The 98th Brussels Motor Show opened its gates today and will be expecting visitors until 19th January. The event is located in the Brussels Expo area at the Heysel Metro stop (the official site is available here), with easy public transport access and ample parking opportunities.
Brussels alone is worth a visit (see my regular reports on Brussel’s museum Autoworld). Still, those travelling by car should also visit Interclassics in Maastricht on the other side of the Dutch border that is scheduled to the next weekend (16-19 January).
InterClassics Maastricht 2019: a great exhibition to honour the Lancia brand
The Brussels Motor Show is listed among the official international car shows, and in recent years it has sported a reasonably high standard. As it has been staged every year, it has remained a stable point in my calendar. At the same time, serious car shows are being cancelled (notably Amsterdam AutoRAI, and Bologna) and the big ones like the IAA crumbling.
The exhibition has a strong focus on presence in the Belgian market, that is considerable and entirely fixed on car show promotions. The Brussels Motor show focuses on visitors and not visitor numbers.
Although the primary purpose of the exhibition is to sell cars, it also has a lot to offer for the fans and the general public.
The Dreamcars exhibition
The dedicated Dreamcars Hall in Palais 1 attracts supercar enthusiasts and showcases high-end luxury cars.
The biggest strength of the show is still that visitors can actually get to see cars. Real ones that are bought and dream cars that we ever get to sit in.
Muscles from Brussels: dream cars at the 2020 Brussels Motor Show
There is also an extensive motorcycle exhibition, that fill up an entire hall. The largest stages (like BMW, Honda) feature dozens of motorcycles.
But all brands strive to be present. Very few non-German brands were present in Frankfurt, but hey all gather in Brussels.
The French brands came with full deployment, even DS had its own stage with the Formula E car that won the constructors’ championship.
PSA’s trophy of last year was the acquisition of GM Europe. Accordingly, Opel was embedded among the PSA brands. Actually, their stage outperformed the home territory.
The PSA hall brought a lot of flair and maybe Opel’s only car show this year
Volvo introduced a strict policy on car shows. Still, for Brussels, they make an exception and prepare with the full model palette eve if the stage stays somewhat behind the Geneva level.
Polestar came with an entire stage and a total of four cars, including a Polestar 1.
Tesla also prepares with a small but functional stage showcasing their current fleet.
Palais 6 in Brussels: Hyundai, Jaguar, Land Rover, Mazda and Tesla
The Japanese manufacturers also attend the event in full numbers. Toyota and Lexus present their entire range with Toyota’s latest trophy the Yaris WRC bringing the drivers’ title to Tanak.
Hyundai also reinforced its title with the car of the local hero Neuville.
In Frankfurt, some heavy hitters from japan reported absence, like Nissan and Toyota, but here even smaller ones like Suzuki or Subaru brought their cars along.
Fiat also ensured their fullest presence, even Maserati had its own stage. At the same time, Alfa brought along their next hope for the future, the Tonale concept.
Jaguar and Land Rover prepares a full stage for Brussels, year after year with their Formula E race car. This time Jaguar also made a World Premiere, although the car was presented online a few weeks earlier.
Another world premiere was brought by Mini, with the new high-performance version of the current model range.
The Mini segment was considerably stronger than in Frankfurt, while BMW took back a bit from their home ground level.
Mercedes also proved to be more reserved and did not sport impressive concepts like in previous years. Still, their Formula E car gave some indications of the future directions.
First impressions and digital shortcut to the Brussels Motor Show
The Volkswagen group rented an entire hall again, with Audi showcasing their imminent innovations.
At the same time, Volkswagen presented its present and future model line-up with another Bully concept that was not showcased in Frankfurt.
