Auto Business Review in collaboration with ACT, the university level of Anatolia College, organised the execution of a promising automotive project.

A link between the academic and business worlds

This pioneering initiative primarily promotes agreements with firms in the Greek auto market for educational purposes. The Automobile Business Conference has become a beacon of automotive knowledge, a major source of primary information about the auto industry's latest developments and a standard for the conception, execution and organization of inspiring events.

The successful path of the project reinforces the role of Auto Business Review as the most authoritative scientific bureau in the Greek automobile market, providing specialized advisory services pertinent to automotive business and marketing subjects - as defined through the various Conference themes.

The Conference subjets

The themes of the first eight events related to the "Block Exemption Regulation", "Road Safety", "Autos & the Environment", "Future Vehicle Design Trends", "Auto Taxation in Greece & the EU", "The Competitive Environment in the Greek Car Sector", "The Future of the Automobile", and "Public Policies in the Greek Car Sector", respectively.

The speakers

It is worth mentioning that the panel of speakers of the first eight Conferences comprised of renowned names and auto industry gurus. The following list provides the names that took part in the panel of speakers and the position they occupied at the time of their participation:

Andreas Andrikopoulos, President of the Greek Association of Motor Vehicle Importers and Representatives (AMVIR)
Aris Aravanis, Vice President and Managing Director of Toyota Hellas
Takis Athanassopoulos, Executive Vice President of Toyota Motor Europe and ex-Managing Officer of Toyota Motor Corporation
Vassilis Benekos, Managing Director, Eurotax GLASS's Hellas
Ewelina Daniel, Policy Officer, DG Enterprise and Industry, European Commission
Narkissos Georgiadis, Managing Director of EvoBus Hellas, the Greek importer of Mercedes-Benz buses
Kostas Kavathas, Honorary Member of the COTY Award and Director of the 4Wheels magazine, the oldest and most respected Greek motoring publication
Sotiris Kovos, Studio Kovos Design, Torino, Italy - Ex-Chief Exterior Designer, Toyota Motor Corporation
Pavlos Laskaris, General Secretary of the Greek Association of Motor Vehicle Importers and Representatives (AMVIR)
George Lymberakis, Managing Director of Trident Cars S.A., the Greek importer of Lamborghini, Lotus and Maserati supercars
Yiannis Paleokrassas, former European Commissioner for the Environment
Vassilis Rapanos, Professor of Economics at the University of Athens - Chairman, National Bank of Greece - Former Governor of the National Mortgage Bank of Greece - Ex-Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Hellenic Telecommunications Organization - Former Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors at the Ministry of Economy and Finance
Dimitrios Sakellaropoulos, Managing Director, Ford Motor Hellas
Willy Tomboy, Environmental Affairs Officer, Toyota Motor Europe
Miltos Tsoskounoglou, Director of the Environmental Care Office of Toyota Hellas
Andreas Zapatinas, Andreas Zapatinas Design, Milano, Italy - Former Design Manager at Alfa Romeo, BMW, FIAT and Fuji Heavy Industries (Subaru)

The exceptional content of the meetings and the high level of quality reflected by the exemplary organization of each event grasped the attention of the public, and convinced many organizations to continue their support.

In this direction, the project's widespread acceptance is shown by the continuing involvement of the European Commission. For the time being, three EC delegates have been sent directly from Brussels to participate in three different events.

✓ Christos Liolios, Principal Administrator at the Directorate General for Taxation and the Customs Union, appeared as a delegate of Mr. Laszlo Kovacs, the European Taxation Commissioner.

✓ Lazaros Tsoraklidis, a senior officer at the DG Competition and Enterprises, participated in the very first Conference and shed light to a number of Block Exemption issues as he was an active member of the EC team who worked on the development of BER No.1400/2002.

✓ Ewelina Daniel, Policy Officer, DG Enterprise and Industry, European Commission.

One must also note the support of the Greek Association of Motor Vehicle Importers and Representatives (AMVIR). Many AMVIR members appeared in the panel of speakers while three events were put under the auspices of AMVIR.

We would like to express our deepest gratitude to the hundreds of attendees who joined us and also extend our thanks to the remaining speakers who gave up their valuable time in order to participate.

➤ Click below to see the photographs and read the captions.