The British Motor Show has hit back at car manufacturers’ criticism of its London location. According to event organisers, 9 firms are set to boycott this year’s Docklands show, and some have blamed the fact that it is being held in the south-east.
But the promoters argue it’s not only Londoners who are attracted to its stands. And to prove it, they have issued a map that shows more than 70 per cent of the 415,000 visitors to the 2006 event came from outside the capital!
What’s more, it highlights exactly how far afield they travelled from. Using ticket sales data – represented by coloured patches from green to red to orange showing the number of visitors from each area of the UK – the map reveals that some even came from as far as Northern Ireland.
More than 550,000 visitors are expected to attend this year, but that hasn’t stopped a host of major firms boycotting the event. And two of them are claiming it’s the location of the show which has put them off. A Skoda spokesman told us: “Our dealer network doesn’t have enough presence around London to make it worth our while. Even if visitors from the capital like the products, there aren’t enough dealers to follow them up.”
Chrysler claimed it would be better off targeting buyers at events across the UK, rather than focusing on one show in the corner of the country. However, a number of leading car makers who won’t be at the event insist it has nothing to do with the location.
A spokesman for Audi said: “We can’t afford to do the Motor Show and appear at the Goodwood Festival of Speed (in West Sussex), which is on at the same time. The latter has worked well for us in recent years. But London is definitely the best place for such a major event.”
A Motor Show representative said: “Despite a few no-shows, we already have more manufacturers attending this year than in 2006. And we have some notable new additions including Ferrari, Maserati and Subaru.”