¡Muy Triste! Barcelona Motor Show scrapped for 2009*

Filed under: Euro, Misc. Auto Shows

With every major city and its suburbs hosting their own auto shows, we can’t be everywhere. Most major news occurs at the major auto shows, but this year, our absence will be missed at one less auto show than last year, because organizers have announced the cancellation the Barcelona Motor Show.

Following reduced participation in the Detroit Auto Show, several automakers – including General Motors, Peugeot, Citroen, and Nissan – announced they would not be participating. The decision came as a result of plummeting new car sales in Spain, which dropped a staggering 28.1% last year, and could fall as much as 23% again this year. With major automakers dropping out of the show like flies, Spain’s national auto manufacturers association, ANFAC, decided to cancel. Since the country’s only annual show alternates between Barcelona and Madrid, that means there will be no major show at all in Spain this year. This year the show was to celebrate its 90th anniversary.

[Source: Automotive News Europe - subs. req'd]

*UPDATE: Our man in Spain, AB Español contributor Guille Alfonsin has chimed in to let us know that he believes the Barcelona show may not be dead yet. He has just phoned their press department and was told that the show will “open its doors with or without the ANFAC brands (SEAT, Renault, Nissan, PSA, and others).”Further, Alfonsin notes that the governor of Catalunya has just gone on record saying that he plans to “meet with ANFAC members to persuade/convince/threaten them to take part on the show.”

¡Muy Triste! Barcelona Motor Show scrapped for 2009* originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 30 Jan 2009 10:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments