“Well it’s going to be a horrible show,” the Orange County Automobile Dealers Association’s John A. Sackrison deadpanned.
OCADA’s executive director kidded as he talked about the upcoming Orange County Auto Show taking place Oct. 3-6, spread across some 667,000 square feet at the Anaheim Convention Center. OCADA is the dealership organization that owns the show.
As trade show organizers across industries grapple with the question of what purpose trade shows serve in the digital world, Sackrison is still a fan of the format.
Consumer Experience
“It’s been interesting to see as digital has become this fascinating new medium, and there’s great applications for it,” Sackrison said. “But what you have to remember, with a vehicle, it’s the second-largest purchase a consumer makes. So one of the things that the auto show offers to consumers is the one place to go where you can see them all.”
He pointed to the statistic that 81% of those who come to the show are in the mood to buy at some point in the next 12 months. Having more than 100 vehicles on hand to test drive makes for a fun nudge in at least a few manufacturers’ directions.
Sackrison posited that kind of “level of influence is only matched by digital, and as great as digital can be, the impact the auto shows have is an equal or maybe even richer experience.”
New on tap is Irvine-based Kia Motors America Inc.’s HabaNiro concept car, which was designed locally and is expected to be on display among a raft of other concept cars from Toyota, Nissan, Jeep, among others. There will also be a new area on the floor from Southern California Edison focused on electric vehicles, called Electric Avenue.
The exhibitor headcount, he said, will be flat to slightly up compared with the prior year, and the show’s footprint is maxed out at the Convention Center.
Interestingly, Orange County’s auto show has set itself off from the competition by largely focusing on the consumer experience, unlike other events that are mainly focused on the media and trade.
It could be said the latter strategy has seen more strain as fewer automakers use the shows to launch vehicles, making them less appealing for media coverage.
“There was a time period where we did host some new vehicle launches, but that didn’t translate,” Sackrison said. “This was a long, long time ago. Our show is 100% focused on the consumer. That’s the audience that we’re trying to reach.”
