By EWAN KENNEDY
1 December 2008

Those of you who attended the 2008 Sydney motor show – these days known somewhat grandly as the Australian International Motor Show – would have noticed the event was somewhat less grand than usual.

Though it is the biggest motor show in Australia, the Sydney event wasn’t attended by many of the major marques. Companies such as Alfa Romeo, Audi, BMW, Citroen, Mercedes-Benz and quite a few others chose not to make an appearance this year.

Their reason was simple. They want to save money. Not simply by missing out on this one show, but in the long term by only holding a motor show in Sydney every second year, with a show in Melbourne on alternate years. This battle for sharing motor shows has been going on behind the scenes for some time now, and has finally come to a head.

Instead of the car companies spending money on two major shows each year, they would like members of the public to spend the money instead. By jumping on a plane to fly to the other city.

Or perhaps drive, which would seem a more logical way for car enthusiasts to get from one place to another. The trouble is that a Sydney-Melbourne-Sydney return trip realistically involves four days on the road due to our soporific low speed limits on motorways. Add a further day to attend the motor show and you’re talking of a five-day epic with all that means in the way of accommodation, meals, transfers, etc.

I can understand car companies trying to trim costs, all the more so in these financially troubled times. But one of their biggest costs of all is self inflicted. Because they are forever trying to outdo one another on the grandness of their exhibits. Rather than simply putting down some carpet on the floor of the exhibition centres, then placing vehicles, display cases, desks, chairs, perhaps a few pot plants, they often construct huge, elaborate, two-storey stands.

These ultra-expensive temporary displays frequently come with dining rooms and/or bars for invited guests on the upper level. Perhaps with a maitre d’ to make an upmarket impression on potential car customers.

Much of the material for these grandiose stands isn’t even locally sourced in Australia. Instead it’s air freighted in at great cost from head offices in Europe and is part of a corporate package put together by expensive firms of architects, designers and engineers.

Car companies are loathe to tell us the cost of these huge auto show displays (though they are more than willing to complain that it’s too much!) but figures of a million-plus dollars are hinted at in unguarded moments.

Last week I was a media guest at the Los Angeles Auto Show, a huge event in southern California, an area that’s famed for going over-the-top in everything in it does.

If you think the Australian car industry is doing it tough at the present, our recent 11 per cent drop in new-car sales pales in comparison with the 35 per cent suffered on the other side of the Pacific.

Though there has been much gleeful publicity about tales of car company chiefs flying to bail-out talks with the US government in corporate jets, the same guys have certainly reined in expenditure on this motor show.

Instead of the OTT show stands to which we have become accustomed, the LA show frequently featured the aforementioned carpet, desks and pot plant setups. It seemed to work – the cars were the stars, not the display areas. Unfortunately I was only there on the two press days so didn’t get a chance to talk to any members of the public. But having come primarily to view cars I’m not sure they would have missed the lack of razzmatazz all that much.

I’d love to hear your opinions on this one.

ewan@marque.com.au

PS: By way of positive news on Australian motor shows, the organisers of the Melbourne Motor Show have announced that the 2009 event will definitely go ahead as planned, starting on February 27th. Furthermore, this is the 75th show of its type, the first one having taken place in 1925.

The organisers want to celebrate the 75th event in style, but something important is sadly missing from their plans – a copy of the 1925 Melbourne Motor Show catalogue. So they are offering a reward for anyone who can supply one. Should you be able to assist please send an email to catalogue@motor show.com.au/.