Battling to put Toronto on the international auto show map
With two North American debuts and some industry heavy-hitters, event is slowly growing in stature
In the world of auto shows, some are deemed to be more important than others.
There’s the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, which traditionally kicks off the winter auto show season. New York is up there, too, as are one or two in Europe in the spring/summer (Geneva, Germany). Paris ups the ante in October and then Los Angeles demands coverage in November.
All of the aforementioned exhibitions feature many of the world’s automakers unveiling some of their very latest creations. An auto show’s importance can frequently be judged on the “reveals” or “debuts” of cars or trucks.
When Jason Campbell became general manager of the Canadian International Auto Show two years ago, he vowed to increase the Toronto show’s profile. As he told me at the time, an auto show can be called truly international when it attracts international coverage. That means attention from major North American and European media. He’s not jumping-up-and-down happy with his progress to date, but he suggests the needle has been moving.
“I don’t think we’ll ever be completely satisfied as to where it’s going,” he said the other day in an interview.
“But we’re seeing positive steps. We have two manufacturers who — this year — have opted to do North American launches here in Toronto. Toyota’s brought along a global asset that’s com-
“We’re starting to get international unveilings and we’ve gotten nothing but positive feedback on that. I see it growing from year to year.”
JASON CAMPBELL SHOW GENERAL MANAGER
pletely new — a concept car that’s not been seen at any auto show globally. So those are positive steps.”
Campbell, who took over from the legendary GM, Tom Tonks, and had big shoes to fill, said there’s more work to do, however.
“This is still early days,” he said. “But we’ve got strong manufacturer participa- tion — in fact, we’ve had more demand (this year) than we have space available. We’ve got companies — people — like Tesla stepping up and growing their space within the show. Maserati is eager to get into the main hall and new brands are coming in like Alfa Romeo, which have their own stand-alone display this year.
“These are all interesting developments.”
Campbell was quick to point out that it’s not just cars and trucks that the manufacturers are bringing to Toronto and that, for the first time in a long time, there are some real industrial heavyhitters who are planning to attend this year’s show.
“We’ve got the global design director for Jaguar-Land Rover, we’ve got the head of Audi North and South America presenting at the opening and we’ve got Ray Tanguay, who’s the Ontario car consultant (translation: a former Toyota executive who was hired by the Ontario and federal governments to oversee and guide the auto industry in Canada), who hasn’t done much media communicating, who’s coming on Media Preview Day to give a briefing to the press. It’s all great stuff.”
So his ambition of making Toronto’s CIAS a first-tier exhibition like Detroit, Paris and L.A. is starting to bear fruit?
“I believe we’re on the road,” he said. “It’s not going to be a one-year or two-year process but we are getting the message across to our manufacturers in Canada and they are actively supporting that in bringing some of these assets that haven’t been here before. We’re starting to get international unveilings and we’ve gotten nothing but positive feedback on that. I see it growing from year to year.”
Campbell’s background is in motor racing marketing (he worked for several Formula One teams over the years) and while he’s pleased this year with all of the special exhibits on offer, there’s one in particular that’s made him proud — the connection Canadians and Canadian racers have with the world’s most famous auto race, the Indianapolis 500, which will hold its 100th running this May.
The “Greatest Spectacle in Racing” display is featuring a number of famous racing cars from the Indianapolis Speedway Museum as well as photographs and biographies of most of the Canadian racers who have competed there at one time or another, going back to the Speedway’s opening in 1909.
“With my personal history — my background being motorsports — I’m particularly pleased to have been able to get this collection of cars from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum. To have the classic cars come here — they don’t leave that museum very often — and to tell the stories of the Canadians who fought for victory there, well, I think that’s going to be a great feature and one that people are going to want to come down (to the convention centre) and take a closer look.
“And we’re also hoping that we can do our small part to boost interest in the Honda Indy Toronto in July in order to bring Indy racing back to where it ought to be in terms of the public consciousness.”