From May 24 to 26, the Society of Automotive Engineers of Japan, Inc. held the Automotive Engineering Exposition 2023 YOKOHAMA at Pacifico Yokohama, as well as the ONLINE STAGE1 from May 17 to June 7.
The Automotive Engineering Exposition is a specialized automotive technology exhibition. In addition to Yokohama, it was also held from July 5 to 7 at Aichi Sky Expo in Nagoya.
The Yokohama and Nagoya shared theme was, “Let’s combine our intellect! Carbon neutral, a recycling-oriented society, and beyond!” At a press conference held on May 8, Kazuya Yamamoto, Secretary of the Exhibition Planning Council of the Society of Automotive Engineers of Japan, Inc., stated, “In order to achieve carbon neutrality, it is necessary to shift from a linear process of resource discovery, manufacturing, and disposal to a recycling-oriented society. Neither carbon neutrality nor a recycling-oriented society can be achieved by a single corporation. This cannot be accomplished unless the value chain advances as a whole, transcending the boundaries of companies and industries. The purpose of this exhibition is to throw these sorts of issues out there to be considered by society as a whole, so I hope the participants will take our message to heart.”
The Yokohama exhibition’s individual theme was, “For the realization of a recycling-oriented society, the parts (resources) must also be sustainable!” Yamamoto explained, “An automotive consists of more than 10,000 parts. We are planning a joint project to exhibit the technology to recycle those parts and renewable resources derived from biomass that can be substituted for plastic.”
Continuing on, Masashi Yukawa, Deputy Director of the Secretariat, gave an overview of the event. This year’s Yokohama exhibition, to be held in-person for the 30th time, featured 499 companies exhibiting in 1,115 booths, with a target of 40,000 visitors. 16 companies will be exhibiting for the first time. In addition, 13 world premieres and 21 products on display for the first time in Japan were presented. The first in-person conference to be held in 4 years featured 83 sessions in an online hybrid format.
