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Attractive motor show combining vans, cars and motorcycles
New formulas
Motor show organisers are faced with all the consequences of the credit squeeze. Vehicle sales in the fourth quarter of 2008 have dropped with huge percentages. Vehicle manufacturers have filled their capacity of stocking new vehicles and have stopped production until these stocks have been reduced to reasonable levels. The same unsold stocks are burdening distributors and dealers. This is an expensive overhead with banks either charging high interest rates to finance unsold stocks or are refusing any or full credit. Those companies and private buyers who still have sufficient cash are delaying purchases because they see prices of both new and used vehicles going down. It is no secret that the automotive industry has been hit hard and they are therefore even cutting down on high expenditures like show participation. As a result, show organisers are inventing new themes which lower the expense such as the Amsterdam Motor Show of 1-12 April 2009 which will have separate displays of car categories like compacts, convertibles, SUV etc. which does away with separate stands per manufacturer. 70% of the usual exhibitors have agreed to this concept.
Vans and leisure vehicles
The Brussels Salon concentrated on light commercial vehicles, vans, but also the kind of cars which can be used for both commercial and private purposes. This includes SUV’s and multi purpose vehicles derived from vans. These were called leisure vehicles. In addition, Febiac allowed participants to exhibit new products not shown to the Belgian market before. Motorcycles are a splendid example of leisure vehicles and two halls were filled with hundreds of models from all major manufacturers.
Truck & Transport
At the heavy end, a special Truck & Transport exhibition was staged in two halls over 4 days from Saturday 17 until Tuesday 20 January, intending to be a meeting opportunity within the commercial vehicle industry. Hall 12 showed the trucks, trailers and truck accessories while services were located in Hall 11. Admittance was limited to business contacts of the exhibitors. Those without invitation could get in at a fee of € 25. As the regular big commercial vehicle show in uneven years, The European Road Transport Show in Amsterdam has been cancelled – as the Commercial Vehicle Show in Birmingham this year – Truck & Transport filled a welcome niche. Visitors of Truck & Transport were also admitted to the European Motor Show Brussels. Truck & Transport started in 2005 when the calendar was changed to accommodate the Amsterdam CV show to be held in the uneven years, alternating with the IAA Nutzfahrzeuge in Hannover in the even years. The Brussels car show has been traditionally held in the even years alternating with the Brussels CV show in the uneven years. There was a Benelux clash here which has been solved by organising this limited 4-day exhibition of heavy commercial vehicles.
The Belgian trade publication Truck & Business produced an extensive professional survey on the image of the road transport. It appears that there is a lot of work to be done to get across to the general public how important road transport services are. A slogan “Every family buys an average of one cubic metre of goods per week” was displayed everywhere at the show. Another Salon theme was “Transport meets people”.
Encouraging attendance
The Brussels Motor Show attracted some 325,000 visitors, which is only slightly less than the record attendance of almost 350,000 in 2007. Also this year there was one evening session against two in 2007. So, this show which was awaited with a certain anxiety because of the financial crisis, has been marked as a success. Plans for a similar show in 2011 are already in place.
Premieres
Although the annual Geneva Motor Show of 5-15 March attracts most new model launches – reason why the Amsterdam RAI car show has been postponed from early February until the beginning of April – Brussels was able to show 120 vans and leisure vehicles not seen by the Benelux visitors. Some examples are the Abarth 500; Audi S4 Avant; Chevrolet Cruze; Citroën C3 Picasso, Citroën C-Hypnos concept; Daçia Logan Pick-up (European première), Daçia Logan Van; face-lifted Daihatsu Terios; Ford Fiesta Van; face-lifted Honda Civic; Hyundai i20 and ix55 top end SUV; Kia Soul; Land Rover LRX concept; Mazda 3, Mazda BT-50 pick-up, face-lifted MX-5 roadster; Mercedes-Benz Sprinter Alko chassis with 3 applications: ambulance, camper and high volume van, Mercedes-Benz Vito Blue Efficiency show car; face-lifted Mitsubishi Colt, Mitsubishi Lancer Racing Dakar with diesel engine, Mitsubishi Lancer Sportback; Nissan GT-R super sports car, first all wheel drive vehicle with independent rear suspension, face-lifted Nissan Note with lower CO2 emission from 119 g/km, Nissan NP300 pick-up, Nissan Pixo city car with low CO2 emission of 103 g/km, Nissan Qashqai +2; Opel Insignia Sports Tourer and Zafira CNG Turbo (unusual: turbo with CNG fuel); face-lifted Peugeot 107 and 308 CC four-seater, Peugeot Prologue Hybrid4 concept; Renault Kangoo be bop fun car, Mégane Coupé (beautiful!), Z.E. Concept (Zero Emission Concept with electric drive; Saab 9-4X BioPower cross-over concept; Seat Exeo successor to Toledo but larger – based on previous Audi A4 – and New Ibiza Ecomotive with 3.8 litre/100 km thriftiest in class and only 98 g/km CO2; new Suzuki Alto with only 103 g/km CO2, good for 15% discount on list price; new Toyota Avensis and iQ city car with 4 seats within 2.99 meters of length, new compact cross-over Urban Cruiser; Volkswagen Caddy BlueMotion, Caddy 4Motion and Caddy Maxi Ecofuel running on CNG , new Volkswagen Golf Plus, concept Pick-up with 1 ton payload as a forerunner of a future 4WD; Volvo C30 DRIVe Eco-version with CO2-emission of only 115 g/km.
Figures
Organiser Febiac published some interesting figures. With a record share of diesel cars in Belgium it is interesting that since 1992 (Euro 0) until 2009 (Euro 5) emissions of NOx have been reduced by 90% and particulates by 97%. The average fuel consumption was 7.5 litres per 100 kms in 1995 and today 5 l/100km. In 2020 it should drop to 3.5 l/100 km
100,000 Belgian workers are building 1,000,000 vehicles per annum in a radius of 100 kms around Brussels. Motorways represent 10 per cent of all roads but process 75 per cent of traffic.
Companies and professionals own 1,000,000 company cars, of which 300,000 are leased, equivalent of 6% of total vehicle population.
Responsible for CO2-emission: industry 25%, energy 25%, buildings 19%, motor vehicles 13%, other traffic (train, ships, airplane) 10%, trade and services 6%, agriculture 2%.
Car sales in 2008 reached 535,947 units, higher than the 524,798 in 2007. Although with a smaller population, car sales in Belgium were higher than in the Netherlands which were just short of 500,000 units. Van sales in Belgium were at 64,639 slightly lower than in 2007 at 65,392. Truck sales were also slightly lower in 2008 at 5,775 units against 5,946 in 2007. Road tractors were higher at 6,331 in 2008 against 6,232 in 2007. Sales of motorcycles, tricycles and quadricycles remained about the same at 30,074 in 2008 against 30,131 in 2007.
Hospitality superior to Paris and Geneva
Major European motor shows in 2008 showed clear signs of economy, understandable in today’s economic/financial climate. But the atmosphere in Brussels was definitely more positive with determination to get the best results with recently introduced products meeting demands in the market, dominated by fuel prices and tax measures with a great impact. This attitude was reflected in the efforts to provide hospitality and plenty of useful information.
Summarising: Good Show!
Pim van der Veer
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