18 October 2010

 Some things matter; whereas some other things one merely has a soft spot for. Some of you may have a soft spot for Liverpool Football Club but whether it is owned by Americans or Martians, or whether it stays in the Premier League, it is not important, in the grand scheme of things. On the other hand, solving our national debt matters.

After years of championing the cause of the British International Motor Show, now that the SMMT this week decided to axe the one planned for 2012 (it had already cancelled this year’s) I fear we have lost it for good. But does it matter? Not one bit.

In recent years, the motoring aspect of the show had been overtaken by the peripheral activities; the powerboat demos, rock concerts, stunt drivers and driving classes for youngsters. The organisers tried them all, as well as different venues, in an attempt to bring-in the crowds. The scotch and soda became soda with just a dash of scotch. The last shows were no more than family activity days with cars on display.

When the show returned to London in 2006, after a sojourn in Birmingham, the organisers told me the show had been affected by not being in the capital. London will boost the show’s prestige to equal that of Paris, Geneva and Frankfurt, I was told. Attendance should have rocketed to 500,000. Neither of those things happened.

Many car manufacturers were guilty of not exhibiting at the British Show and dealers never did support it. Before the 2004 event, I remember carrying-out a survey of manufacturers’ websites and press advertising. I found just two manufacturers who included a reference to the show in their ads and on their websites.

Similarly, dealers never displayed posters about the event and hardly ever organised trips for customers. When I queried this I was told they didn’t want to expose customers to competitive brands. But dealers have no hesitation in building a £2m showroom next to competitors on a ‘motor mile’. Where is the difference?

It probably comes back to the purpose of the Motor Show. Was the aim to make money or was success measured by the number of visitors or the quantity of cars sold? I was never able to get a straight answer from the SMMT on that one but I suspect the purpose was to generate money.

London once had a yearly Motor Show pulling-in 900,000 visitors. These days, with a permanent motor show in every dealer showroom or at the end of Google, it seems a hall packed with motor cars is no longer an attraction . . . in England. The shows in France, Germany and Geneva are thriving. It’s very strange when you consider that England has more car manufacturers within these shores than any other country in Europe.

After 107-years it is a sad end. Pass me a scotch, someone. No soda, thank you.

Have a great week, both in and out of the showroom. If you have a story for us, or want to get something off your chest, email barry@auto-retail.com

Barry Hook

Tags: Agenda, Barry's Blog, British Motorshow, Motorshows