The NEC in Birmingham was home to the CV Show between April 9 and 11 last week.
As this issue went to press, official visitor numbers had not been released, but during the event, show organiser Bob Sockl expected visitor numbers to reach 16,000, around the same as last year’s event.
The mood was buoyant among exhibitors however. MD of SOMERSTOTALKARE Tim Jackson said: “The lifts really did attract a lot of quality enquiries and we have come away from the show with dozens of concrete leads.
“Over the next 12 months we expect many of these to be turned into confirmed sales and there has also been a lot of interest in our comprehensive service and repair offering.
“The CV Show also gave us the chance to catch up with many existing customers, as well as meeting new ones, while enabling us to network with others in the industry.”
Michael Kamper, MD Commercial Vehicles at Mercedes-Benz UK, told Commercial Motor: “It’s been really good and the stand has been really busy. People have made quite an effort in coming back. I have been given the opportunity to speak to many operators of commercial vehicles and I think the overall impression is how optimistic they are since last year.”
Secretary of State for Transport Patrick McLoughlin paid a visit to the event to speak with CV Show partners. He also test drove the Nissan Leaf electric car, saying: “This was my first experience of an electric vehicle. It’s an emerging technology which is suited to the big cities. Having a range of electric vehicles is important, but there needs to be more charging points.”
Exhibition space booked across the three halls had increased by 2100m2 this year.
Next week’s Minibus in CBW will feature a round-up of minibus news from the event.
The 2014 CV Show will take place on April 29 to May 1.
