VAS 2020: Many visitors, electric cars in focus

VAS 2020: Many visitors, electric cars in focus

During the four days of the trade fair (January 16th to 19th), exactly 160,680 visitors (including the 8,237 guests on the preview day of the car show on the day before the opening) passed through the turnstiles at the Vienna Trade Fair and did not miss the presentations of 40 car brands with more than 330 new cars in Halls C and D. 

“In the future, we want to consistently continue to develop the Vienna Autoshow with an emotional charge, from a vehicle show fair to an interactive, experience-oriented mobility platform,” says Gernot Krausz, Managing Director responsible for B2C trade fairs at the organizer Reed Exhibitions. At this year's Vienna Autoshow, the E-Mobility Area, SUV Experience, driving simulators and the “Networked Mobility” specialist conference demonstrated how this concept expansion can work.

Christian Pesau, managing director of the Association of Austrian Automobile Importers, was also satisfied with how the Vienna Autoshow went. "The rush for the Vienna Autoshow was unbroken in 2020 and we are very pleased about that. This year, a particular focus was once again on alternative drive concepts: a variety of electric models, hybrids and even hydrogen - a more than comprehensive overview was offered," says Pesau.

Visitor survey

In the on-site visitor survey by the Linz market institute, two out of five respondents declared themselves to be regular visitors, a third to be occasional visitors to the auto show, and 27.9 percent said they were visiting the Vienna Auto Show for the first time. The fair is becoming more and more female: almost one in three visitors was a woman. Incidentally, every tenth visitor was a specialist. Nine out of ten liked the combination of the Vienna Auto Show and the Vienna Holiday Fair, and seven out of ten respondents also couldn't miss the Holiday Fair in the neighboring halls.

According to the survey, a third of visitors plan to buy a car and less than a quarter are considering doing so. More than half (57.9%) of prospective buyers are thinking about a new car. On site, i.e. at the auto show, 14.9 percent of visitors purchased or ordered a vehicle. When asked which drive technology best suits their needs, 47.3 percent said a diesel vehicle, 44.4 percent preferred a gasoline engine and 22.2 percent preferred a hybrid vehicle. 19 percent want an electric car, 9.8 percent want a hydrogen-powered vehicle and 3.8 percent want a natural gas drive (LPG).

In the survey, 93.3 percent were overall very or satisfied with the Vienna Autoshow 2020; Three quarters said they had benefited from visiting the trade fair, and 85.5 percent said they would recommend the Vienna Autoshow to others.