Melbourne motor show axed

Falling attendance figures mean the Melbourne Motor Show has been axed and Sydney may follow. Source: News Limited

• Melbourne motor show in June won’t go ahead
• Next year’s Sydney motor show under review
• Attendance numbers drop as buyers shop online

AUSTRALIANS might be treating themselves to a record number of new cars but we no longer want to pay to go and look at them.

The Melbourne motor show has been axed for the first time since World War II -- and next year’s Sydney motor show is hanging in the balance.

The news comes less than three months before Melbourne was due to host its first motor show in two years after alternating with Sydney since 2009.

The two shows had joined forces and agreed to alternate annually in an attempt to combat falling attendances and rising exhibitor costs.

“We have made the decision not to proceed based on the consensus view of the auto industry to focus limited marketing budgets on specific activities rather than an industry motor show”, Russ Tyrie, event director of the Australian International Motorshow, told News Limited this morning. 

Motor shows have suffered globally as new-car shoppers do most of their research online before they buy.

Brisbane's Motor Show was axed in 2009 after several car manufacturers pulled out of the event due to poor attendance figures in Sydney in 2008.

Car makers have also become increasingly concerned about the rising cost of floorspace in exhibition centres, with many opting to use the money in more targeted marketing campaigns.

“The exhibitor costs were getting out of hand and there are better and more effective ways to spend the money,” said one car company executive who wished to remain anonymous.

The going rate for floorspace, the elaborate stands and the people to work a motor show for up to 10 days was close to $2 million for each of the big brands, said one insider.

In 2008 Mercedes-Benz rented the Mount Panorama race circuit for an entire week for less than it would cost to exhibit at the Sydney show. It invited VIP guests for track test drives and says it sold more cars than it would have done at the motor show.

Another year, the absence of sportscar maker Porsche prompted the headline: “Motor show without Porsche is like a pub with no beer”.

At last year’s Sydney show Ford ambushed rival car makers by building a mega outdoor site designed to intercept customers before they made it to the front door. Ford had planned to do the same at the Melbourne motor show in June.

At its peak in 2001, when the new Holden Monaro was unveiled, the Sydney motor show had 320,000 visitors through the turnstiles. Last year just 135,500 people attended, the second lowest result in the past decade.

By comparison, the Melbourne motor show saw 160,000 visitors in 2011 -- but this was well down from the peak of 257,000 visitors in 2004.

Meanwhile both the Melbourne and Sydney motor shows were struggling to attract car makers -- even after they began to alternate annually.

The last Melbourne and Sydney motor shows attracted just 27 car brands each -- less than half of those on sale. News Limited undersands only 20 brands had signed up for this year’s Melbourne show.

The Sydney motor show was due to move to the Homebush Bay Olympic site in August 2014 while the Darling Harbour Exhibition Centre closes for renovations. But those plans are now under review.

“Decisions on future shows will be made by the committee based on market research and exploring opportunities as to how this event can best meet the needs of the industry and the public,” Tyries said.

The Melbourne motor show had been running since 1925 but was not held for three years during the Great Depression (1930 to 1932) and for eight years during and after World War II (1941 to 1948).

Melbourne motor show attendance numbers:

• Peak: 257,000 (2004)
• 2008: 240,000 (last time Sydney and Melbourne shows are held the same year)
• 2009: 193,755
• 2010: (no event, joint venture with Sydney)
• 2011: 160,000
• 2012: (no event, joint venture with Sydney)

Sydney motor show attendance numbers:

• Peak: 320,000 (2001)
• 2008: 137,000 (the last time Sydney and Melbourne shows were held the same year)
• 2009: (no event, joint venture with Melbourne)
• 2010: 124,000
• 2011: (no event, joint venture with Melbourne)
• 2012: 135,050

This reporter is on Twitter: @JoshuaDowling
 

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Fire a 'reality check' for Melbourne

Fierce winds have fanned a grass fire across the Hume Highway towards homes and farms near Craigieburn

VICTORIA has been left scorched after separate blazes swept across the state, destroying properties overnight.

A large grassfire that caused havoc on Melbourne's northern fringes could further threaten the Wollert and Epping areas this morning, the CFA warned.

Authorities expected a wind change between 4am and 6am today to send the fire north.

This grassfire, which is being controlled, is about 2400ha in size.

The CFA urged drivers to watch out for animals on the road.

It comes as firefighters battle to save homes from a large slow-moving bushfire at Mirranatwa in the Victoria Valley in western Victoria.

The bushfire is more than 6000ha in size and is out of control.

Firefighters from the Country Fire Authority, the Department of Environment and Sustainability and Parks Victoria are concentrating their efforts on protecting homes.

Buildings destroyed in Melbourne's north

Residents impacted by the grass fire that closed the Hume Freeway at Epping were allowed to return to their homes last night.

One home in the Epping North area was destroyed but none in housing estates, incident controller John Deering said.

CFA and DSE work to contain a blaze burning out of control in the Grampians and surrounding farmland. Picture: Jason Edwards

Another home was damaged, with several outbuildings and sheds lost.

An advice warning remains in place for the Epping and Campbellfield area.

Crews were remaining on scene all night.

The fire has been burning on both sides of the busy Hume Freeway around Epping and Campbellfield.

Victoria's Fire Services Commissioner Craig Lapsley said firefighters hoped to contain the Donnybrook-Kalkallo fire soon.

A new fire battle on Melbourne's Northern outskirts

"The forward spread of that fire has been significant but has now slowed,'' Mr Lapsley said.

The fire closed the Hume Fwy and created traffic gridlock on nearby major roads. Smoke was also affecting the area.

"Roads are gridlocked out in that area,'' Mr Lapsley said as commuters travelled home from work yesterday. "People are either trying to get out or get home.''

Crews remained on scene all night.

Epping North residents started to flee their homes earlier in the afternoon, seeking refuge in shopping centres and community hubs, as a fast-moving grass fire closed in.

CFA and DSE work to contain a blaze burning out of control in the Grampians and surrounding farmland. Picture: Jason Edwards

Cara Horner evacuated her home in Aurora Estate’s Early Bird Way about 3.10pm, taking shelter at Epping Plaza with her baby.

"I didn’t know where else to go,’’ Ms Horner said.

"The plumes of smoke were terrible; we could see the helicopter and emergency vehicles and the roads were pretty clogged up.

"I’ve received a number of phone calls and test messages from friends; some of them have left, some people are packing their bags and waiting to hear from the CFA.

"There are a lot of worried people around.

The fast-moving grass fire at Donnybrook. Picture: Kylie Else

"Even though we’re on the fringe, I don’t think we see ourselves as at risk of fire and I don’t think many people even have a fire plan.’’

Northern Health acting chief executive Robynne Cooke said 10 dialysis patients and a number of IT and support service staff located in peripheral buildings were affected, but she dismissed earlier reports the hospital was evacuated.

About 40 children at the child care centre neighbouring the hospital were forced to leave and sheltered in the main building of the hospital.

"We brought all those people into the hospital," Ms Cooke said.

"Our engineers worked with the air conditioning system because there was a lot of smoke.

"The smoke was quite evident from our windows and we could see that it was not that far away; at the junction of Hume Freeway and Cooper St.

"We worked with a Code Brown in place, staff responded appropriately and everyone was calm."

Ms Cooke said staff and patients were now able to leave the hospital.

She said staff were preparing for an expected influx of patients presenting with respiratory problems caused by smoke inhalation.

The fire alert was the second the hospital has received in the past three weeks.

A number of hospital patients were relocated to wards within the hospital on January 22, when Emergency services attended a suspicious grass fire behind the hospital.

Ms Cooke said she was confident her staff would be able to handle any future emergency situations.

Earlier, Channel 9 reporter Jo Hall tweeted a picture of a home that was destroyed in the blaze at Donnybrook.

The smoke haze covered Melbourne city but no flights were affected out of Melbourne Airport.

Keep up to date with CFA fire events at its website.

Warning came too late: resident

Epping resident Cara Horner said she had already decided to evacuate long before the CFA text message to "seek shelter’’ at 3.48pm.

"The biggest thing in all of this is how slow the CFA has been in telling our community about the danger,’’ Ms Horner said.

"I called my daughter’s child care centre and they hadn’t heard from the CFA. When I spoke to them, they were pretty shocked that they hadn’t heard from anybody.

"I was very worried about my daughter and went to pick her up as soon as I heard something was happening.

"I’m lucky because I work from home – I feel for parents who work in the city and can’t get there quickly.’’

Contractor hurt while building lines

Meanwhile, a 51-year-old contractor suffered serious injuries while building containment lines in Victoria’s west yesterday.

WorkSafe is investigating after the male contractor - who was deployed to the Glenlogie fire about 45km east of Ararat to assist with building containment lines - received severe injuries to his leg after an accident involving machinery at 10.28am.

The worker was airlifted to the Alfred Hospital in a serious condition.

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STAY SAFE

The Herald Sun has joined with fire authorities to keep Victorians informed. Check out the Bushfire Ready page for the latest advice, warnings and videos from the CFA. This page is updated with the latest warnings from across the state. Save it to your bookmarks. You can access it from our homepage (click on Bushfire Ready) from any computer. This service is not available on smart phones.

Check live weather information - including fire warnings - on your computer AND smart phone at our Weather page. Just add m.heraldsun.com.au to your smart phone bookmarks and follow the View weather forecast link.

The CFA has a live fire map. Check it out here and add to your bookmarks.

Reports and alerts will also be posted to our Facebook page and from our official Twitter account.

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- with AAP

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