PRESS RELEASE July 2018 Automechanika Frankfurt, pav. 6.0 stand D74 Japanparts Group celebrates 30 years in business This year, Japanparts Group celebrates the milestone of 30 years in business. A family company founded in 1988, it is now a well established organisation. The company sells innovative spare parts for Asian vehicles in the Mediterranean area, Middle East and Latin America. Its core business is concentrated in the Automotive industry, optimising the company footprint, which now also aims to add new technologies to the range and to increase the European range with the upcoming boost to logistics. Japanparts Group, based in Verona, is celebrating 30 years in business with its customers, an important milestone for the Group, which in recent years has grown exponentially both in Italy and abroad. Established as a family business in 1988, it specialises in spare parts for Asian, European and American vehicles, with the Japanparts, Ashika and Japko brands. Today, there are more than 30,000 items recorded for each of the three brands. The range of products distributed by Japanparts includes 140 different families of items that embrace all types of spare parts, from engine components to brakes, from clutches to electrical parts, to suspensions, only excluding car body parts. The constant growth in the automotive market under production in the Far East has led this company, in a short time, to a top position in the automotive spares sector. Japanparts is a young company, with a workforce with an average age of just over 30 years. The staff is streamlined, with 32 people working in the administrative and sales area and 80 employed in logistics - which is entirely outsourced. Revenue was in excess of 85 million Euros in 2017, and the company exports to more than 70 countries in 5 different continents. Between 2015 and 2017, Japanparts recorded double-digit growth in terms of both turnover in Italy and export turnover, with a 75% rise in customer orders in the last five years. Japanparts Group is currently completing an important operation to optimise its corporate footprint: the company has invested in expanding the warehouse of its headquarters to a total of 53,000 square metres of storage area. This will make it possible to consolidate its presence and expand the European range, ensuring speed and guaranteeing deliveries, in addition to increasing coverage of stock, which is already equivalent to around 6 months of sales. The inauguration is set for the first quarter of 2019. The aim of this ambitious strategic plan is not only to consolidate the company’s specialisation in spare parts for Asian and American vehicles, but also to implement the applications for European vehicles, so as to become a global benchmark. The important addition to the catalogue of the shock absorbers, which in a very short time have become one of the company’s top products, covering the Asian and European vehicle market, has yielded results in excess of expectations. For water pumps, the company has this year already added the new products in the European range to the catalogue. Planned for next year is the extension of the European range for brake pads, discs, drums and brake shoe sets. The Group has also boosted its skills by extending its business in line with the new “Yes we Have” strategy, adding new technologies to the range, such as the ABS sensors and EGR valves, for a complete, exhaustive supply. The company's strength is the ability to anticipate trends and to work in a global context. In fact, it was one of the first to invest in a professional catalogue to be freely accessed over the internet, offered by Tec Doc, with whom they continue to collaborate, guaranteeing a privileged position in updating the data on this platform. The web catalogue on the websites (three, one for each retail brand), thanks to a large number of photographs, measurements and technical information, simplifies and accelerates identification of the correct spare part, thus allowing operators to save precious time. As well as the search by vehicle function, it is now also possible to search by chassis and by license plate (reserved for Japanparts partner distributors). These systems are integrated with the possibility for distributors to verify the availability of the individual item in real time and to proceed directly to placing orders from their own reserved area. This operation has contributed to significantly increasing turnover, reaching almost 70% of overall turnover. The most recent update concerns an investment in materials and technology for integration of the online catalogue, with three-dimensional photographs of the products, as well as 360-degree panoramic images that make it possible to identify the spare part in minute detail and make the correct choice. Alessandro Piazza, General Manager of Japanparts Group, has this to say to those who ask about the company's dynamics and growth: "The strength of Japanparts has always been its flexibility, the speed of adapting to such a dynamic and quick-paced global market, increasingly significant stocks, moderate costs and a complete supply offer.“ Improving these qualities is our main objective for the future".