The bi-annual multi-million dollar Motor Show is becoming a regular fixture on the Beirut exhibition calendar. Taking place from 12 to 22 November, it is gearing up to beat its previous attendance record of over 100,000 visitors with more brands and models exhibited over a longer period and a bigger space. In the face of a wintry economic climate and soaring fuel prices, organizers and car dealers appear confident in the show’s ability to sustain interest, boost sales and keep the Lebanese dreaming of newer, better cars.
The biggest show of all time
Held at Beirut International Exhibition and Leisure (BIEL) center for the second year in a row, the Lebanon Motor Show has grown to become the country’s biggest exhibition over the years. And the organizers want more. Expanding the exhibition space by over 60% from last year’s show, the 2004 salon will be a sprawling 25,000 square meter auto extravaganza, catering for every product tied to the industry, ranging from the cars themselves to accessories, insurances and bank credits.
“This year will be a really big show,” said Nabil Baz, the director of Promofair, who is organizing the event with the Lebanon Association of Car Importers (LACI) for the second time in a row. “The Lebanon Association of Car Importers announced that they wanted the show to be bigger, spread out over a larger area, so as to measure up to the major international car shows elsewhere in the world. We hesitated to increase the exhibition area by this much initially, especially taking into consideration the current economic situation, which is not one prone to investment, but in the end we chose to take that risk, because we really wanted to have a spectacular show.”
Encouraged by the high turnout of the 2002 exhibit, which was hailed by car dealers as providing a major boost to their sales, the organizers set their targets high: to bring in more car dealers and make the Lebanon Motor Show the biggest car show of the region.
“We have been alternating our show with the one held in Dubai, whilst doing our best to push for the participation of all the representatives of the major automobile producers, and I think we have succeeded,” saiad Georges Tabet, vice chairman of the Lebanese Motor Show Association and a member of the Motor Show 2004 committee. “We are becoming bigger than the Dubai show.”
You have to be there
Now regrouping all the car dealers in Lebanon, the Association was able to ensure the participation of each one of its 34 members, which together will exhibit 50 brands in total. The event has become a mandatory one for anyone involved in the Lebanese auto business. “Everybody is participating, without exception, which is a first in Lebanon,” boasted Baz. “Last year, 15 to 16 brands were missing.”
Thanks to the added exhibition area, all the agents were granted the space they requested. This year’s car show is set to display between 300 to 400 cars, ranging from sport cars, to SUVs, economy cars to luxury vehicles.
“We attend the motor show because everybody attends it,” said Nathalie Khalife, marketing manager at Bassoul-Hneine & Co, which represents BMW, Mini, Renault, Dacia and Alfa. “We have to attend it, whether we like it or not. A motor show that goes on for 11 days is an event in this country. Everyone wants to come and see what other brands are displaying. It’s also an opportunity to make people more aware of our product, what kind of models we have, our prices etc.”
A testimony to the growing importance of the car show in the eyes of the automobile industry is the attention paid to the stands themselves by the car dealers. State of the art equipment is brought in to make the display as esthetically pleasing and eye-grabbing as possible. “Some car dealers set up beautiful stands,” noted Baz. “Many of them bring in ready-made stands from abroad, which can be worth as much as $200,000 to $300,000. Among the most impressive stands at the 2002 motor show was that of Volkswagen, which was entirely made out of wood and had a mezzanine. They had a whole team of German engineers that came in to set it up. It was really impressive to watch.”
A multi-million dollar concern
In its quest for improvement, the Lebanon Motor Show has grown into a multi-million dollar enterprise, launching a massive promotion campaign, investing in a third hall of 6,500 square meters, and juggling a bigger team of workers to cope with the myriad of additional rules, regulations and organizational requirements that came along with its growth. Reluctant to reveal the magnitude of the show’s budget, deemed to be somewhat inappropriate at a time of economic recession, Tabet admits simply to a project worth “several hundreds of millions of dollars.”
“Just to give you an idea of the scale of the expenses,” added Baz, “I can tell you that the 6,500 square meters we added this year to the exhibition area cost us $1.5 million. The budget for this is enormous.”
Yet the organizers remain confident that it will be worthwhile, arguing that both the location and the timing of the event is set to maximize the number of visitors. “BIEL presents a whole number of advantages: it has spacious parking areas, it’s located right in downtown Beirut, thereby being easily accessible,” Baz explained. “Furthermore, this year, the show will last 11 days, seven or eight of which are holidays – two week-ends, Ramadan and the national independence day. As we’re neither overlapping with the beach season nor the ski season, these additional days of holiday ought to bring in a lot of extra people.”
Set at a token LL5,000, the entry fee is intended to be low enough to enable anyone with an interest in cars to attend, whereas simultaneously deterring people to simply “stroll through on their Sunday walk,” as Baz put it.
Something old, something new
Bringing people to the show is merely winning half the battle, however. Ultimately, the name of the game is generating sales and building customer loyalty. Taking into consideration the economic depression, this is no small feat.
LACI is waging a battle against the growing tendency to purchase second-hand cars in the country and hopes that the show will help promote the benefits of buying new automobiles. For some dealers, this poses less of a challenge than to others. Khalife remains relatively unconcerned by the effect of the economic recession on the sales of BMW. “In all honesty, 17% of the population of Lebanon has all the money and these people are our clients,” she said. “They don’t care whether the fuel prices are going up or down, whether there is an economic recession or not. They just want to buy cars and be trendsetters.”
Others, however, are feeling the heat more, and are hoping the motor show will help boost sales. “The economic recession and the hike in fuel prices is affecting our company a lot because all our cars have big engines and this is a problem,” admitted Nada Sfeir, marketing manager for Faouzi Khoury and Sons Co. Sarl, which represents Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep. “So we are hoping the motor show will be an opportunity to increase sales.”
Tabet expects many dealers to be exhibiting more fuel efficient cars with smaller engines, in addition to safe and environmentally friendly vehicles. Yet conversely, a number of SUV’s are also expected to be on display, further promoting the global obsession with the gas guzzling vehicles. Not forgetting the Lebanese soft spot for all things luxurious, the exhibition will also include dream vehicles such as the Porsche Cayenne.
“There is a trend towards luxury SUVs,” said Fadi Kumbarji, purchasing manager of Rasamny Younes Motor Co sal. “Many are shifting, even Porsche now has an SUV – the Porsche Cayenne. They are all coming out with SUVs, and it is becoming very popular in Lebanon.”
With their taste for the new and the luxurious, the Lebanese do not seem ready to let the car industry down just yet. “The Lebanese dream of cars,” Tabet said. “The market for cars in Lebanon will keep on growing.”
