AutoZum 2023: The opportunities of change

AutoZum 2023: The opportunities of change

“The automotive industry has weathered numerous storms and crises since the first AutoZum in 1974 and will probably also overcome the current changes,” said Benedikt Binder-krieglstein, CEO RX Austria & Germany on the occasion of the opening of AutoZum 2023. The host of the Salzburg exhibition center then invited three industry experts to the stage, who discussed the current challenges and at the same time offered ways out and solutions. High-voltage expert Deniz Kartal explained why the switch from combustion engines to electric vehicles can no longer be stopped and that this realization has apparently already reached the workshops. “Out of a total of 5,500 high-voltage training courses so far, we have carried out 2,000 in the last six months alone,” says Kartal.

Helmut Stuphann, Head of Bosch Automotive Aftermarket Austria, presented an innovative solution for independent workshops that makes it easier for them to repair and maintain vehicles according to manufacturer specifications. “Our Remote Diagnostics Service, or RDS for short, provides the vehicle technician in the workshop with a Bosch expert online who has access to all manufacturer information and can access the vehicle directly from a distance,” says Stuphann. In the future, independent workshops can even carry out updates to the on-board computers or, for example, train a trailer hitch, something that was previously only available to specialist workshops. Marco Dittrich, editor-in-chief of the specialist magazine “Der österreichische Transporteur” finally showed that electromobility will also become the predominant type of drive in truck traffic in the future. His appeal to political decision-makers: “Give technical development enough time and don’t add unnecessary pressure with Euro 7!”