Automotive News Canada - November 2019 - 21

* N O V E M B E R 2 019

Breakaway automakers want targeted events for products
CONTINUED FROM PA GE 1

want to share with all our manufacturers."
But Volvo Car Canada and MercedesBenz, which recently announced
they were withdrawing from the auto
show circuit, appeared
unmoved.
"As we look to the
future," said Volvo
spokeswoman Amanda
Ignatius, "we are invested in seeking out formats
outside of the auto-show
Jason
circuit... . Consumers
can expect to see a num- Campbell:
CIAS
ber of ... events and
validates its
partnerships happenown data with
ing across Canada that
Foresight
will allow Volvo Cars to Research's
reach new audiences."
study.
The CIAS portion
PHOTO
of the study involved
VIA JASON
CAMPBELL
responses from about
200 people who attended
the show. Among its key findings:
* 33 per cent of CIAS show attendees
added a brand to their consideration list
within 12 months;
* 18 per cent of attendees bought a
brand they were not considering prior
to the show; one in five buyers attended
the show before their recent purchase;
* 48 per cent had household incomes
in excess of $100,000;
* 72 per cent had university degrees;
* The average visitor spent almost
4 3/4 hours at the show.
CIAS conducts its own research
annually, but the Foresight study
was key to validating the automakers' investment in auto shows, said
Campbell.
"In today's day and age, everyone is
looking twice as critical at all of their
spends. It's only reasonable [for them] to
say, 'we like the study that you've pro-

vided, but we'd like to see it from a third
party.'
"There is a greater demand for transparency, a greater demand from data,
from manufacturers and we recognize we need to be able to share that to
ensure they have the tools they need
when they are talking with their global operations headquarters to say this
is why it's important to be at Toronto as
a show."
The report comes as Mercedes-Benz
and Volvo announced they would not be
participating in next year's Toronto and
Montreal auto shows. The move is part
of a global trend of automakers seeking
alternatives to unveil new product and
reach the media.

FINE-TUNE MARKETING DOLLARS
Virginie Aubert, vice-president, marketing at Mercedes, said the carmaker is "standing by" its decision to leave
the auto show circuit,
despite the Foresight
report's findings.
"Mercedes-Benz
Canada continuously evaluates our events
portfolio to ensure that
each of our initiatives provides the best
Virginie
Aubert:
opportunities to fulMercedesfill our strategic priorBenz
ities," Aubert said in
"programs"
an email. "After caredo not
ful consideration, we
include
decided to no longer
participate in Canadian Canadian
auto shows as of 2020 ... shows.
Mercedes-Benz Canada F I L E P H O T O
is ... preparing a series of programs in
2020 that will showcase our ... vehicle
lineup ... ."
Volvo's Ignatius said the decision to
leave auto shows aligns with a global
corporate directive, although the automaker's dealers will participate in the

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Calgary, Edmonton and Quebec City
events.
At Polestar, Volvo's electric-vehicle brand, Canadian Manager Hugues
Bissonnette, said vehicle launches
should not be planned around existing
events, such as auto shows.
"There's an electric-car show in
Montreal, and perhaps that's the right
place to be for us. But from a traditional
auto-show standpoint, that's not where
we want to be."
Sam Fiorani, vice-president, global solutions at AutoForecast Solutions,
said auto shows are competing with
social media for shrinking marketing
dollars.

SOCIAL-MEDIA ATTENTION
"A blogger will get more attention
from a car maker's marketing department than a regional car show when the
eyeballs of millennials are influenced
more by what they see
online than the experience of visiting a car
show," he said. "With
marketing budgets being
cut dramatically at the
risk of losing potential
buyers, it's cheaper to
Steve Bruyn:
send money to online
"Short
personalities than oldsighted" to
school print media or
opt out of
even car shows."
auto shows.
Steve Bruyn, CEO
PHOTO VIA
at Foresight Research,
STEVE BRUYN
called the move by automakers to ditch auto shows "short sighted."
He estimated that 6.5 million households or 10 million people attended the
56 North American auto shows included
in his 2019 study. Of those households,
69 per cent were in the market to buy a
car, which amounts to 4.5 million buying decisions.
"This is a very, very big opportuni-

ty for any car company to prospect,"
Bruyn said. "Canada is one-tenth the
size of the U.S., so call that close to half a
million prospects [potential customers]
in the Canadian markets that are in the
market to buy a car. On top of that about
1.3 million [American car consumers]
are intending to buy a luxury purchase.
That's probably somewhere between
100,000-150,000 people in those Canadian
markets."

HYUNDAI SEES AUTO-SHOW VALUE
Don Romano, CEO of Hyundai Auto
Canada, said his company spends $2
million to $2.5 million for a new display every three years.
He said the yearly cost
to refurbish a display
every year is $300,000 to
$500,000.
But, the Foresight
report into the 2019 CIAS
confirms his confidence
Don
in auto shows as an
effective marketing tool Romano:
Foresight
to reach consumers,
study
Romano said.
confirms
"It re-affirmed my
Hyundai's
belief that the auto
commitment
show plays an importto auto
ant role in generating
shows.
interest and demand for F I L E P H O T O
our products. When you
look at the major manufacturers like
Hyundai, Toyota, Nissan, Honda...we're
all there. We're not pulling out at this
stage. I don't see any reason to."
The auto show offers consumers the
opportunity to see vehicles without facing pressure from sales staff, he said.
"It's one of the few places you can go
without having to worry about buying
today or buying at all. I think the whole
buying experience today has become
a challenge for a lot of people who just
want to check things out ... People love
cars. It's still a passion point." - ANC

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Automotive News Canada - November 2019

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