London Gets New Auto Show

The British capital is getting a new auto show, starting next year.

Organizers say the London Motor Show, to run May 5-8, 2016, has a new and exciting format, designed to appeal across the board to a wide range of motoring visitors and enthusiasts.

The show will be staged at the Battersea Park Evolution site, an increasingly popular location hosting events in the capital with giant structures and exhibition space.

Battersea Evolution in central London covers 59,200 sq.-ft. (5,500 sq.-m), split into three main areas: a 4,843-sq.-ft. (450-sq.-m) glass-fronted atrium, a 43,055-sq.-ft. (4,000-sq.-m) main arena and an 8,700-sq.-ft. (750-sq.-m) back-of-house area that also can be used as event space.

The show will feature cars from major vehicle manufacturers, together with exhibits showcasing the latest technologies and developments, from hybrid and electric vehicles to driverless cars.

Seminars will be held around important motoring issues and allow showgoers to ask questions and meet face-to-face with industry and government leaders.

Visitors will be able to road-test cars and interact with exhibits focused on such themes as road safety, new technology, training and city driving.

Organizers aim to give the show a broad appeal to a wide section of the motoring public, from families to young drivers, fleet buyers and business users.

“With the considerable changes happening in the motor industry, this is exactly the right time to bring to London a high-profile motoring event,” a spokesman says in a statement.

“It will provide an important platform for the U.K.’s buoyant and confident manufacturers, importers and retailers to showcase their products. The London Motor Show will bring global brands to the capital, to an event that visitors will find truly engaging.”

It is not the first time a major show has made such a claim in London.

The British International Motor Show was a fixture between 1903 and 2008, initially in London at Crystal Palace, Olympia and then Earls Court before moving to the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham in 1976 where it stayed until 2004.

It returned to London for 2006 and 2008, but then was cancelled.

The London Motorfair began in 1977 and was held biannually at Earls Court. It won the support of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders in 1993 and the name was changed to the London Motor Show, before ending in 1999.

Canary Wharf is still host to an annual London street motor show, this year running from June 8-14.

It is one of three events organized under the Motorexpo logo, with the other two in Toronto, Canada, in late June and New York City in September.

Organizers bill the Motorexpos as the world’s biggest free-to-visit motoring events with a revolutionary show format that transforms global business locations with displays of the latest vehicles from the world’s leading automotive manufacturers.