1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168 
I Volvo and Mercedes-Benz have fired the opening shots in
Page 8
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
a long-expected battle over how often the Commercial Vehicle Show should be staged. At a pre-show press conference this week Albert Hendrikse (below), boss of Volvo Truck and Bus, insisted the NEC show should become a
biennial event, claiming, The frequency Is too high while the time is too short".
"If you look at what the industry is Investing it's enormous. A show doesn't change the market. We need it to be for five days every other year with time for drivers to visit."
He warned: "I also see the risk of the show becoming completely killed If we don't change our mindset, and that would be bad. The show needs to be there."
And he says other manufacturers share his view: "I'm not the only one screaming in the desert!"
However, less than an hour after Hendrikse's speech, Ian Jones (right), managing director of Mercedes-Benz UK's commercial vehicle operation declared: "I totally dlsagree—and I've told him [HendrIkse] that! The UK is the second-largest market in Europe and to run [the show] every other year would be an absolute minimum."
While Jones was reluctant to confirm how much his company paid for the four DaimlerChrysler stands booked for the 2003 event, he announced: "We consider it a good investment." While admitting "I know I'm In a minority", Jones added: "I understand how smaller exhibitors feel about the cost of exhibiting, and that's a question for the SMMT."
However, he agrees with Hendrikse on the need for a longer event. "We are the voice of the industry and by not exhibiting over a weekend we diminish that voice—I'd like to see it as a showcase for the industry."