The Extra Mile kicks off Equip Auto Paris 2025

The countdown to the next Equip Auto Paris from 14 to 18 October 2025, the 50th anniversary edition of the automotive aftermarket trade fair, began at La Seine Musicale in Sevres, near the French capital, on 16 October. Several round tables with top-level speakers at The Extra Mile event and the presentation with a look back at the history since Equip Auto began in 1975.

Equip Auto, under the patronage of the President of the Republic, Emmanuel Macron, is celebrating its 50th anniversary towards its next event from 14 to 18 October 2025 at the Port de Versailles exhibition centre in Paris. Philippe Baudin, president of Equip Auto, and the event's general manager, Aurélie Jouve, presented a meeting at which Equip Auto demonstrates going beyond the aftermarket, involving automotive and mobility players in sustainability, electric mobility, connectivity, circular economy and distribution, among other themes. ‘We have redefined our positioning to be THE global aftermarket show for all automotive professionals,’ said Boudin and Jouve. The event featured the testimony of a historical figure in the automotive world, Claude Cham, president of Equip Auto SAS and FIEV (French Federation of Industries and Equipment for Vehicles).

Equip Auto 2025 will be an even bigger event than the 2022 edition, with 100,000 m2 of floor space, i.e. 20,000 m2 more, spread over the five halls of the Parc des Expositions at Port de Versailles. The aim is to make the event even more attractive for repairers, coachbuilders, distributors and international buyers, and to give exhibitors even greater visibility. ‘At the heart of our concerns is the repairer, as always, but we are changing our scope and positioning ourselves on the industry as a whole and all related mobility, from top to bottom. A new sectorisation will allow us to offer an enriched itinerary, with more open stands, creating more interactivity with visitors,’ said Aurélie Jouve.

The event will provide new spaces: Energy Village (energy suppliers, oil companies, recharging products, etc.); Tech Village, because Equip Auto wants to be a playground for the new technologies that are changing the industry; Village des Neumatiques et de l'Innovation, where tyre manufacturers are making a strong comeback (in partnership with the Syndicat du Pneu); and Village de l'Avenir, or how to promote the industry as a whole and make it more attractive by highlighting the latest developments in the sector. The Carrosserie Peinture Villages, with the active support of the FFC, Univers VO (celebrating its 10th anniversary) and, finally, the Circular Economy Village will also be back on the scene.

In cooperation with the Automobile Awards, Equip Auto will award the prize for the best equipment of the year. Another novelty, another great first, will be an exhibition of vehicles, one of which will be the ‘Car of the Year’. Future professionals will find a 48-hour hackathon on the automobile and mobility with leading engineering schools and thematic conferences in specific agoras.

In addition, the exhibition entitled ‘(R)evolution ’ will present 50 key figures from the automotive world. Portraits of men and women who have left their mark on history, as well as the technologies that have transformed the automotive market. Finally, the Grands Prix Internationaux de l'Innovation - of which AutoRevista is a member of the jury and which will be celebrating its 40th anniversary - will be another highlight of the upcoming event. The jury for the awards brings together around 100 journalists from 25 countries.

The Extra Mile

As a demonstration of Equip Auto's desire and effort to give a new dimension to the event, The Exrea Mile event took place on 16 October, which addressed a number of topics with experts from the sector. A first block focused on the challenges in the democratisation of the electric and ultra-connected vehicle. The main theme was broken down into the sub-themes ‘Automotive markets, headwinds or tailwinds?’, ‘Is the scenario of the end of thermal engine production in 2035 credible?’. ‘Innovation: is the affordable electric vehicle ready?’ and “Software-defined vehicles (SDVs), the challenges of including this advance in major series”.

The debate was attended by Jean-Luc Brossard, President of Stellantis CCFA, Francis Bartholome, President of Mobilians, Bernard Jullien, President of FERIA, Marc Mortureux, CEO of PFA, a subsidiary of Automobile and Mobilités, Jamel Taganza, Vice-President of Inovev, Vincent Salimon, President and CEO of BMW Group in France, Christophe Aufrere, Vice President and CTO of Forvia, Jean Louis Pech, President of FIEV, Jerome Faton, Vice President Strategy of Ampere (Renault Group), Emmanuelle Bischoffe-Cruzel, Global Automotive Sustainability Leader at Capgemini, Stephane May, CEO of Continental Automotive France, Marc Amblard, CEO of Orsay Consulting San Francisco, and Romain Stutzmann, President of France Autotech.

Affordable service

Under the title ‘Is the aftermarket moving away from its mission of affordable service?’, the second block addressed the questions ‘Collision repair markets under pressure: what analysis, what consequences?’; rising mechanical maintenance costs: is the aftermarket moving away from its mission of cost-effective maintenance; and used vehicles: what impact will the rise in vehicle prices and the energy transition have on the used vehicle sector?

Rodolphe Povreau, Director of Sécurite Réparation Automobile, Alexis Merkling, Deputy Director of France Assureurs, Laurent Forcade, President of FFC, Gerald Sgobbo, President of CFPA France, Christophe Boutemy, General Manager of Purchasing and Supply Chain at PHE Distribution, Mads Engberg, President of Figiefa, and Olivier Flavier, Automotive Market Director at Leboncoin, presented their views on these topics.

Sustainability
Finally in the block ‘Committed to a competitive, sustainable and affordable automotive and aftermarket sector’, maintenance: stakeholders' assets and strategies to preserve a competitive, affordable and profitable aftermarket sector; collision repair: the levers to keep insurance policies affordable; maintenance of electrified vehicles; and reuse, remanufacturing, eco-design: the circular economy is becoming a strategic pillar for the aftermarket.

Christophe Boutemy, General Manager of Purchasing and Supply Chain at PHE Distribution and Mads Engberg, President of Figiefa, took part in this debate , along with Guillaume Ponsigny, Director of Indemnities at Allianz, Alain Landec, President of FEDA, Robert Bassols, President of FNA, Dominique Stempfel, President of Syndicat du Pneu, Geoffroy Fontaine, Commercial Director of Solera, Almudena Benedito, CEO of GIPA, Julien Gourand, Managing Director of Midas France, Alexis Mercadetm founder of Revolte e Garages, Mino Yamamoto, Director of Circular Economy at Valeo, and Xavier Kaufman, CBO and Vice President of ReFactory at Renault-The Future is Neutral.

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