CLEPA, The European Association of Automotive Suppliers, hosted the 4th CLEPA Automotive Aftermarket Conference on Thursday 29 November, 2012 in Brussels. 240 participants from the Industry, Trade, Workshop networks, as well as representatives from the European Commission, the European Parliament, EU Member States, fellow associations and the Press followed the invitation

from CLEPA.

This year’s conference included presentations from high-level speakers and panellists on:

• The global Automotive World in 2020- Challenges, Opportunities and the Framework
• Internet and Aftermarket –Opportunities or Threats?
• How to service automotive electronics in 2020 – “Means and needs to service in the future cars”

The automotive Aftermarket is huge and still profitable however the competition between car manufacturers and independent operators will become tougher. New technologies and changing consumer behaviour will bring other business models influenced by the internet, electronics and remanufacturing on one hand and new players on the other hand. Therefore we can state that a level playing field is a must.

“The competition in the aftermarket will increase and investments in hard- and software are necessary to overcome the complexity. CLEPA represents the interests of the suppliers for fair competition and favorable conditions for consumers. The rest is business” concluded Mr Jean Marc Gales, CLEPA CEO.

Aside from inspiring presentations and frank exchange of views among the panellists, very lively discussion incorporating the auditorium made this conference a success.

The actual conference was introduced by a networking evening with more than 200 leading figures from industry and politics with a key note speech from Dr Stefan Sommer, CEO ZF Friedrichshafen

CLEPA Aftermarket conference has been a recurring element of the Brussels meeting agenda since 2009 and gathers together every year more participants.

Following this successful 4th CLEPA Aftermarket conference, you can save the date for the 5th edition conference held in Brussels on 28 November 2013 with a networking dinner on the evening before.

CLEPA is the European Association of Automotive Suppliers.

97 of the world's most prominent suppliers for car parts, systems and modules and 25 National trade associations and European sector associations are members of CLEPA, representing more than 3 thousand companies, employing more than 5

million people and covering all products and services within the automotive supply chain. Based in Brussels, CLEPA is recognized as the natural discussion partner by the European Institutions, United Nations and fellow associations (ACEA, JAMA,

MEMA, etc).

For more information, please contact: Mrs. Amalia Di Stefano |CLEPA Deputy CEO |a.distefano@clepa.be | Tel.: +32 2

743 91 35 and consult www.clepa.eu