Autosport International 2023?

Autosport International 2023?

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Pflanzgarten

Original Poster:

4,900 posts

32 months

Tuesday 10th January 2023
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Going on the trade day, anyone else? There seems to be very title from autosport themselves about who or what will be displaying, hopefully it’s not going the way of a lot of shows since covid (most I’ve visited have been shadows of their former selves).

Megaflow

9,919 posts

232 months

Tuesday 10th January 2023
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I am considering going on Friday. I hadn't been for years before I last went in 2020, just before everything went Pete Tong.

It is getting expensive though, £30 to get in, plus parking, diesel, food, etc

61GT

590 posts

187 months

Thursday 12th January 2023
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Going to the trade day today like I have done for the past 20+ years.

When I was working full time it used to make a really enjoyable post-Christmas break and felt a great way to start the new season.

Looking at the pre-event info, it certainly looks a lot quieter this year, will be interesting to see if that’s the case.

keo

2,243 posts

177 months

Thursday 12th January 2023
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£37.50 a ticket according to the website. Don’t know how much parking is on top. I have enjoyed it in the past but finding it hard to justify the cost these days.

LukeBrown66

4,479 posts

53 months

Thursday 12th January 2023
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I think when I looked parking was about 16 quid, which is a bit pathetic isn't it, meaning for a day, if you drive on your own it ranks as one of the most expensive days to a meeting you can get to in terms of plain admittance prices. 37 on its own would be fine, but that wallop for parking makes it a bit silly.

I resent being forced to pay for a live show I have no interest in attending, you used to be able to opt out for a few quid less.

Parking, well a train ticket for me is 19 return, so hardly cheaper. So probably works out cheaper less fuel.

But the parking fee is borderline a scandal in my eyes.

majordad

3,613 posts

204 months

Thursday 12th January 2023
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One of our group dropped out so I’ve a ticket for the Trade Day Friday £25

WatsApp 00353860214911 or whelanporsche@gmail.com

Dave

Pflanzgarten

Original Poster:

4,900 posts

32 months

Friday 13th January 2023
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Went yesterday, pretty disappointing to be honest. Very little F1 except a few show cars, next to no rally-modern or historic.

Food was extortionate (as always) although we dodged the £18 parking by using the train.

Loads of tuner cars and JDM stuff but quite what any of it had to do with motorsport I’ve no idea.

LukeBrown66

4,479 posts

53 months

Friday 13th January 2023
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Sadly I am too ill to warrant paying over 50 quid, I would like to go as it is years since I have been but I guess they are starting to realise that companies do not get enough business from this show to warrant the huge fees asked to be there, sad there is loads of tuner stuff there, i can see why I suppose, but maybe they got a load of late deals when the show was less than full?

Megaflow

9,919 posts

232 months

Friday 13th January 2023
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Well, that was a bit of a let down. I had seen it as halls 1-5 on line, turned out to be 2-4. One of those being the Engineering show, which is Thursday & Friday only.

If you bin the F1 in schools which has never been there before, the oversized coffee bars using up unused space, etc, it could have easily gone into 3 halls, bin off the all the chav’d up Lambo’s and GTR’s and I think you could get all the interesting stands into 2 halls.

Back in the day we could spend 8 hours in there. 3 hours today I’d done it all.

Sad, I think it might have seen it’s time.

LukeBrown66

4,479 posts

53 months

Friday 13th January 2023
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The staggering things is the prices continue to rise, it does seem like they are strangling the last few folk that will go until it completely loses its appeal. I expect the make more than enough from hiring out rooms for meetings etc and the stand/engineering space to break even or they would have stopped it years ago.

blaine54

68 posts

191 months

Friday 13th January 2023
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We went yesterday & I can't see us going back. As others have said a shadow of its former self and the prices for attending embarrassing for what was on offer. A real shame as it used to be a nice way to start off the year.

London GT3

1,038 posts

248 months

Saturday 14th January 2023
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Just to echo everything thing else that has been said. I have been going every year for 20 years or more. Something to get the motorsport interests up and running for the year ahead. Yesterday was the last time I will go. Very little of substance and as someone else has commented "a shadow of its former self".

I was told that the organisation has changed hands. I suspect that the costs for exhibitors has gone up disproportionately with so many companies now online and certainly the costs for the visitors are ridiculous. There was a lot of padding out with good displays but frankly nothing to do with Motorsport.

I suspect it won't happen again next year.

tozerman

1,201 posts

234 months

Saturday 14th January 2023
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Agree with all the above. Here now.
Very disappointed to be honest, it's more like a Nissan GTR show with a load of Lambos thrown in. Didn't bother with the live show as from memory it was a bit of a let down.
Think there was 4 F1 cars in total whereas every team sent a car in previous years.
Car parking is an absolute rip off.
Probably won't bother again...

Pflanzgarten

Original Poster:

4,900 posts

32 months

Saturday 14th January 2023
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The cost of displaying has gone up dramatically according to some in the rally industry I spoke with, £10k for a stand just isn't possible for a lot of car builders so they aren't bothering with it.

LukeBrown66

4,479 posts

53 months

Saturday 14th January 2023
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This is such a shame isnt it, this used to be a massive show, you had a huge karting area, loads of off road, loads of halls, I can even remember them racing outside, having a rally stage in the woods! And how it is basically down to this.

10 grand for a perch is pathetic, especially as if you are a car prep firm you are very unlikely to get people buying a car, they will just get quotes I would guess.

Interesting to hear promoters are new, I thought it was always linked to Haymarket events? Basically the same people that run this site under a different umbrella, hence the name.

I am guessing that the lack up uptake was so poor that they had to pad it out with local tuner based stuff who were probably paying far less than they should.

This stand space cost thing was a factor even 20 years ago with people I knew who stopped using it, but man this event used to be huge, such a shame ONLY greed prevents it from being so, if you made the stand space cheaper surely you would get more people, and the live show, it has been the same for 20 bloody years, stock cars, rallycross, autograss and sodding Terry Grant who has made a living out of doing exactly the same thing for nearly 30 sodding years,

Pflanzgarten

Original Poster:

4,900 posts

32 months

Saturday 14th January 2023
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I know for a fact some old exhibitors were approached last week with a discounted rate but it was too late. The biggest shame was with the F1 in schools project on Thursday there were hundreds of kids around the place-hundreds!

That's the next range of fans, already engaged but nothing to show them.

Obviously taking selfies with tuner cars and MrJWW's collection was thought enough. Such a shame.

egor110

17,365 posts

210 months

Saturday 14th January 2023
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Is this how things are now throughout the exhibitions sector?

There's also a massive ag. trade show going on at the NEC and there also quiet JCB ,Claas etc just haven't exhibited.

Pflanzgarten

Original Poster:

4,900 posts

32 months

Saturday 14th January 2023
quotequote all
Kitchens, Bedrooms and Bathrooms was massively smaller last year although I hoped that as it was quite close to post covid that was the reason for it.

It now looks like it is industry wide. As with Pirelli missing from autosport, at KBB you had the huge manufacturers like Haefle and Blum reducing their epic sized structures to plain old stands and some just not even bothering.

egor110

17,365 posts

210 months

Saturday 14th January 2023
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At auto sport did manufacturers just let dealers display the cars ?

Amazing the amount of stuff that gets nicked at these shows , a salesman for a tractor company had his (branded) coat stolen from the back of a chair as well as a mug half full of coffee !

Megaflow

9,919 posts

232 months

Saturday 14th January 2023
quotequote all
egor110 said:
Is this how things are now throughout the exhibitions sector?

There's also a massive ag. trade show going on at the NEC and there also quiet JCB ,Claas etc just haven't exhibited.
Not sure. Then Classic Motor Show last November was massive, probably the biggest thing I have ever seen at the NEC, 5 halls, properly filled halls as well. Superb.