SHOW RE- IMAGINED
Andrew McCredie reports on the new, improved Vancouver auto show
For the past few years, the most exciting press release leading up to the Vancouver International Auto Show typically revolved around the young art student who had won the poster design contest.
To be fair, the annual event’s date at the tailend of the auto show season didn’t help since most, if not all, world, North American and Canadian new model debuts had already taken place by the time the March show rolled round.
Still, the show lacked sizzle and more than one show attendee was heard to grumble that it was little more than one big auto mall under the Vancouver Convention Centre’s grass roof.
The move from the cold and cavernous concrete BC Place a couple of years ago to the new waterfront Convention Centre held the promise of things improving, but apart from the venue change, little did.
Despite this, the show is still the largest consumer show in Western Canada, with more than 90,000 people typically coming through the turnstiles each year.
Well, the show is now under new management, and if all goes according to plan, beginning this coming March showgoers will see a marked improvement in the experience.
“The Vancouver auto show’s goal is to be bigger and better than any other show the public has ever seen; better than L. A., Las Vegas, and Tokyo,” says Blair Qualey, president and CEO of the New Car Dealers Association of BC, the hosts of the show.
Key to that goal is the hiring of Jason Heard earlier this year as the show manager, a local car crazy lad with big event experience in the form of the annual Collector Car Show at the PNE. He’ll be getting an assist from his dad Phil, himself no stranger to putting on big local events. Many will remember Phil as the general manager of the Vancouver Indy.
I ran into father and son at the L. A. Auto Show a couple of weeks ago, where the pair was looking for ideas and making contacts with the manufacturers and industry insiders.
“Our show really needs to move light years forward,” Jason told me. “It’s in a transition stage right now and we have a huge opportunity.”
Central to that new direction is using more of the convention centre’s space. The 2015 show will see a 24 per cent increase in floor space, primarily by utilizing the large ballrooms.
This is where you’ll find the high- end show vehicles from the likes of Ferrari, RollsRoyce, Porsche, Maserati, Tesla, Lamborghini, Lotus and McLaren. And they’ll all have manned booths for the public to interact with.
At past Vancouver auto shows exotics and supercars were relegated to a little row tucked off in some corner with no representatives around.
“Cars are the stars at the end of the day and we’ve really got to showcase these kinds of vehicles,” Jason notes.
And plans are in place for the 2017 show to be the first consumer show to use both east and west buildings at the Vancouver Convention Centre, a move that will add some 120,000 sq.- ft. of show space.
Another shift showgoers will see this March is a lifestyle aspect in many of the displays. One of those display themes will be ‘ Sea to Sky,’ with automakers given the opportunity to rig their vehicles with accessories typical of B. C. outdoor recreation culture.
“We really have to show ( the manufacturers) we are breathing life into the event so that they get encouraged and bring some of their fun displays to Vancouver,” Jason notes.
NCDABC president Qualey sees such moves as key to the show staying relevant with consumers.
“We recognize that the auto industry is evolving as new technologies are introduced and there are so many people that are interested in not just vehicles but what goes into them,” he says. “We’re evolving the show and are excited to showcase some of our new content and features in the near future.”
The new general manager certainly shares that vision.
“We really have to deliver that attendee experience,” Jason says, promising, “( Showgoers) are going to see a lot of things they’ve never seen before. It’s going to be exciting.”
The Vancouver International Auto Show runs March 24- 29.