Garagist Day: It's all about the future
WHERE TO MEET The Swiss car industry conference, the Day of Garage Owners, aims to show how the current challenges facing the industry can be mastered.
On Tuesday, January 16, 2024, the 18th Day of Swiss Garages will take place in the Kursaal in Bern - the largest specialist conference in the Swiss automotive industry with around 850 participants. The program is entitled "Innovation meets garage" and is generating a great deal of interest, as the number of registrations already received shows. The framework conditions for the members of the AGVS and their partners are constantly changing - even more so today than in previous years.
Focus on young talent
For example, the topic of junior staff is important. Olivier Maeder, AGVS Head of Education, and his team deal with questions such as: How can talented people be attracted to automotive professions and how can good skilled workers be retained in the industry? Maeder brings these topics to the stage of the Kursaal with young specialists in the automotive professions. Young automotive and commercial vehicle mechatronics engineers provide a direct insight into their day-to-day work.
Lack of sources of income
According to Markus Aegerter, AGVS Head of Industry Representation, the challenges posed by dwindling sources of income are high on the garage owners' list of concerns. However, change also always offers opportunities and new possibilities - be it in aftersales and aftermarket or in the development of new business areas. Mathias Gabler, Managing Director of Amag, and Marcel Guerry, CEO of Emil Frey Switzerland, will join Aegerter on stage to discuss how losses can be compensated for.
In addition, Anja Schulze from the University of Zurich will use the Swiss automotive supply industry to show that the Swiss like to put their skills in the shade. Helena Wisbert will look at the international innovation comparison between China, the USA and Europe. She is Director of the Center for Automotive Research in Duisburg.
