British Motor Show in trouble?

The British International Motor Show appears to be in trouble. The biennial show, which has seen its fair share of big debuts and publicity in its past two outings, might skip 2010 and instead next appear on the calendar in 2011. The show's profitability, a lack of manufacturer participation, and a possible conflict with the 2012 London Olympics are to blame. The organization that runs the show is known as The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), and they've admitted that skipping a year and shifting the normally biennial show to 2011 is a possibility. The SMMT's committee will meet in March to discuss the matter and come up with some strategies to attract more of the major automakers.

Last year's no-shows included Audi, BMW, Rolls-Royce and Volkswagen. Audi, for one, found it more effective to market themselves at the Goodwood Festival of Speed instead. We have to admit that we were grateful for that decision, as the Auto Union Type D, Le Mans-winning R10, and Sport Quattro S1 among others were amazing. Things might be getting even worse for 2010. Autocar is reporting that several manufacturers have already pulled out of the 2010 show, and that several others are considering similar action. While we hate to see any show cancelled, even the largest auto shows are hurting in this economy. Perhaps taking an extra year to regroup isn't such a bad idea. Autocar