The Autopromotec Conference’s 2018 State of the Industry event ushered in two days of meetings and debates centered around the future of the automotive aftermarket.
In his remarks to open the sessions at the Unipol Arena in Casalecchio di Reno, Mauro Severi, president of AICA (Italian Garage Equipment Manufacturer’s Association), pointed out an important feature of this year’s event: the unprecedented participation of 20 organizations, including research laboratories, university spin-offs and start-ups, selected in collaboration with Aster, a company promoting innovation and technological transfer in the Emilia-Romagna Region. The event had the objective of consolidating synergies among business networks in the interest of the supply chain and the institutional players.
Renzo Servadei, CEO of Autopromotec, stated that, “There should be no fear of innovation,” while Palma Costi, regional minister for production activities, energy plan, green economy, and post-earthquake recovery of the Emilia-Romagna Region, underlined the importance of the aftermarket supply chain for “a region that represents the Italian ‘Motor Valley’ and invests in the area of digital and green transformations and in the training of the sector’s human resources.”
Irene Priolo, council member for mobility policies with the Municipality of Bologna, put the focus on the importance of sharing objectives between public administrations and businesses “to meet the challenge of the future and of change.”
Over the course of the conference, roundtables were conducted with the aim of gathering ideas and information, and learning about products and solutions in a setting conducive to dialogue and networking.
