AAA Expo Feature: 15,000 people can’t be wrong.

By AAEN | June 23, 2026 0 Comments

Fifteen thousand people, 400-plus brands and three days that reminded the Australian automotive aftermarket trade exactly where it stands. We were on the floor at the 2026 Auto Aftermarket Expo and here’s what mattered.

What happens on the floor of the Australian Auto Aftermarket Expo has real consequences for workshops across the country. The products that get launched here end up in your bays, the training delivered here shapes how technicians think, and the conversations that happen in those aisles drive decisions that play out for years. That’s exactly why we make the trip.

The 2026 edition, co-located with the Collision Repair Expo at the Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre from 14 to 16 May, was by any honest measure one of the largest automotive trade events this country has seen. Fifteen thousand attendees across three days. More than 400 brands on the floor. Packed aisles from open to close.

For those in the auto electrical and air conditioning trades specifically, the relevance was real and it was practical. Diagnostic platforms, 4WD electrical systems, sensor technology, starter motors and lighting — the show had plenty to say to workshops doing real work every day. Here’s what caught our attention.

What the floor was telling us

The scale was the first thing. This was not a trade show going through the motions. The investment in stand builds, live demonstrations and interactive displays was visible in every corner of the MCEC. Exhibitors came to make an impression and most of them did.

Training was the other headline. Free sessions ran across all three days, drawing thousands of technicians and workshop owners to content led by some genuinely high-calibre presenters. Steve Smith from Pico Technology in the UK and Scott Hicks from TOPDON USA both made the trip out, alongside Keith and Liz Perkins from L1 Automotive Training in the US. For workshops building capability in diagnostics and complex vehicle electronics, the quality on offer at no cost was hard to argue with.

The ADAS Training Zone and Diagnostics Discovery Zone were consistently busy — which tells you something useful about where workshops know they need to be heading. The vehicles demanding this capability are already on Australian roads in volume. The workshops that treat ADAS competency as optional are making a commercial decision they may revisit sooner than they expect.

The Flying Spanners competition returned with genuine energy, with Brandon Booth from Taylor Automotive & 4WD in Bomaderry NSW taking out the 2026 title, a good reminder that the trades produce talent worth celebrating.

New products worth knowing about

The New Product Showcase is where we spend deliberate time at an event like this. It’s the clearest read on where manufacturers are placing their bets, and this year’s line-up had strong representation across electrical, diagnostic and vehicle systems — the categories that matter most to our readers.

Projecta Intelli IQ Smart Relay: Projecta’s intelligent relay system is the kind of practical, workshop-relevant product that makes the Showcase worth the walk. Its recognition at the Innovation Awards Breakfast confirmed we weren’t the only ones paying attention. Smart relay technology with genuine diagnostic integration is where the market is heading.

Narva Ultima 24: A strong showing from Narva. The Ultima 24 is designed for the heavy vehicle and commercial market, a category that deserves more coverage in the auto electrical space.

Hella 9 inch HP 160 & 200 Kit: Hella’s high-performance driving light kit is a well-executed product for the 4WD and auxiliary lighting market with quality optics and professional fitment.

RedArc Pioneer 50 Alpha 50R + Display: REDARC had a strong show overall. Their Pioneer 50 Alpha 50R setup is a serious piece of kit for dual battery and power management applications.

Cruise Master Body Control System 4×4: The Body Control System brings integrated vehicle management to the 4WD touring market and picked up the Most Innovative New Aftermarket Product, Four Wheel Drive award. This is exactly the kind of connected technology auto electricians will be installing more of, worth getting across if you haven’t already.

OEX Starter Motor: OEX has been building credibility in the electrical components space and this is a solid addition to that story.

GearWrench Diagnostic Tablet: Diagnostic tools continue to evolve fast and GearWrench’s entry into the tablet category is worth watching.

Also worth calling out: the Logicar THINKTOOL Expert 399 took out Most Innovative Servicing Product, Tools & Equipment at the Innovation Awards.

Stands that stopped people

Beyond the New Product Showcase, a handful of stands were worth slowing down for — whether for what they were showing, how they were showing it, or both.

Schaeffler came prepared. The global motion technology company whose LuK, INA and FAG brands will be familiar to anyone working in transmission, engine and chassis components had a strong technical presence on the floor with their REPXPERT workshop portal. For workshops dealing with the expanding complexity of European and Asian vehicles, the depth of technical support Schaeffler is building around their product range is worth understanding.

CoolDrive had one of the best-executed stands at the show and earned the Best Stand Award over 36m² to prove it. For a distributor that carries its own family of brands, Jaylec, Jayair, Jayrad, HULK 4X4 — the stand gave each product line room to breathe and made a strong case for the breadth of what CoolDrive now covers.

Denso Automotive Systems had a solid presence, as you’d expect from a brand that needs no introduction in the auto electrical space. Denso’s product depth across ignition, sensors, thermal systems and EV components continues to grow and is a brand that warrants closer attention as hybrid and electric vehicle servicing becomes a larger share of workshop workflow.

ITech had one of the more energetic stands for diagnostic and equipment buyers — well worth a look if you’re evaluating what’s coming in that category.

Bendix and Trico deserve a mention too. A retro 1950s Australian service station in the middle of the MCEC, complete with a Camaro in Supercar livery, stopped people — but the undisputed star was Max, the Bendix Robot, who spent three days working the aisles with more personality than most humans on the floor. Bendix also took home the Most Innovative New Aftermarket Product award for the Ultimate Tow+ Portable Electric Brake Controller — a product well worth stocking if you’re servicing the towing market.

Recognition that meant something

The industry awards that ran alongside the show recognised businesses and people who’ve genuinely earned it. A few results worth noting:

REDARC took out both the Excellence in Manufacturing Award and the Automotive Business Sustainability Award, a deserved double for a business that continues to set the benchmark for Australian-made aftermarket electronics.

The Logicar THINKTOOL Expert 399’s tools award bears repeating: diagnostic tool innovation is moving quickly and the products earning recognition at this level are worth evaluating for your workshop.

On the individual side, John Blanchard from CoolDrive received the Outstanding Service to Industry Award, and Chelsea Lawson was recognised with the Women at the Wheel Award. The Hall of Fame inductees this year were Steve Broad, Shayne Quaile and Allan Gray OAM, each recognised for long-term contribution to the industry.

A room worth being in

One of the genuine highlights of the Expo for me personally was the AAAA Women networking event — a celebration of women working across the automotive trades and a room that felt noticeably different to how it might have looked five or ten years ago.

Organiser Lesley Yates said: “The AAAA Women networking event at Expo was a really important milestone for us. It was the first dedicated women’s event we have held as part of the Expo and the response was fantastic. The energy in the room showed there is a real appetite for practical, welcoming spaces where women across the industry can connect, support each other and see themselves as part of the future of the aftermarket. AAAA Women is about inclusion, leadership and visibility and this event was a powerful reminder of why that matters.”

The bottom line

Three days, fifteen thousand people and an industry that showed up with genuine intent. The products launched here will appear in your workshop. The training delivered here will shape how the next generation of technicians approaches a job. The conversations that happened in those aisles will lead somewhere.

For auto electrical and air conditioning workshops specifically, the signal from Melbourne is the same one we keep seeing: ADAS and vehicle electronics complexity are accelerating, the tools to handle it are improving, and the workshops that invest in capability now are the ones that won’t be scrambling later.