology department for over 12 years and, in this role, is also part of the ASA board. He will hold his new position in the interest group for the next two years. Thus, he stands alongside President Frank Beaujean and Vice President for Finance Marco Kempin at the top of the ASA Association.
New Foundation for Partnership with Automechanika
Apart from the election of a new Vice President, extending the partnership with Automechanika was another main point on the
agenda. Automechanika and the ASA Association both launched their ventures around the same time and have been closely linked from the start of their activities. The first Automechanika in 1971 was organized not only by Messe Frankfurt but also with the founding fathers of the ASA Association, which was established a year later. "Thus, they also laid the foundation for today's world's most successful B2B trade fair brand." The cooperation agreement, which has existed for over 50 years, was now prematurely extended "for the coming years." Michael Johannes, Brand Manager Automechanika, and Olaf Mußhoff, Director Automechanika Frankfurt, vouched for the continuation and strengthening of the relationship.
Expectations Exceeded
ASA President Frank Beaujean and Finance Chief Marco Kempin rated the past year 2024 for Automechanika as a "bright spot in an overall economically challenging year for the industry." Expectations were even exceeded, proving that the Corona crisis years were overcome. "Automechanika Frankfurt has regained its former strength." The next aftermarket trade fair in Frankfurt will take place from September 8 to 12. Already now, they are receiving extremely positive feedback with almost 50 percent responses from exhibitors. The early booking rate applies until the end of June.
Call to Members: Take Action
ASA President Beaujean pointed out the need for improved engagement from the association's members. Also serving in the same role in the umbrella association of European workshop equipment Egea (European Garage Equipment Association), Beaujean is involved in numerous projects in the industry and is aware of what is currently happening at German and European decision-making levels.
He called on all member companies to show more commitment to "European projects" — currently, the entirely voluntary work rests on the shoulders of a few often already retired experts. If more professionals do not contribute their expertise to the associations, there is a danger of leaving important regulations to the political heads in Berlin and Brussels without technical expertise — with possibly far-reaching consequences for the
entire mobility world:
"The music for our industry is played in Brussels and Berlin when it comes to groundbreaking regulations such as the future of periodic technical vehicle inspection, the specific consequences of the EUGH verdict on technical vehicle data, and other essential turning points for the future of IAM and thus also the workshop equipment industry."
Participation is only achieved by the professionally competent companies united in associations like ASA and Egea through appropriate personal commitment.
Beaujean and Kempin valued the extension of the contract with Automechanika particularly highly — "both professionally and personally." Moreover, the continuation of the partnership also provides the ASA Association with planning security and motivates new promising actions:
"For all of us, it also offers the chance to jointly realize new projects and ideas and further promote the success of Automechanika Frankfurt as well as the worldwide Automechanikas."
Great Uncertainty
Thus, the particular challenges of the industry also formed another major discussion topic at the Leipzig member meeting. Frank Beaujean gave insights into the difficult state of the aftermarket industry in his annual report — economically, politically, and socially. The economic uncertainty of market participants is palpable, said the ASA President. The situation is almost dramatic in light of the portrayal of a worn-down mood among member companies after several economically tense years. The "traditionally optimistic workshop equipment providers," according to the association, are now slowly losing confidence.
Shortage of Skilled Workers - No Willingness to Invest
Beaujean outlined the reasons as follows: the noticeable decline in sales in 2023 continued into 2024, reaching a new low:
"For the first time, the companies' not very optimistic view of the future is also reflected in the results of our industry survey,"
said Beaujean. According to a survey by the ASA Association among participants, the lack of willingness to invest, together with the ongoing shortage of skilled workers, burdened the economic development for workshop and tire specialist businesses the most:
"Whoever cannot find personnel does not invest in existing jobs." Other influences weighing on the industry are attributed to technological transformation, bureaucratic efforts for legally compliant sustainable orientations, and higher logistics costs due to rising inflation and the effort for IT equipment — there are few specialists for all these areas, and new employees are hard to find.
Despite the bleak situation, Beaujean rated the association's work, which relies entirely on voluntary engagement, as extremely successful in 2024: numerous primarily digital projects for the members were satisfactorily implemented, such as an ASA member portal, an ASA sales statistics, and an ASA calibration database. Work is now being done on input quality and on seamlessly incorporating all existing inspection devices with "the model data required for calibration."
Association Finances Solid
However, the association's commitment also requires material effort. In his financial report for 2024, Vice President of Finance Marco Kempin explained how technical projects, studies, or "occasionally also legal disputes" at the European level could only be tackled because the ASA Association "as the largest and most powerful European workshop equipment association, in cooperation with the European sister associations" also contributes financial resources. As a result, the association is currently financially on solid ground, with a small surplus, despite the realization of expensive projects, the report concludes.
The Automechanika, considered the world's largest aftermarket trade fair, is no longer organized only every two years in Frankfurt but currently has 14 trade fair locations on five continents worldwide:
In total, there are three on the European continent: besides Frankfurt, Istanbul in Turkey and Birmingham in England also count. There are numerous locations in Asia: the trade fair is regularly held in Shanghai, New Delhi, Kuala Lumpur, Dubai, Riyadh, Ho Chi Minh City, Astana, and Tashkent.
On the North and Central American continent, Automechanika is represented at only one location: in Mexico City. Likewise, in South America with Buenos Aires. And in Africa, Automechanika can also be
