Key takeaways
- AAPEX opens November 3, 2026, with exhibit access through November 5.
- The organizer promotes more than 2,500 manufacturers and suppliers at the show.
- Both floors open at 9:00 am and close at 5:00 pm on exhibit days.
- The exhibitor prospectus lists member booth space at $34.00 per square foot.
- The AAPEX mobile app can bookmark exhibitors and their booth locations.
What is AAPEX 2026, and how large is the automotive aftermarket show?
AAPEX 2026 opens on November 3 in Las Vegas and runs for three exhibit days. The organizer promotes 45,000 attendees, but that is a show-level promotional figure rather than a projected audience for any booth. It also promotes more than 2,500 suppliers across more than 1,400 product categories. Those categories extend from repair equipment and underhood components to distribution and retail products.
Which aftermarket companies can attend AAPEX 2026?
AAPEX is restricted to business representatives of the automotive aftermarket; it is not a consumer car show. Its prospectus describes a mix in which 38% work in repair, service, vehicle dealerships or fleets, 25% in retail and 23% in warehouse distribution or parts program groups. This makes the audience useful for suppliers selling to several different purchasing paths, with eligibility checked during registration.
What are the AAPEX 2026 dates and floor hours?
The first exhibit day is November 3, 2026, and the floor continues through Thursday, November 5. Published hours are 9:00 am to 5:00 pm on each of those three days. Registration and the opening reception begin on Monday, before the exhibit floor opens. The organizer already lists the next edition as November 2 to 4, 2027.
How much floor time does each AAPEX 2026 day allow?
From the 9:00 am opening to the 5:00 pm close, each day offers eight exhibit hours. Three exhibit days therefore provide 24 floor hours. Tuesday begins earlier for people attending the ticketed keynote breakfast, which starts at 6:30 am. Education and reception time sit outside this booth-hours calculation.
| Exhibit day | Published floor hours | Booth hours | | --- | --- | --- | | Tuesday, November 3 | 9:00 am to 5:00 pm | 8 | | Wednesday, November 4 | 9:00 am to 5:00 pm | 8 | | Thursday, November 5 | 9:00 am to 5:00 pm | 8 |
The event exhibitor planning guide describes how to turn those 24 hours into a coverage schedule.
How do the Venetian Expo and AAPEX Forum connect?
AAPEX occupies the Venetian Expo and the AAPEX Forum in the Caesars Forum complex. A Level 2 pedestrian bridge links the floors in approximately 117 steps, so the floor plan can cover both spaces without an outside transfer. Forum booth numbers run from F9000 to F18000. Encore supplies Forum electrical, internet and audiovisual services; the provider differs from the Venetian hall service desks.
How do visitors reach the AAPEX Forum and Venetian halls?
The Venetian Expo and AAPEX Forum are two arrival points for one trade show. The Harrah’s/LINQ Monorail Station serves the Forum entrance, where shuttles also drop passengers. Once inside, the Level 2 bridge spans about 117 steps to the Venetian floor. The two locations have separate registration areas, so arrival instructions should match the first scheduled booth or session.
What does an AAPEX 2026 badge cost and include?
An AAPEX attendee badge also permits SEMA Show exhibit-floor access; some education requires separate admission. The dedicated registration page lists $50.00 through June 26, $75.00 through September 25 and $100.00 beginning September 26, including onsite registration. Its FAQ has a conflicting first cutoff, so these dates follow the dedicated registration page as reviewed on October 15.
| Attendee registration window | Published fee | | --- | --- | | Through June 26 | $50.00 | | Through September 25 | $75.00 | | From September 26 | $100.00 |
Who qualifies for an AAPEX badge, and what are the rules?
Registration is for automotive aftermarket business representatives and is individually reviewed. Employee applicants provide employment proof from Group A and company activity proof from Group B; owners use Group B. The organizer issues no credits or refunds for cancellations and other nonattendance. Children under 16 cannot enter the exhibits. Those rules affect staffing and guest lists before badge purchases are submitted.
Where is AAPEX 2026 housing booked?
onPeak is AAPEX’s official hotel partner, and the organizer advertises rooms starting at $90 per night. That is an advertised starting rate, not a verified rate for a particular property or travel date. Hotels connected to the Forum can reduce transfers, while the Harrah’s/LINQ Monorail Station also serves that entrance. Current room inventory and cancellation terms sit in the official housing booking flow.
What is the practical route between AAPEX hotels and the show floor?
Hotel booking runs through onPeak, the official AAPEX housing partner. The Harrah’s/LINQ Monorail Station provides one arrival route to the AAPEX Forum; from there, a Level 2 bridge of about 117 steps reaches the Venetian Expo. This route matters for teams with meetings in both buildings, especially when a session ends near the Forum and the next booth sits on Venetian Level 2.
Which exhibitors and product sections are at AAPEX?
The organizer promotes more than 2,500 suppliers, distributed across product sections rather than one undifferentiated hall. Its prospectus names AutoZone and O’Reilly Auto Parts among recurring retail chains. Venetian Level 2 includes Business Services/AI/E-Commerce/Technology and Diagnostics/Telematics/Shop Management Systems; the live exhibitor directory determines the current booth assignments.
How can the AAPEX exhibitor directory narrow a visit?
With more than 2,500 suppliers and more than 1,400 categories promoted by the organizer, a complete walk of every exhibitor is impractical. The AAPEX mobile app lets attendees bookmark exhibitors and their booth locations, then view floor plans. Those two functions support a route built from named suppliers and product sections rather than a list of unlocated companies.
Which AAPEX training and floor programs matter in 2026?
Coach K headlines the ticketed AAPEX keynote breakfast, while the wider program covers diagnostics, EVs and the 2027 aftermarket outlook. Joe’s Garage includes six bays for equipment and vehicle demonstrations. The Student Engine Assembly Competition also returns to the floor in 2026. These formats range from seated education to demonstrations where an exhibitor can show a specific repair application.
When are the AAPEX reception and booth crawl meeting windows?
The AAPEX opening reception is on November 2 from 6 to 7:30 PM at the Forum, before the first exhibit day. Beers and Gears begins at 4:00 pm on Tuesday. Exhibitor Booth Crawls recur each afternoon from 3:00 pm across both floors. These windows have different audiences and locations from an ordinary booth meeting, and some adjacent functions require separate tickets.
What does AAPEX publish about its buyer mix?
The exhibitor prospectus says 91% of its audience make or influence purchasing decisions; that is an organizer-reported figure. It lists 45% in executive or owner roles, 38% in repair, service, dealer or fleet organizations, 25% in retail and 23% in warehouse distribution or parts groups. The same prospectus reports buyers from 128 countries, which signals international representation without predicting demand at any one booth.
Which named aftermarket accounts should exhibitors research?
The organizer’s prospectus names AutoZone and O’Reilly Auto Parts as retail chains that attend. It also reports 38% of attendees from repair, service, dealer or fleet organizations and 23% from warehouse distributors or parts program groups. These are different account types: a parts retail discussion, distributor line review and workshop equipment demonstration need different product details and buying roles.
What does the AAPEX mobile app actually do?
The official AAPEX app can bookmark exhibitors and show their booth locations. It also displays floor plans and links to AAPEX-TV videos. These features address attendee navigation and content discovery. The current app description documents no booth conversation fields or CRM exports, leaving those capabilities outside the app evidence.
How do AAPEX planner features differ from booth capture?
The mobile app supports exhibitor bookmarks and floor plans, which help visitors find booths. Separately, the current Venetian services guide provides a link titled Lead Retrieval Products. The guide does not identify a 2026 product or explain its fields. The published evidence therefore separates route planning from contact capture without making a feature claim about an unnamed tool.
What are AAPEX 2026 booth space rates?
The exhibitor prospectus lists $34.00 per square foot for eligible association members and $59.00 per square foot for nonmembers. It also lists a $750.00 corner charge, a $2,800.00 peninsula charge and a $5,800.00 island charge. Those are space charges, before labor, freight, services, travel or staffing, and the peninsula and island options have separate footprint rules.
| Booth component | Prospectus rate | | --- | --- | | Eligible member space | $34.00 per square foot | | Nonmember space | $59.00 per square foot | | Corner increment | $750.00 | | Peninsula increment | $2,800.00 | | Island increment | $5,800.00 |
What staffing capacity fits the AAPEX 2026 floor hours?
The published 9:00 am to 5:00 pm floor creates eight hours a day, or 24 exhibit hours across three days. At B2Brain’s benchmark of 31 scans per productive rep-day, two reps have a planning capacity of 62 scans daily and 186 across the event. The prospectus reports an average of 113 leads per exhibitor. The 2026 services guide links both the Target Move-in Plan and advance shipping to Freeman Warehouse.
The booth coverage planning guide gives the staffing arithmetic for that 24-hour floor.
Which 2026 lead retrieval product does AAPEX name?
The current Venetian services guide links to Lead Retrieval Products. AAPEX Forum registration also offers lead retrieval services. The reviewed public pages do not name the current app or device, however. As of October 15, 2026, that product identity remains unpublished in the material available without exhibitor access. This section therefore describes the public listing without assigning an unsupported product name.
What does the listed AAPEX lead retrieval service capture?
The 2026 Venetian guide provides a Lead Retrieval Products link. It does not state which conversation fields are retained, whether a device works offline, how long capture takes, or when exports become available. As of October 15, 2026, those capabilities are absent from the reviewed organizer and Forum service pages, so the current listing cannot support a feature-by-feature description.
Can AAPEX capture features be compared with B2Brain?
AAPEX says lead retrieval services are available at Forum registration, and its Venetian guide links to Lead Retrieval Products. Neither reviewed public page specifies the current product’s note fields, meeting booking, or CRM connection. As of October 15, 2026, the evidence supports a comparison of published information only. B2Brain’s approved capture and attribution claims appear in the page’s comparison table; no unverified organiser capability is inferred.
Are independent capture tools or CRM exports specified?
The official AAPEX app lists exhibitor bookmarks and floor plans as planning features. The separate exhibitor services guide links Lead Retrieval Products but gives no public device policy, export format or CRM integration details. As of October 15, 2026, the reviewed sources do not establish whether an exhibitor can use a personal device with the contracted service or how its data reaches a CRM.
Which conversation details should an AAPEX booth record?
The prospectus divides buyers among repair, service, dealer and fleet businesses at 38%, retailers at 25%, and warehouse distributors or parts groups at 23%. A booth conversation therefore needs the buyer’s business type, product category, current repair or sourcing problem, buying role and agreed next step. The prospectus says 91% make or influence purchase decisions, but that show-level figure does not replace qualification for a particular contact.
How can an AAPEX exhibitor qualify a lead on the floor?
AAPEX’s prospectus reports 91% of attendees make or influence purchasing decisions and an average of 113 leads per exhibitor; both are organizer-reported measures, not a booth forecast. It also separates repair, service, dealer and fleet organizations from retailers, at 38% and 25% of its attendee mix. Qualification requires matching the application and buying process to that business type before a meeting is counted.
When is the last AAPEX 2026 follow-up window?
AAPEX begins November 3 and ends Thursday, November 5, after the 5:00 pm exhibit close. A two-hour same-day follow-up window therefore ends at 7 pm on November 5, and the one-week point is November 12. The 9:00 am daily opening leaves early hours for internal routing before floor coverage begins. B2Brain’s approved decay estimate is about 85% conversion probability within two hours versus about 9% after a week; those are internal benchmarks, not AAPEX outcomes.
The dated follow-up planning guide shows how to assign owners against those calendar windows.
What is known about AAPEX booth return before ROI is calculated?
The organizer reports an average of 113 leads per exhibitor. Its 2026 prospectus lists booth space at $34.00 per square foot for eligible members and $59.00 per square foot for nonmembers. Those inputs describe lead volume and space cost, not qualified meetings or revenue pipeline. As of October 15, the reviewed sources do not publish a booth-specific conversion rate or contract value, so a monetary return figure would be unsupported.