why won’t it happen

At the end of the board meeting, FEBIAC (Automotive Federation of Belgium and Luxembourg) announced that it will not organize the Brussels Motor Show 2024. It cites unfulfilled conditions to “give visitors a quality and representative experience”. Details.

The Brussels Motor Show will not be the first car meeting for 2024 in Europe. FEBIAC announced in a press release that it had ” made the decision not to organize a physical exhibition next year “. The Belgian and Luxembourg Automobile and Bicycle Federation justified its decision by explaining that conditions were not met. ” For justice to be established, three conditions must be met. Sanitary conditions must allow, there must be interest from visitors and interest from exhibitors “They explained the organizers to our colleagues from the Belgian newspaper Evening.

The Belgian importer of VW brands is pulling out

And 270,000 visitors gathered in 2023 for 100^e version, with health restrictions removed, it is necessary therefore to look at the side of the exhibitors to understand this position. According to journalists from the Belgian newspaper L’Echo, it was an announcement of the absence of an importer of Volkswagen Group brands, D’Ieteren Auto, which would seal the fate of the event. For the federation, this absence will not make it possible to reach the market share represented at the 2023 Exhibition, which was 95%, and ” providing guests with a quality and representative experience “.

Other disappointed developers

Renault Belux expressed its disappointment. ” It’s a shame, because the Show is also and above all a commercial event. “said Karl Schuybroek, communications director of Renault Belux, to LeSoir newspaper. Manufacturers record around 25% of their annual orders for the Belgian market during this show. This is not the first time D’Ieteren Auto has rocked FEBIAC. In 2022, the importer had already refused to participate in this protest, which had prompted Stellantis to do the same. The absence of these two heavyweights on the market, which represent almost 50% of the Belgian market, led to the cancellation of the 99.^e to edit.

Geneva Motor Show in the forefront

Is the Brussels Salon doomed for all that? FEBIAC believes that it is still too early to tell. This cancellation should allow the 2024 Geneva Motor Show, from February 26 to March 3 at Palexpo, to fill exhibitors. Except that the developers are playing the game. As Sandro Mesquita, the boss of GIMS (Geneva International Motor Show) confided to us last January: “Shows must bring brands back. They are created for them. But if the brands don’t want it, the salons will disappear”.

Sources: Febiac, An echoevening, Of Free

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