Forecasting the likely outcome of anything in advance is asking for trouble, but in asking if the then upcoming AIMExpo had "The Big Mo", I'm glad to say that, while there is still a long way to go, and strategic questions persist about U.S. trade show geography, AIMExpo has turned out of the headwinds and had energy (and money) in its aisles…
Leaving aside the two, or maybe even three billion dollars of annual powersports industry sales represented by the exhibitors at AIMExpo this year, I did an entirely unscientific, informal survey of the buying power that I saw walking the aisles on the two primary days of the show, and it had to be worth at least a further billion dollars of parts and accessory buying budget there, if not more.
Don't get me wrong, the attendance wasn't huge, in numerical terms, and the first day, capped-off by the Tucker Powersports sponsored industry party (in the hall after show hours), certainly helped front-load a level of show traffic that reduced as the three days progressed.
However, on that first day, there was a buzz. Business was being done. Contacts were being made and renewed, meetings held, plans hatched and options weighed. The 'morning after the night before' started slowly, but by midday the show was reasonably well populated again. Personally, I can't speak for the final day as I had an appointment with my airline.
From what I hear, the hoped for Friday flood of South West, and especially California dealers, didn't materialise (it never does, it never has), but by then I would judge that the show had made its point and secured its fate for at least the next two to three years.
Here we use our customary vendor booth picture formula to tell the story in the way that matters, and I for one will be going back next year (Las Vegas, February 6-8, 2024).
MIC: Moderated by MIC President and CEO Erik Pritchard, the MIC Board of Directors got proceedings underway on the first morning with a panel discussion - the first in a sequence of MIC symposium sessions billed by AIMExpo as "Disruptive Thinking". The topics under discussion were as wide ranging as the opinions - though the consensus formed round the importance of the industry coming together, asking the tough questions about where we go from here, and where the next generation of door-swingers are going to come from, and what are they going to want to see in their local powersports store. From left to right - Marc McAllister, CEO Tucker Powersports; Tim Calhoun, Tim Calhoun Powersports; Shawn McLean, BMW; Rod Lopusnak, Triumph; John Hinz, KTM; Derek Brooks, Yamaha; Bill Savino, Honda and Jim Woodruff, NPA.
Connect. Engage. Unite: Or was it going to be Lock, Load and Shoot? Many wondered quite what to expect when the bell went for the much-anticipated industry distributor Q&A between the market's premier distributors. In the left corner, Paul Langley, Chairman of LeMans Group (the privately held owner of Parts Unlimited, Parts Europe, Thor, Icon, Moose, Drag Specialties etc); on the right, Marc McAllister, CEO and President of (Monomoy Capital Partners owned) Tucker Powersports and, expected to be the referee of the encounter, Chera Gibb, Snr VP Marketing and Communications for Arrowhead Engineered Products (AEP) in the middle of the ring. AEP is the owner of WPS/HardDrive in the United States and of Bihr in Europe (and Vertex Pistons among others - AEP is, in turn, owned by mega $33bn private equity investor Genstar Capital). In the end, to the limited extent that there was any 'to and fro', it was Gibb who was "dishing it out". In what was a good-natured encounter in which key issue consensus was the winner, it was generally an insightful and interesting debate. One that shared with the audience just what the primary issues facing the powersports industry look like from the distributor perspective - not least how the parts and accessories industry market secures its post-pandemic future. In this picture you are looking at the collective distribution power of some 20 warehouses and $2bn in powersports industry sales.
