Oz Groups End Auto-Show JV; ‛New-Look’ Event Planned

The Australian International Motor Show is off again this year, and the organizers are ending their joint-venture partnership after holding just three annual shows.

The JV was created in 2009 when the Victorian Automobile Chamber of Commerce, organizers of the Melbourne Motor Show, and the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries, organizers of the Sydney Motor Show, created a single, international exhibition alternating between the two cities.

Under the JV, the show was held in Sydney in 2010 and 2012 and Melbourne in 2011.

The partnership came after several automakers stopped exhibiting at both the Sydney and Melbourne events because of the cost. They wanted a single show alternating between the two cities.

They got their way, but several brands, including Audi, Bentley, BMW, Ferrari and Jeep, still did not participate, and show attendance began falling. The 2013 and 2014 exhibitions both were canceled.

When the plug was pulled on this year’s event, scheduled for Sydney in August, AIMS Director Russ Tyrie said it did not mean the end for auto shows in Australia.

“The AIMS joint venture is currently developing and planning a new and exciting concept for future motor shows,” he said in a statement. “We are in the midst of extensive market research and undertaking discussions with industry and government stakeholders to determine a model that can best meet the needs of the industry and the public.”

The JV partners now say in a statement they have agreed the time is right to develop a new-look motor event, making their business arrangement redundant.

VACC Executive Director David Purchase says the JV was created when it was found that organizing two major annual auto shows in two cities had become unsustainable.

“After reviewing the business models, and agreeing to work together, we produced an internationally recognized event,” he says.

FCAI CEO Tony Weber says he looks forward to continuing to work together to promote the Australian automotive industry and represent the interests of the country’s automakers and importers.

“Plans are at an advanced stage for a motoring event in Melbourne in 2015,” a VACC statement says.

“The event will include manufacturers and importers, and also motoring clubs, vehicle displays and exhibitions. It will be dynamic and interactive and provide audience participation at a suitable venue where visitors can test drive a range of makes and models.”

The statement says further news on the new-look event will be released “in due course.”

Purchase tells the Web-based The Motor Report the new event will have a greater focus on interactivity, offering visitors a more hands-on experience. He says it will offer a more family-friendly environment, with activities for kids, musical acts, a potential fashion parade, motoring club awards and VACC's own design award.

“The event, which we're thinking of as more of a ‘motoring festival,’ will bring a new level of interaction, rather than the mostly static displays of past events,” he says.

The website reports the Australian Grand Prix plans to build a larger, consumer-focused motor show as part of its Formula 1 event March 13-16, where Porsche will launch its Macan SUV and Renault will showcase new technologies.