Visitors pour into the Frankfurt car show

THE 63rd IAA internation motor show has greatly exceeded all expectations.

The world's most important trade show for mobility has proved to be a crowd-puller even under very difficult circumstances.

There were around 850,000 visitors at the IAA, far exceeding the German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA) stressed Matthias Wissmann, President of the German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA), at the International Motor Show.

He said that it did not make much sense to use the IAA 2007, which took place during an economic boom, as a guide.

'The general conditions have changed completely," Wissmann emphasised.

But even as compared to the record IAA in 2007, the fall in visitor numbers was only just about half of what thay had expected.

The drop was mostly due to the fact that for reasons of cost the exhibiting firms were extremely cautious when it came to inviting customers to the IAA.

"If you look at the general public that buy their admission tickets on the door, you see that attendance has gone down by only five per cent.

"People are just as enthusiastic as ever about automobiles, the halls housing the 100 world premieres are attracting huge numbers of visitors, and some of them are full to overflowing," Wissmann said.

He noted that the regal weather was also pulling in the IAA guests to the open-air site with its varied program of events ranging from the off-road circuit to test drives.

This distinguishes the IAA from other motor shows that this year have suffered falls in visitor numbers in the upper double-digit range or have even been cancelled altogether.

The old equation congestion on the roads means a well attended IAA lost its validity a long time ago.

"We have continued to work with the city and the police to optimise the management of parking lots for the IAA, and this time we reserved a sufficient number of spaces right close to the trade show," he added.

This has benefited the visitors to the IAA they have more time for going round the exhibition.

Even the police were surprised that everything was going so well, Wissmann explained.

He added that there was more congestion in the exhibition halls.

"All the halls at the IAA were popular with visitors, especially the new Hall 11 occupied by BMW, which forms another major focus in the west part of the IAA," he observed.

Wissmann said that the exhibitors manufacturers and suppliers alike were also very satisfied with this IAA, as the stand managers have told me in great and varied detail during my extensive tours.

"The public is very knowledgeable and interested. And our survey has shown that one IAA visitor in four wants to buy a car in the next six months," the VDA president emphasised.

VDA