This year’s edition of Automechanika Kuala Lumpur expands portfolio of smart technology. The 10th edition of Automechanika Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia’s leading regional trade fair for the automotive industry targeting trade visitors from ASEAN, is fast approaching. The exhibition takes place 23 – 25 March 2017 at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It is expected to welcome 300 worldwide exhibitors and 8,000 global buyers to the 9,710 sqm exhibition space spanning five halls.

This edition brings many new exciting elements to the biennial show. The traditional format of the past Automechanika Kuala Lumpur fairs will evolve this year and change direction into a bigger array of smart technology and repair-related activities. One of these changes includes the high-profile and worldwide industry-recognised EMMA (European Mobile Media Association) competition. The competition promotes smart technology in the audio world of automobiles and was founded in order to create a level playing field for sound quality competitions worldwide.

The EMMA competition will be held on 25 March as part of Automechanika Kuala Lumpur through a cooperation with show supporter, AAA (Auto Audio, Accessories and Air-Condition Trader Association of Malaysia). AAA, which has a network of 900 members companies, including Sony and Alpine, has chosen the exhibition as the location for the competition due to its leading position in Malaysia’s automotive industry.

Collaborating with a well-known show like Automechanika Kuala Lumpur, allows for the promotion and engagement of the exhibitors, visitors, organisers and associations, said Ms Cherrie Lim, President of AAA. She continued: “The response from previous competitions has been very good and we were looking forward to getting more publicities for this competition by organising it in conjunction with a professional platform like Automechanika Kuala Lumpur for the first time. The exhibition gathers a large number of ASEAN visitors and we hope this audio hit will spread to other ASEAN countries through this channel.”

The competition attracts participants from ASEAN countries including Indonesia, Thailand and Singapore to demonstrate more than 70 vehicles. Several tuning shops, car retailers and tuning-purist vehicle owners will be joining the competition. To cater to every member of the audience, the competition will have three categories, featuring all aspects of vehicle sound quality, including ‘Open door’, ‘Closed door’ and ‘Auto modification’.

For ‘Open door’, audio installations should be able to produce high-sound pressure levels with an emphasis on quality while the vehicle doors are open. The ‘Closed door’ category will be performed while the vehicle doors are closed and the noise will be minimal. For this category, competitors will build an audio or multimedia system focusing on overcoming vehicle acoustic problems, reproducing music with minimal noise, distortion and making it sound as close to the original as possible. The ‘Auto modification’ category will combine both the Open and Closed door competitions as an entire project. Tuning, styling and the overall appearance of the vehicle will be judged.

The competition has many recognised judges to help participants extend their knowledge about audio equipment through professional advice and an award ceremony will be held afterwards. Additionally, the competition encourages a higher quality standard for audio equipment installations and ensures the equipment will perform to its optimum level. It also works to pique the curiosity of those interested in automotive audio systems.

Automechanika Kuala Lumpur is organised by Messe Frankfurt (HK) Ltd, co-organised by Malaysia Automotive Institute (MAI) and is endorsed by the Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (MATRADE).