There’s a market for a new auto event, and money to be made.
A colleague recently attended the Bangkok Motor Show and saw great opportunities.
It got me thinking: Could a show be revived in this country?
It’s clear from our experience of the Australian International Motor Show folding in 2015 that motor shows are not flavour of the month.
Or rather, they weren’t.
Motor shows have existed almost as long as the motor car. Australia saw the first motor exhibition in Sydney in 1925 and from 1927 Melbourne hosted an annual show, with the Victorian Automobile Chamber of Commerce being involved from the start.
But in 2008 the house of cards began to fall.
A German manufacturer – disgruntled at the cost of exhibiting at dual ‘international shows’ in two cities in one country of 20-odd million people – decided to invest elsewhere.
Other manufacturers followed suit.
And, of course, digital assets like websites, videos and social media gave manufacturers tools to effectively market products to buyers, without the need for expensive motor show stands.
So the Motor Show stopped.
But there are many who would like them to return. Will they? Maybe.
There are investors and event specialists kicking ideas around.
Lessons have been learned that could result in a very successful event. For example, an essential aspect of any new motor show format is that it becomes a selling event.
Our counterparts in Thailand are leading the way. This year 1.6 million people attended the Bangkok Show, with 45,000 cars and 5,000 motorcycles sold.
In only 12 days!
Who wouldn’t want a piece of that?
Words: VACC CEO, Geoff Gwilym. As featured in the Herald Sun 13 September 2019.