No show for Benz

MERCEDES-BENZ Australia has pulled the plug on the Melbourne International Motor Show.

The only volume car brand to be absent from the event, Mercedes is staying away because it says it can no longer justify the cost of attending two major car shows in one year.

GoAuto understands a brand like Mercedes-Benz spends around $1 million to attend the Melbourne show each year, matching the cost of attending the Australian International Motor Show in Sydney.

Other volume European brands have told GoAuto that the cost of attending both of these shows is far too high for a market the size of Australia.

While they have complained, no high-volume brands have actually declined to attend either show until Mercedes-Benz made the call to miss the Melbourne event.

Porsche, Jaguar and Citroen are among other marques not attending the show, according to the Victorian Automobile Chamber of Commerce (VACC), which organises and promotes the event through its dealer division, the Australian Automobile Dealers Association (Vic).

Mercedes-Benz Car Group Australia managing director Horst von Sanden told GoAuto that the costs of attending two shows a year was just too much.

Left: Mercedes-Benz Car Group Australia managing director Horst von Sanden.



“In a market the size of Australia, and with the marketing budget we have at our disposal, it is not logical or cost effective to do two very expensive motor shows a year,” he said. “In the current environment we can effectively utilise the money we would have spent on Melbourne on more focused marketing activities.” Melbourne International Motor Show director Russ Tyrie told GoAuto this week that Mercedes-Benz had signalled some months ago that it might not attend the show, which opens at the Melbourne Exhibition Centre on February 29.

“We’re only a component of the overall budget that they allocate, and I’m afraid we can’t control their total expenditure,” he said. “We would much prefer to be representing as many marques as we could within the market – I guess just like manufacturers and exhibitors I’m sure would love to achieve 100 per cent market share, in both cases it doesn’t very often happen.” Mercedes-Benz Australia is yet to decide whether it will attend the Sydney motor show in October.

Instead of attending both major shows, Mercedes would prefer only one major show was held each year in Australia, alternating between Melbourne and Sydney.

Some other importers have also told GoAuto they are in favour of having one major show per year.

While the Melbourne show is hosted by the VACC, Sydney’s is organised by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI). The two organisations are not linked.

GoAuto understands the FCAI and VACC met last year to discuss the possibility of hosting one Australian show alternating between Sydney and Melbourne, but did not reach an agreement. Mr Tyrie confirmed that the meeting took place, although he did not attend.

“I think people are very parochial and I really have a difficulty in seeing that one national show would necessarily draw an audience nationally,” he said. “There’s nothing (supporting this) that we’ve got from any of our research, apart from some very odd occasions when we’ve had certain vehicles which have drawn people (from interstate) … The markets are very distinct, whether it’s Melbourne or Sydney or Brisbane or whatever.” Mr Tyrie acknowledged that the situation could force dealers to act independently to ensure their marque is represented at the show, particularly when research shows that a large percentage of buyers who attend the event are considering purchasing a new vehicle.

“Historically, Mercedes didn’t participate in the early 1990s for several years, and I guess at the end of the day the motor show continued and Mercedes continued. From that point of view, I think there will always be occasions when, for marketing objectives that they’ve got, they (dealers) may wish to look at options.”